Monday, 3 June 2019 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Greater Brisbane - Product code IDCKGC24L0

Greater Brisbane in autumn 2019: rainfall close to average; warmer than usual days and nights overall

Rainfall was close to the long-term autumn average at most Greater Brisbane locations, with the bulk of the autumn rain falling in March and April. There were very hot days at the start of the season, and the first time a day above 40 °C was recorded in autumn in the Greater Brisbane area. Overall, both mean maximum and mean minimum autumn temperatures were warmer than average.

Autumn rainfall close to average

  • Autumn rainfall was close to the long-term average at most sites in Greater Brisbane
  • In March, rainfall was average to above average at most locations despite a dry start to the month, with moderate to locally heavy falls in the middle of that month, and showers associated with the remnants of ex-tropical cyclone Trevor at the end of March
  • April rainfall was mixed across Greater Brisbane: it was dry in the west, but average to above average falls were reported in the north and east
  • In May, rainfall was around 50% of the long-term average in the Greater Brisbane area

Both daytime and overnight temperatures were above average

  • Mean maximum and mean minimum autumn temperatures were warmer than average across Greater Brisbane locations
  • It was a very hot start to autumn, with a few locations in Brisbane's west reporting daily temperatures at or above 40 °C in March, and some locations had their hottest autumn day on record: it was the first time any location in the South East Coast District reached 40 °C in March, and in autumn
  • Mean maximum March temperatures were well above average across Greater Brisbane and overnight temperatures in were also above average in Greater Brisbane for most of that month, before some cooler than average days and nights in the last few days of that month
  • Mean maximum temperatures were within a degree of the long-term average for April; mean minimum temperatures were warmer than usual at all locations
  • Mean maximum temperatures were above average at all locations in May, with the warmest days occurring at the start of the month and mean minimum temperatures were more than a degree above the long-term average at all Greater Brisbane locations in May

Brisbane

  • Total rainfall for Brisbane was 249.0 mm, which is 102% of the long-term average of 243.3 mm
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Brisbane was 27.7 °C, which is 0.8 °C above the long-term average of 26.9 °C. The warmest day was 37.7 °C on 12 March, and the coolest day was on 31 May when the temperature reached 20.6 °C
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Brisbane was 17.9 °C, which is 0.8 °C above the long-term average of 17.1 °C. This was one of the three highest values on record for any Brisbane site. The coldest morning was 7.7 °C on 29 May, and the warmest morning was on 26 March when the minimum temperature was 24.5 °C

Further information

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Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes in autumn 2019
Hottest day 41.3 °C at Amberley AMO on 12 March
Warmest days on average 28.7 °C at University of Queensland Gatton
Coolest days on average 25.3 °C at Cape Moreton Lighthouse
Coldest day 18.0 °C at Cape Moreton Lighthouse on 31 May
Coldest night -1.8 °C at Amberley AMO on 31 May
Coolest nights on average 14.6 °C at Amberley AMO and at University of Queensland Gatton
Warmest nights on average 19.9 °C at Cape Moreton Lighthouse
Warmest night 25.0 °C at Point Lookout on 26 March
Warmest on average overall 22.8 °C at Brisbane
Coolest on average overall 21.5 °C at Amberley AMO
Wettest overall 583.2 mm at Caloundra Airport
Driest overall 125.0 mm at Esk Post Office
Wettest day 140.0 mm at Maleny Denning Rd on 16 March
Strongest wind gust 89 km/h at University of Queensland Gatton on 12 March

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record highest autumn temperature

New record
(°C)		 Old
record		 Years of
record		 Average for
autumn
Amberley AMO 41.3 on 12 Mar 38.9 on 11 Mar 2007 78 26.9
University of Queensland Gatton 41.1 on 12 Mar 39.5 on 14 Mar 1998 54 26.8
Archerfield Airport 40.2 on 12 Mar 38.7 on 11 Mar 2007 46 26.5
Logan City Water Treatment Plant 38.9 on 12 Mar 37.5 on 5 Mar 2015 27 26.3


Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for autumn 2019

Maximum temperatures
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
(°C)		 Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
autumn
2019		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
autumn
2019		 Mean for
autumn
2019		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
autumn
2019		 Total for
autumn
2019		 Average
for
autumn		 Rank of
autumn
2019		 Fraction of
autumn
average
Amberley AMO 28.5 +1.6 41.3 12 Mar 14.6 +0.7 -1.8 31 May 148.2 192.3 average 77%
Archerfield Airport 27.8 +1.3 40.2 12 Mar 16.1 +0.9 4.5 31 May 280.4 277.4 average 101%
Beaudesert Drumley Street     36.5 13 Mar 14.9 +1.2 1.3 29 May 237.8 224.1 average 106%
Beerburrum Forest Station 26.9 +0.5 36.4 12 Mar 16.4 +0.7 5.2 31 May 412.8 409.7 average 101%
Brisbane 27.7 +0.8 37.7 12 Mar 17.9 +0.8 7.7 29 May 249.0 243.3 average 102%
Brisbane Aero 26.2 +0.3 34.0 12 Mar 17.2 +0.8 5.2 31 May 244.0 278.6 average 88%
Cape Moreton Lighthouse 25.3 +1.2 30.3 9 Mar 19.9 +1.0 10.6 31 May 314.6 485.9 low 65%
Logan City Water Treatment Plant 27.0 +0.7 38.9 12 Mar 17.0 +1.1 5.4 31 May 329.6 313.8 average 105%
Point Lookout 26.9 +0.6 32.3 21 Mar 19.7 +0.3 9.8 31 May 374.0 449.7 average 83%
Redcliffe 26.4 +0.7 33.8 12 Mar 18.4 +0.8 7.7 31 May 314.2 296.6 average 106%
Redland (Alexandra Hills) 26.1   32.6 12 Mar 17.2   6.0 31 May 361.8


University of Queensland Gatton 28.7 +1.9 41.1 12 Mar 14.6 +0.9 2.2 29 May 133.4 172.8 average 77%

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 2 pm on Saturday 1 June 2019. 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