Monday, 2 March 2020 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Greater Brisbane - Product code IDCKGC24L0

Greater Brisbane in summer 2019-20: close to average rainfall, with warm temperatures

Rainfall was close to or above average at most Greater Brisbane locations. Both mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were above average for summer, with the hottest days and coolest nights occurring in December.

Something about rain

  • Rainfall was close to or above average for summer at most Greater Brisbane locations, but some locations had their highest summer daily rainfall on record and some sites had their highest total summer rainfall for at least 20 years
  • December  rainfall totals were mixed, with some sites reporting well below average totals for December, but others had above average December rainfall, including Brisbane, when a severe thunderstorm passed over Brisbane city on 11 December, producing very heavy falls
  • In January, rainfall was close to or above average at most Greater Brisbane locations, with a dry start and very little rainfall recorded until 12 January, before persistent showers and thunderstorms brought moderate falls to some locations
  • Rainfall in February was well above average, as thunderstorms and showers produced moderate to locally heavy falls throughout the month

Warmer than average

  • Both mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were warmer than average for summer, and some sites had their highest summer mean daily minimum temperature on record or their highest summer mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years
  • Mean maximum temperatures in December were well above average and record warm at some locations, including some very warm days at the start and middle of December; mean minimum temperatures were close to average, but Beerburrum had its lowest summer temperature on record
  • In January, both mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were warmer than average at all locations
  • February mean maximum temperatures were close to average, while mean minimum temperatures were a degree or more above average

Brisbane

  • Total rainfall for Brisbane was 739.2 mm, which is 169% of the long-term average of 437.1 mm
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Brisbane was 30.9 °C, which is 0.9 °C above the long-term average of 30.0 °C. The warmest day was 41.2 °C on 16 Dec, and the coolest day was on 5 Feb when the temperature reached 25.0 °C
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Brisbane was 22.2 °C, which is 1.1 °C above the long-term average of 21.1 °C. The coldest morning was 17.4 °C on 4 Dec, and the warmest morning was on 23 Jan when the minimum temperature was 26.7 °C

Further information

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Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes in summer 2019-20
Hottest day 43.4 °C at University of Queensland Gatton on 16 Dec 2019
Warmest days on average 33.8 °C at University of Queensland Gatton
Coolest days on average 28.8 °C at Cape Moreton Lighthouse
Coldest day 23.1 °C at University of Queensland Gatton on 6 Feb 2020
Coldest night 9.7 °C at Canungra (Defence) on 6 Dec 2019
Coolest nights on average 18.7 °C at Canungra (Defence)
Warmest nights on average 22.9 °C at Point Lookout
Warmest night 26.7 °C at Brisbane on 23 Jan 2020
Warmest on average overall 27.0 °C at University of Queensland Gatton
Coolest on average overall 24.7 °C at Canungra (Defence)
Wettest overall 865.1 mm at Caloundra Airport
Driest overall 143.2 mm at Wivenhoe Dam
Wettest day 210.0 mm at Coomera Foxwell Road on 18 Jan 2020
Strongest wind gust 107 km/h at Redcliffe on 13 Dec 2019

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record highest summer daily rainfall

New record
(mm)		 Old
record		 Years of
record
Point Lookout 102.2 on 9 Feb 2020 100.4 on 2 Dec 2005 24


Highest summer total rainfall for at least 20 years

Observed
(mm)		 Most recent
higher		 Average for
summer
Cape Moreton Lighthouse 722.0 926.3 in 1973* 427.7
Manly Railway Station 725.8 1103.8 in 1973* 411.7

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



Record lowest summer temperature

New record
(°C)		 Old
record		 Years of
record		 Average for
summer
Beerburrum Forest Station 11.5 on 6 Dec 2019 11.6 on 7 Dec 2013 21 19.4


Record highest summer mean daily minimum temperature

New record
(°C)		 Old
record		 Years of
record		 Average for
summer
Archerfield Airport 21.3 21.2 in 2016 43 19.9

Highest summer mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years

Observed
(°C)		 Most recent
higher		 Average for
summer
Amberley AMO 20.3 20.9 in 1979 19.2
University of Queensland Gatton 20.1 20.5 in 1997* 18.7

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



Record highest summer mean temperature

New record
(°C)		 Old
record		 Years of
record		 Average for
summer
University of Queensland Gatton 27.0 = 27.0 in 2016 90 25.0


Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for summer 2019-20

Maximum temperatures
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
(°C)		 Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
summer
2019-20		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
summer
2019-20		 Mean for
summer
2019-20		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
summer
2019-20		 Total for
summer
2019-20		 Average
for
summer		 Rank of
summer
2019-20		 Fraction of
summer
average
Amberley AMO 32.8 +2.0 43.1 16 Dec 2019 20.3 +1.1 11.5 4 Dec 2019 356.4 356.4 average 100%
Archerfield Airport 31.4 +1.4 41.2 16 Dec 2019 21.3 +1.4 15.4 4 Dec 2019 554.4 411.4 high 135%
Beaudesert Drumley Street 32.8 +1.9 41.8 16 Dec 2019 20.2 +1.4 11.1 4 Dec 2019 515.6 370.4 average 139%
Beerburrum Forest Station 31.3 +1.3 41.6 16 Dec 2019 20.0 +0.6 11.5 6 Dec 2019 555.0 561.7 average 99%
Brisbane 30.9 +0.9 41.2 16 Dec 2019 22.2 +1.1 17.4 4 Dec 2019 739.2 437.1 v high 169%
Brisbane Aero 29.4 +0.6 35.1 6 Dec 2019 22.0 +1.1 15.7 4 Dec 2019 683.8 389.0 v high 176%
Canungra (Defence) 30.7   40.3 16 Dec 2019 18.7   9.7 6 Dec 2019 737.4


Cape Moreton Lighthouse 28.8 +2.1 33.4 2 Dec 2019 22.8 +1.1 19.0 14 Dec 2019 722.0 427.7 v high 169%
Greenbank (Defence) 32.2   42.3 16 Dec 2019 19.7   11.1 4 Dec 2019 520.6


Logan City Water Treatment Plant 30.6 +1.1 40.3 16 Dec 2019 21.4 +1.3 16.4 4 Dec 2019 621.1 395.9 v high 157%
Point Lookout 30.1 +1.0 35.0 4 Dec 2019 22.9 +0.7 19.8 5 Dec 2019 648.8 428.3 high 151%
Redcliffe 29.6 +0.8 35.4 2 Dec 2019 22.5 +0.7 17.2 5 Dec 2019



Redland (Alexandra Hills) 29.3   35.8 16 Dec 2019 21.5   15.4 4 Dec 2019 799.2


University of Queensland Gatton 33.8 +2.5 43.4 16 Dec 2019 20.1 +1.4 12.4 5 Dec 2019 213.6 307.5 low 69%

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 Brisbane 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 Brisbane “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 4 pm on Sunday 1 March 2020. 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
(03) 9669 4057
Enquiries