Monday, 2 October 2017 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Northern Territory - Product code IDCKGCC2R0

Northern Territory in May to September 2017: Hot days, drier than usual

Daytime temperatures during the dry season months of May to September were the highest on record for the Northern Territory in 2017. Overnight temperatures were slightly above average, overall. Territory-wide, rainfall was below the long-term average.

Very warm daytime temperatures

• Territory-wide, the mean daily maximum temperature for May to September was the highest on record at 1.99 °C above average
• Daytime temperatures throughout the Territory were above average, with broad regions, and several sites, including Alice Springs and Tennant Creek, having their highest dry-season mean daily maximum temperatures on record
• A few sites across the Territory had their highest May to September maximum temperature on record
• Every month of the 2017 dry season saw above average maximum temperatures Territory-wide; including the warmest July, 6th-warmest May, and 8th-warmest August on record
• Overnight temperatures were more variable, with much of the northern half of the NT seeing average to above average temperatures while it was generally below average across the southwest. Territory-wide, the dry-season mean daily minimum temperature was 0.15 °C above average

Mostly drier than normal

• Apart from the central NT, rainfall was generally below average
• The above average rainfall totals across the central NT were the result of a single rain event during July
• Territory-wide, rainfall was 44% below the dry-season long-term average
• Many sites had no rainfall during the dry season, however this is not uncommon across the Northern Territory at this time of the year
• Several sites had their lowest dry-season rainfall total on record or their lowest in more than 70 years

Darwin Airport

• Total rainfall for Darwin Airport was 0.0 mm, which is 0% of the long-term average of 44.5 mm. This was the first time since records commenced in 1941 that Darwin recorded no rainfall during a dry season
• The mean daily maximum temperature for Darwin Airport was 32.8 °C, which is 1.3 °C above the long-term average of 31.5 °C. The warmest day was 36.9 °C on 16 Sep, and the coolest day was on 12 Jun when the temperature reached 29.1 °C
• The mean daily minimum temperature for Darwin Airport was 21.3 °C, which is 0.4 °C above the long-term average of 20.9 °C. The coldest morning was 15.4 °C on 29 Aug, and the warmest morning was on 30 Sep when the minimum temperature was 26.1 °C
• Darwin Airport had 36 nights when minimum temperatures dropped below 20 °C during the 2017 dry season, which compares with the average of 51. Interestingly, there were 38 occasions when the minimum temperature at Darwin was between 20.0 and 21.0 °C

Alice Springs Airport

• Total rainfall for Alice Springs Airport was 6.4 mm, which is 10% of the long-term average of 63.2 mm
• The mean daily maximum temperature for Alice Springs Airport was 25.1 °C, which is 2.6 °C above the long-term average of 22.5 °C and the highest on record. The warmest day was 38.3 °C on 27 Sep, and the coolest day was on 28 Jun when the temperature reached 13.6°C
• The mean daily minimum temperature for Alice Springs Airport was 5.9 °C, which is 0.8 °C below the long-term average of 6.7 °C. The coldest morning was -2.9 °C on 11 Jun, and the warmest morning was on 23 Sep when the minimum temperature was 25.4 °C

Northern Australia highlights

• Averaged across northern Australia (north of the NT/SA border, roughly 26 °South), the May to September mean daily maximum temperature was 2.00 °C above average, the highest on record
• All months of the 2017 dry season saw above average maximum temperatures across northern Australia; including the warmest July (more than 3 °C above average), 3rd-warmest August, 4h-warmest September, and 6th-warmest May. Additionally, the July 2017 mean temperature (average of the maximum and minimum) was the highest ever recorded.
• The mean daily minimum temperature was 0.44 °C above average, and the mean temperature of 1.22 °C above average was the 5th-highest on record
• Rainfall across northern Australia was 53% below average

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Maps
	Observed	Anomaly	Decile rank
Total rainfall

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Monthly maps
	Rainfall rank	Maximum temperature rank	Minimum temperature rank
May 2016
June 2017
July 2017
August 2017
September 2017

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* 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