Wednesday, 1 May 2019 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Northern Territory - Product code IDCKGCC2R0

Northern Territory in October to April 2018-19: Driest wet season since 1992. Hottest wet season on record

Apart from the far northeast and some parts of the Territory's south, rainfall for the 2018-19 wet season was generally well below average. It was the warmest on record for the Northern Territory for maximum, minimum and mean temperatures for the October 2018 to April 2019 period, with daytime temperatures especially high.

Late and weak monsoon activity led to dry conditions

• Throughout the 2018-19 wet season, no particularly strong or extended monsoon bursts affected the Northern Territory
• A late monsoon onset date at Darwin of 23 January (the equal third-latest since reliable records commenced in 1957) led to a very dry start to the wet season, despite a relatively wet November
• The monsoon burst during January was relatively weak, as was the following monsoon burst during March. Some significant rainfall occurred with the next monsoon burst in early April, but nowhere near enough to make up for the substantial seasonal rainfall deficiency that was prevalent by then
• The Barkly District, as well as much of the central NT, were amongst the driest regions with record low rainfall totals in parts
• Territory-wide, the rainfall total was 34% below the long-term wet season average
• Many sites had either their lowest total October to April rainfall on record or lowest total for at last 25 years
• There were some isolated heavy rainfall events which gave some sites their highest October to April daily rainfall on record

Record-breaking heat

• All seven individual months of the 2018-19 wet season were characterised by daytime and overnight temperatures well above the long-term average
• Averaged across the 7-month period and over the entire Northern Territory, the mean maximum temperature (2.52 °C above the long-term average), mean minimum temperature (1.94 °C above average) and the mean temperature (maximum and minimum combined was 2.23 °C above average) were all the highest since records commenced in 1910
• Many sites had their highest October to April temperature on record or warmest October to April night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record; multiple monthly high daily maximum and minimum temperatures were also observed throughout the period
• Many sites had their highest October to April mean daily maximum or highest October to April mean daily minimum temperature on record. Other sites had their highest October to April mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years or their highest October to April mean temperature on record
• Apart from these heat records, there were some extraordinary consecutive runs of high temperatures and total days of high temperatures during the wet season. Rabbit Flat, in the Tanami District, reached at least 39 °C every day for 115 consecutive days from 1 December 2018 to 25 March 2019, exceeding the previous longest run of such days at an Australia site of 106 days at Marble Bar in 1921-1922. A summary of this and other records can be seen in the NT March 2019 Climate Summary

Darwin Airport

• Total rainfall for Darwin Airport was 1174.6 mm, which is 70% of the long-term average of 1677.8 mm. This was Darwin Airport's seventh-lowest wet season total since records commenced in 1941. The highest daily rainfall occurred on 15 November 2018 when 73.2 mm was recorded
• The mean daily maximum temperature for Darwin Airport was 33.5 °C, which is 1.0 °C above the long-term average of 32.5 °C. The warmest day was 37.3 °C on 1 Nov, and the coolest day was on 8 Apr when the temperature reached 28.4 °C
• The mean daily minimum temperature for Darwin Airport was 25.5 °C, which is 0.7 °C above the long-term average of 24.8 °C. The coldest morning was 21.6 °C on 6 Jan, and the warmest morning was on 12 Dec when the minimum temperature was 30.0 °C

Alice Springs Airport

• Total rainfall for Alice Springs Airport was 97.4 mm, which is 45% of the long-term average of 217.8 mm. The highest daily rainfall occurred on 21 November 2018 when 33.4 mm was recorded.
• The mean daily maximum temperature for Alice Springs Airport was 36.0 °C, which is 2.7 °C above the long-term average of 33.3 °C, and the highest on record. The warmest day was 45.6 °C, on both 29 December 2018 and 3 January 2019, a record for any month, and the coolest day was on the 7 November 2018 when the temperature reached 17.6 °C
• The mean daily minimum temperature for Alice Springs Airport was 19.4 °C, which is 1.5 °C above the long-term average of 17.9 °C. The coldest morning was 7.8 °C on 13 April 2019, and the warmest morning was on 17 January 2019 when the minimum temperature was 30.4 °C

Tropical cyclone activity

• Three tropical cyclones affected the Northern Territory region during 2018-19, near the long-term average of between two and three cyclones per season for the region
• Tropical cyclone Owen made landall on the southern Gulf of Carpentaria coast, northwest of Port McArthur, on 13 December as a category 3 system
• The strongest tropical cyclone to affect the NT region was Trevor which made landall on the southern Gulf coast, between Port McArthur and the Queensland border, on 23 March as a category 4 storm
• Tropical cyclone Wallace formed just inside the NT region on 6 April, before tracking further west into Western Australia's tropical cyclone region of responsibility. Wallace had no direct impact on the NT during its life cycle.
• Tropical cyclone reports can be found at Severe Weather Events

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 lower value has gone unreported

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top