Wednesday, 9 January 2008 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Northern Territory - Product code IDCKGC22R0

A Wet Top End - Northern Territory 2007 dry season (May to September)


Summary

The northern half of the territory saw above average rainfall in what is typically a "dry season". The Alice Springs district was drier than normal.

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Rainfall

Rainfall was average to well above average north of Yuendumu and below average to well below average south of Yuendumu. The rainfall was very much above average in the southern parts of the Top End and Victoria River district. Some locations in Victoria river district recorded their highest on record dry season rainfall. An active cloudband that passed over the area during latter half of June was the main contributor for the above average rainfall.

Some sites had their highest total dry season rainfall on record.

Some sites had their lowest total dry season rainfall on record.


Maximum temperature

Mean maximum temperatures during the season remained within one-degree range of the long-term mean over the Top End. Except a few areas close to Borroloola and northern parts of the Tiwi Islands recorded up to 1.5 degrees above average mean maximums. In the southern parts, mostly the mean temperatures were above average and some areas recorded up to two degrees above normal in the southern parts of the Alice Springs District.

The highest mean temperature during the season of 33.4°C was recorded at Jabiru while the lowest mean maximum temperature of 24.2°C was recorded at Curtin springs and Yulara Aero in Alice Springs district.

The hottest day in the Territory during the 2007 dry season of 40°C was recorded at Elliott on the 23rd September and at Bradshaw on the 24th of September. The coldest day was reported at Ali Curung on the 20th June with 8°C.

Some sites had their lowest May to September mean daily maximum temperature on record.


Minimum temperature

Mean minimum temperatures during the season remained within one-degree range of the long-term mean. Some areas near Borroloola in Roper McArther District and areas near Yuendumu in the Alice springs district recorded up to 1.5 degrees below average minimum temperatures for the season.

The hottest night in the Northern Territory was at McCluer Island in the Darwin-Daly district, which recorded 27.3°C on the 3rd of May. The coldest place in the Territory was Alice Springs where –3.6°C was recorded on the 16th June. The highest mean minimum temperature during the season of 22.7 °C was reported at Cape Don. The lowest mean minimum of 6.6°C was recorded at Yulara Aero in the Alice Springs district.


Further information

NT Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (08) 8920 3819
Email climate.NT@bom.gov.au

Extremes

Hottest day
Highest temperature		 40.0 °C at Bradshaw AWS
and Elliott on the 23rd of Sep
and at Bradshaw AWS on the 24th of Sep
Warmest days on average
Highest mean daily maximum temperature		 33.4 °C at Jabiru Airport AWS
Coolest days on average
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature		 22.5 °C at Kulgera
Coldest day
Lowest daily maximum temperature		 8.0 °C at Ali Curung
and Tennant Creek Airport on the 20th of Jun
Coldest night
Lowest temperature		 –3.7 °C at Alice Springs Airport on the 21st of Jul
Coolest nights on average
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature		 6.3 °C at Arltunga
Warmest nights on average
Highest mean daily minimum temperature		 22.7 °C at Cape Don AWS
Warmest night
Highest daily minimum temperature		 26.9 °C at Wave Hill on the 26th of Sep
Wettest overall
Highest total rainfall		 275.0 mm at Gove Airport
Wettest day
Highest daily rainfall		 71.0 mm at Alcan Refinery on the 25th of May

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Records

Record highest total rainfall for the 2007 dry season
  Total rainfall
(mm)		 Previous highest Years of
record
Kidman Springs
115.4
50.7
in 1978
32
Nelson Springs
88.0
42.2
in 1998
13
Renner Springs
51.8
32.8
in 2004
12
Rabbit Flat
53.0
50.2
in 1998
10


Record lowest total rainfall for the 2007 dry season
  Total rainfall
(mm)		 Previous lowest Years of
record
Watarrka
3.7
6.8
in 2002
16


Record lowest mean maximum temperature for the 2007 dry season
  Mean daily maximum
temperature
(°C)		 Previous lowest Years of
record
Alyangula Police
28.6
= 28.6
in 2006
23


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Summaries

This table is very wide and may not fit if printed.

Summary statistics for the 2007 dry season
  Maximum temperatures
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
(°C)		 Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean Diff
from
normal		 Highest Mean Diff
from
normal		 Lowest Total Rank Fraction of
normal
Darwin-Daly (district 14GA)
Batchelor Aero AWS
32.7
38.6
20 Sep
17.8
7.7
30 Jun
82.0
very high
421%
Black Point
30.7
+0.3
33.5
4 Sep
21.8
–0.2
15.1
30 Jun
8.6
normal
17%
Bradshaw AWS
32.8
40.0
24 Sep
17.3
6.6
11 Jul
41.8
Cape Don AWS
29.7
33.4
5 May
22.7
18.2
29 Jun
24.0
normal
59%
Central Arnhem Plateau AWS
29.7
36.4
17 Sep
16.9
8.1
29 Jun
17.2
Channel Point
29.4
–0.7
34.8
5 May
18.7
–0.4
9.9
30 Jun
22.9
normal
103%
Darwin Airport
31.5
+0.1
36.1
30 Sep
20.5
–0.5
12.4
30 Jun
67.0
high
150%
Delamere Weapons Range AWS
31.0
–0.4
39.0
23 Sep
16.8
+0.1
8.0
28 Jun
56.0
very high
875%
Douglas River
32.7
–0.4
39.4
20 Sep
15.3
+0.3
3.7
30 Jun
39.8
high
201%
Dum In Mirrie AWS
30.6
35.3
5 May
20.2
11.0
29 Jun
30.4
high
86%
Jabiru Airport AWS
33.4
+0.1
38.9
24 Sep
20.0
0.0
11.4
29 Jun
30.0
high
131%
Katherine Aviation Museum
31.4
–0.8
38.8
22 Sep
15.5
–0.2
4.4
29 Jun
40.4
very high
337%
Mango Farm
32.4
–0.7
39.5
20 Sep
16.3
–0.6
3.3
11 Jul
33.4
high
153%
McCluer Island AWS
27.9
31.6
10 May
23.4
18.8
29 Jun
26.4
Middle Point AWS
33.3
39.2
23 Sep
16.2
5.5
11 Jul
32.6
Oenpelli
37.9
24 Sep
10.8
29 Jun
79.7
very high
329%
Pine Creek Council
31.5
37.8
22 Sep
18.1
9.8
10 Jul
43.0
Pirlangimpi AWS
31.6
–0.3
35.4
24 Sep
20.3
+0.6
12.8
29 Jun
63.2
normal
92%
Point Fawcett AWS
30.2
–0.5
34.5
25 Sep
18.8
–1.4
9.2
30 Jun
48.0
high
93%
Port Keats Aero AWS
37.4
5 May
17.2
8.2
29 Jun
56.6
Tindal RAAF AWS
31.4
–0.5
38.4
23 Sep
15.6
–0.6
4.3
29 Jun
46.6
very high
343%
Arnhem (district 14BC)
Alyangula Police
28.6
–0.9
34.4
19 Sep
19.0
–0.2
11.5
11 Jul
91.0
high
189%
Gove Airport
28.4
–0.6
32.5
19 Sep
20.3
–0.2
13.9
30 Jun
275.0
very high
190%
Groote Eylandt Airport AWS
29.7
36.0
23 Sep
16.8
7.1
11 Jul
89.2
Maningrida Aero AWS
30.8
35.1
4 Sep
19.4
9.6
29 Jun
53.2
Milingimbi AWS
30.3
34.0
4 Sep
20.0
10.0
29 Jun
53.2
Ngayawili AWS
30.0
34.3
19 Sep
20.0
11.6
29 Jun
90.4
Warruwi AWS
29.8
+0.1
33.5
23 Sep
22.5
+0.1
16.3
29 Jun
9.6
normal
46%
Roper-Mcarthur (district 14DE)
Borroloola AWS
31.5
–0.4
38.1
29 Sep
14.0
–0.4
3.4
10 Jul
18.0
very high
228%
Bulman AWS
31.9
39.2
17 Sep
14.9
3.6
29 Jun
60.6
Centre Island AWS
28.0
–0.1
34.0
30 Sep
20.3
–0.1
14.1
21 Jun
48.2
high
212%
Daly Waters AWS
31.3
+0.6
39.7
23 Sep
14.1
–0.3
3.9
11 Jul
84.0
very high
622%
Larrimah
31.2
–0.3
38.8
18 Sep
14.1
–0.8
4.0
10 Jul
67.0
very high
358%
McArthur River Mine
31.9
+0.1
39.6
17 Sep
14.9
+0.6
4.0
11 Jul
27.8
high
144%
Wollogorang
30.7
–0.3
38.9
18 Sep
13.8
+0.3
2.3
10 Jul
30.0
high
283%
Victoria (district 14F)
Kidman Springs
31.4
–1.0
39.5
18 Sep
15.2
+0.2
6.1
23 Jul
115.4
highest
923%
Lajamanu AWS
28.9
–0.6
39.4
24 Sep
12.5
+0.5
2.9
10 Jul
93.4
very high
537%
Timber Creek
32.1
–0.5
39.7
18 Sep
16.2
–0.9
6.4
29 Jun
73.2
very high
431%
Victoria River Downs
30.5
–0.9
38.7
18 Sep
13.7
–0.4
4.0
11 Jul
90.0
very high
566%
Wave Hill
30.2
–0.5
39.0
25 Sep
13.1
–0.3
1.2
11 Jul
98.2
very high
373%
Barkly (district 15A)
Brunette Downs
28.7
–0.6
38.9
18 Sep
13.9
+0.7
5.1
8 Jun
76.9
very high
287%
Elliott
40.0
23 Sep
13.5
–0.5
5.2
21 Jul
59.1
high
251%
Tennant Creek Airport
26.7
–0.4
37.3
19 Sep
14.7
–0.1
5.7
21 Jun
37.0
high
137%
Alice Springs (district 15B)
Ali Curung
26.3
–0.9
37.7
24 Sep
9.4
–1.0
0.9
15 Jun
102.0
very high
273%
Alice Springs Airport
23.7
+1.2
37.5
24 Sep
6.6
–0.1
–3.7
21 Jul
26.6
low
40%
Arltunga
22.7
36.2
24 Sep
6.3
–3.4
21 Jul
39.4
normal
69%
Curtin Springs
24.2
+1.3
37.8
25 Sep
6.7
+0.1
–1.5
20 Jul
21.6
low
34%
Jervois
25.1
+0.2
38.2
24 Sep
–0.8
23 Jun
9.4
low
16%
Kulgera
22.5
+0.7
38.6
25 Sep
7.2
–0.2
–3.2
14 Jun
21.5
low
32%
Papunya
25.9
39.1
25 Sep
8.9
0.5
16 Jun
16.3
low
26%
Rabbit Flat
28.4
–0.6
39.6
19 Sep
8.9
–0.9
–0.5
23 Jul
53.0
highest
275%
Territory Grape Farm AWS
25.2
–0.3
36.8
24 Sep
7.3
–0.7
–2.0
21 Jul
52.4
normal
99%
Watarrka
24.5
+0.1
37.5
25 Sep
8.7
–0.4
–1.0
28 Jun
3.7
lowest
5%
Wulungurru AWS
26.8
38.3
24 Sep
12.8
4.0
29 Jun
0
Yuendumu
38.2
25 Sep
–0.2
23 Jul
26.0
normal
40%
Yulara Aero AWS
24.2
+0.8
37.2
24 Sep
6.6
–0.7
–1.8
10 Jul
2.2
very low
3%

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Notes

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 11 am on Wednesday 9 January 2008. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

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, normal in decile 4 to 7, high in decile 8 or 9 and very high is in decile 10).
The Fraction of normal shows how much rain has fallen this time as a percentage of the long-term mean.

Further information

NT Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (08) 8920 3819
Email climate.NT@bom.gov.au