Monday, 1 June 2020 - Seasonal Climate Summary for New South Wales - Product code IDCKGC25R0

New South Wales in autumn 2020: wet and cool

Autumn 2020 in New South Wales was the coolest and wettest for since 2012. Daytime temperatures were below to very much below average for the State, except along the coastal strip. It was a wetter than average autumn inland, but rainfall was below average along the north and south coasts.

Wetter than average inland

• Autumn rainfall above to very much above average across the interior of the State
• It was the wettest autumn since 2012, although May rainfall was more than 50% below the long-term average
• It was particularly wet across the Central West Slopes district, with some sites recording their highest total autumn rainfall on record or the highest total autumn rainfall for at least 20 years
• Remnants of tropical cyclone Esther resulted in a few sites recording their highest autumn daily rainfall on record on 4 or 5 March
• Much of the north and south coastal areas were around 40–60% drier than average this autumn
• Long-term rainfall deficiencies remain over the northeast, southeast and far west of the State

Cool conditions across the State

• State-wide, the autumn mean maximum temperature was the coolest this century, 0.88 °C below the long-term average
• Many sites had their lowest autumn mean daily maximum temperature on record or their lowest autumn mean daily maximum temperature since the 1990s
• Minimum temperatures were slightly above average, but the State-wide autumn mean minimum temperature was lowest since 2013
• Autumn mean temperature was 0.35 °C below the long-term average, and the coolest since 2012
• Autumn was the first season with below average mean temperature for New South Wales since spring 2016

Many cold fronts, and a Tasman Low

• A number of cold fronts crossed the State during autumn, particularly in April. The most notable of these was on 30 April, with cold temperatures and alpine snow; light snow was also reported on 1 May in some non-alpine locatons including Katoomba
• The maximum of 9.7 °C on 30 April for Canberra was their earliest autumn day since 1952 with a sub-10 °C maximum
• A deep low-pressure system was in the Tasman Sea off the Illawarra and Sydney coast over 24–26 May.
• Waves of 5–10 metres were reported but as the low-pressure system was offshore, it did not bring significant damaging winds or heavy rainfall to mainland New South Wales

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Maps
	Observed	Anomaly	Decile rank
Total rainfall
Mean daily maximum temperatures
Mean daily minimum temperatures

Click on a map to show it full size in a pop-up window

* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a higher value has gone unreported

* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a lower value has gone unreported

* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a lower value has gone unreported

* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a lower value has gone unreported

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top