Tuesday, 1 March 2022 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Greater Sydney - Product code IDCKGC25L0
Greater Sydney in summer 2021-22: A wet summer with cool days and warm nights
Very humid conditions were associated with above average rainfall across all three summer months. Maximum temperatures were generally cooler than average while minimum temperatures were warmer than average, resulting in the mean summer temperature being close to average.
Wetter than average summer ended with a very wet February
- Increased availability of moisture throughout summer resulted in a wetter than average summer, with much of Greater Sydney recording rainfall more than 50% to 100% above their long-term summer average.
- Observatory Hill recorded its wettest summer since 1991–1992.
- December rainfall was 10–40% above average across much of Greater Sydney.
- The passage of a deep surface trough resulted in rainy weather from the 8th to the 10th of December, with widespread falls of greater than 50 mm recorded over the three-day period.
- In January, there was a greater number of rainy days than usual, with above-average rainfall for most of Greater Sydney, especially towards the west where totals were more than 50% above their January average.
- Stormy weather was responsible for heavy rainfall during January with storms producing between 20–50 mm in many locations over Sydney on the 6th, 8th, 13th and 14th.
- For February, rainfall was well above average, with some parts of Greater Sydney receiving at least 2–3 times their monthly average.
- Very moist conditions during February led to rainfall being more than 50% above the monthly average in many locations, while the number of rainy days was around twice the average for the month.
- Baulkham Hills (Eucalyptus Ct), Concord (Brays Rd) and Wyong (Mount Elliot) had their highest total summer rainfall on record.
- Numerous sites had their highest total summer rainfall in at least 20 years.
Cool days and warm nights
- Maximum temperatures were around 1 to 2 °C below their seasonal average for much of Greater Sydney, except along the coast where temperatures were average to above average.
- Minimum temperatures were around seasonal average to slightly above seasonal average for most locations.
Sydney (Observatory Hill)
- Total rainfall for Sydney (Observatory Hill) was 655.0 mm, which is 220% of the long-term average at the former Observatory Hill site, or 222% of the average over recent decades.
- The mean daily maximum temperature for Sydney (Observatory Hill) was 26.9 °C, which is 1.2 °C above the long-term average at the former Observatory Hill site, or 0.4 °C above the average over recent decades.
- The warmest day was 34.6 °C on 19 December, and the coolest day was on 5 December when the temperature reached 19.7 °C.
- The mean daily minimum temperature for Sydney (Observatory Hill) was 19.2 °C, which is 0.8 °C above the long-term average at the former Observatory Hill site, or 0.2 °C below the average over recent decades.
- The coldest morning was 13.9 °C on 10 December, and the warmest morning was on 11 January when the minimum temperature was 22.7 °C.
Significant weather
- A strong cold front crossed Greater Sydney on 19th December, producing damaging winds and storms.
- Humid conditions resulted in fog blanketing Sydney during the morning of the 14th of January.
- Repeated generation of slow-moving thunderstorms brought significant rainfall to the Sydney metropolitan area on the 22nd of February with some locations such as Marrickville receiving intense rainfall in excess of 100 mm in a 2–3-hour period.
- Numerous locations received more than their February average and flash flooding was experienced over parts of metropolitan Sydney.
- Towards the end of February, there was a succession of wet and very humid days due to a persistent and deep moist easterly airstream produced by a slow-moving high-pressure system in the Tasman Sea.
- A Special Climate Statement is being prepared for the ongoing extreme rainfall and flooding event in New South Wales.
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
Extremes in summer 2021-22 | |
---|---|
Hottest day |
38.9 °C at Holsworthy Defence AWS on 18 Dec 2021 |
Warmest days on average |
28.3 °C at Penrith Lakes AWS |
Coolest days on average |
21.5 °C at Katoomba (Farnells Rd) |
Coldest day |
10.1 °C at Mount Boyce AWS on 10 Dec 2021 |
Coldest night |
5.6 °C at Mount Boyce AWS on 10 Dec 2021 |
Coolest nights on average |
12.6 °C at Mount Boyce AWS |
Warmest nights on average |
20.0 °C at Sydney Harbour (Wedding Cake West) |
Warmest night |
23.2 °C at Sydney Harbour (Wedding Cake West) on 11 Jan 2022 |
Warmest on average overall |
23.3 °C at Norah Head AWS |
Coolest on average overall |
17.2 °C at Katoomba (Farnells Rd) 17.2 °C at Mount Boyce AWS |
Wettest overall |
765.0 mm at Wyong (Mount Elliot) |
Wettest day |
170.0 mm at Marrickville Golf Club on 23 Feb 2022 |
Strongest wind gust |
100 km/h at Mount Boyce AWS on 19 Dec 2021 |
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
Record highest summer total rainfall | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New record (mm) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for summer |
||
Baulkham Hills Eucalyptus Ct | 500.0 | 452.5 | in 2019 | 22 | 292.3 |
Concord (Brays Rd) | 519.4 | 476.2 | in 2019 | 21 | 313.7 |
Wyong (Mount Elliot) | 765.0 | 698.0 | in 2012 | 21 | 375.9 |
Highest summer total rainfall for at least 20 years | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Observed (mm) |
Most recent higher |
Average for summer |
|||
Marrickville Golf Club | 576.0 | 831.4 | in 1955* | 263.6 | |
Randwick (Randwick St) | 703.3 | 833.9 | in 1989 | 292.7 | |
Bankstown Airport AWS | 509.8 | 614.4 | in 1989* | 272.8 | |
Belrose (Evelyn Place) | 613.4 | 847.9 | in 1991 | 372.2 | |
Sydney Airport AMO | 559.6 | 561.4 | in 1991 | 283.8 | |
Castle Cove (Rosebridge Ave) | 719.1 | 775.6 | in 1991* | 371.7 | |
Rose Bay (Royal Sydney Golf Club) | 668.4 | 700.6 | in 1991* | 303.7 | |
Chatswood Bowling Club | 621.0 | 911.5 | in 1955* | 349.5 | |
Audley (Royal National Park) | 606.0 | 696.0 | in 1991* | 297.7 | |
Collaroy (Long Reef Golf Club) | 563.4 | 658.9 | in 1972* | 324.4 | |
Darkes Forest (Kintyre) | 613.0 | 1283.0 | in 1991* | 398.2 | |
Mona Vale Golf Club | 511.2 | 543.4 | in 1991* | 307.4 | |
Box Hill (McCall Gardens) | 424.0 | 554.2 | in 1991* | 261.9 | |
Centennial Park | 654.0 | 805.4 | in 1989* | 304.6 | |
Sydney Botanic Gardens | 683.5 | 749.8 | in 1991* | 302.4 |
* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a higher value has gone unreported
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
Summary statistics for summer 2021-22 | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Rainfall (millimetres) |
||||||||||
Mean for summer 2021-22 |
Diff from average |
Highest for summer 2021-22 |
Mean for summer 2021-22 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for summer 2021-22 |
Total for summer 2021-22 |
Average for summer |
Rank of summer 2021-22 |
Fraction of summer average |
|||
Badgerys Creek AWS | 27.7 | -1.5 | 37.5 | 18 Dec 2021 | 16.7 | 0.0 | 11.2 | 14 Dec 2021 | 461.0 | 246.4 | high | 187% |
Bankstown Airport AWS | 27.4 | -0.6 | 38.2 | 18 Dec 2021 | 18.3 | +0.6 | 13.0 | 14 Dec 2021 | 509.8 | 272.8 | v high | 187% |
Camden Airport AWS | 27.5 | -1.5 | 37.0 | 18 Dec 2021 | 16.8 | +0.4 | 10.8 | 14 Dec 2021 | 426.2 | 246.8 | high | 173% |
Campbelltown (Mount Annan) | 27.5 | -1.6 | 37.1 | 18 Dec 2021 | 16.4 | -0.1 | 10.2 | 12 Dec 2021 | 370.0 | 246.1 | high | 150% |
Canterbury Racecourse AWS | 26.4 | -0.9 | 36.1 | 1 Feb 2022 | 18.1 | +0.2 | 12.8 | 30 Dec 2021 | 505.2 | 264.2 | v high | 191% |
Cooranbong (Lake Macquarie AWS) | 27.0 | -1.2 | 34.9 | 18 Dec 2021 | 17.4 | +0.3 | 11.6 | 15 Dec 2021 | 504.8 | 346.2 | high | 146% |
Gosford AWS | 26.1 | 35.2 | 19 Dec 2021 | 18.3 | 12.2 | 6 Dec 2021 | ||||||
Holsworthy Aerodrome AWS | 27.0 | 38.0 | 18 Dec 2021 | 17.6 | 11.3 | 14 Dec 2021 | 419.0 | 264.2 | high | 159% | ||
Holsworthy Defence AWS | 26.4 | 38.9 | 18 Dec 2021 | 16.7 | 10.9 | 14 Dec 2021 | 451.4 | |||||
Horsley Park Equestrian Centre AWS | 27.1 | -2.0 | 37.4 | 18 Dec 2021 | 17.3 | 0.0 | 11.9 | 14 Dec 2021 | 448.6 | 265.0 | high | 169% |
Katoomba (Farnells Rd) | 21.5 | -1.3 | 30.7 | 21 Dec 2021 | 12.7 | +0.2 | 7.0 | 29 Dec 2021 | 646.9 | 460.3 | high | 141% |
Mangrove Mountain AWS | 26.5 | -0.4 | 35.7 | 18 Dec 2021 | 16.3 | -0.1 | 10.9 | 10 Dec 2021 | 186.8 | 329.3 | low | 57% |
Mount Boyce AWS | 21.8 | -1.5 | 29.3 | 18 Dec 2021 | 12.6 | -0.2 | 5.6 | 10 Dec 2021 | 565.6 | 348.8 | v high | 162% |
Norah Head AWS | 26.8 | +1.0 | 34.2 | 19 Dec 2021 | 19.7 | +0.3 | 14.5 | 10 Dec 2021 | 395.8 | 275.5 | high | 144% |
Parramatta North (Masons Drive) | 27.1 | -0.9 | 37.2 | 18 Dec 2021 | 13.0 | 29 Dec 2021 | 467.6 | 306.9 | high | 152% | ||
Penrith Lakes AWS | 28.3 | -1.9 | 38.2 | 18 Dec 2021 | 17.9 | -0.2 | 12.2 | 10 Dec 2021 | ||||
Richmond RAAF | 27.8 | -1.8 | 36.1 | 18 Dec 2021 | 17.2 | -0.1 | 10.1 | 12 Dec 2021 | 324.8 | 278.2 | high | 117% |
Sydney (Observatory Hill) | 26.9 | 34.6 | 19 Dec 2021 | 19.2 | 13.9 | 10 Dec 2021 | 655.0 | |||||
Sydney Airport AMO | 26.6 | +0.2 | 35.9 | 1 Feb 2022 | 19.3 | +0.7 | 14.3 | 10 Dec 2021 | 559.6 | 283.8 | v high | 197% |
Sydney Harbour (Wedding Cake West) | 24.3 | -0.1 | 34.4 | 19 Dec 2021 | 20.0 | +0.1 | 14.4 | 11 Dec 2021 | ||||
Sydney Olympic Park AWS (Archery Centre) | 27.0 | -1.3 | 37.8 | 18 Dec 2021 | 18.5 | -0.1 | 12.8 | 10 Dec 2021 | 467.6 | |||
Terrey Hills AWS | 24.8 | -1.3 | 34.0 | 19 Dec 2021 | 17.7 | -0.1 | 12.2 | 10 Dec 2021 | 644.6 | 334.1 | v high | 193% |
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
Notes
The Seasonal climate summary, generally published on the first working day of each month, lists the main features of the weather in Greater Sydney using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated. More extensive discussion of significant weather events, along with later information and data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review.
This summary includes data from observing sites in or near the Greater Sydney “Greater Capital City Statistical Area” (GCCSA). The Australian Bureau of Statistics designed the GCCSAs to “include the population within the urban area of the city, as well as people who regularly socialise, shop or work within the city, and live in small towns and rural areas surrounding the city. It is important to note that GCCSAs do not define the built up edge of the city. They provide a stable definition for these cities and are designed for the output of a range of social and economic survey data.”
This statement has been prepared based on information available at 3 pm on Tuesday 1 March 2022. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.
In some situations, some or all of the rainfall is in the form of hail or snow. In these cases the totals given are for the water equivalent: the depth of liquid water that results from melting any frozen precipitation. There can be significant 'undercatch' of snow in strong winds, meaning the true precipitation can be higher than that reported.
Averages for individual sites are long-term means based on observations from
all available years of record, which vary widely from site to site.
They are not shown for sites with less than 10 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The median
is sometimes more representative than the
mean
of long-term average rain.
The Rank indicates how rainfall this time compares with the climate record for the site,
based on the
decile ranking
(very low rainfall is in decile 1, low in decile 2 or 3,
average in decile 4 to 7, high in decile 8 or 9
and very high is in decile 10).
The Fraction of average shows how much rain has fallen this time as a
percentage of the long-term mean.
Where temperature area averages are mentioned, they are derived from the ACORN-SAT dataset.
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
Unless otherwise noted, all maps, graphs and diagrams in this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence