Monday, 3 September 2018 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Remote Islands and Antarctica - Product code IDCKGC2RR0
Remote Islands and Antarctica in winter 2018
Jump to a map of the areas covered in this summary
Australia's Indian Ocean islands
- It was a cool June to August on Christmas Island, with the mean daily maximum temperature the lowest since 1978, and both the mean daily minimum and mean temperature the lowest since 1994
- Temperatures were above average on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, including the highest winter temperature on record with a maximum of 30.9 °C on 5 June
- There was 61% of the typical winter rain at Cocos Islands Airport
- There was less than 20% of the typical winter rain at Christmas Island Airport
Australia's Pacific Ocean islands
- The mean daily minimum temperature was equal-record low on Lord Howe Island, with many cool nights including the lowest temperature on record with a minimum of 6.1 °C on 23 July
- Daytime temperatures on Lord Howe Island were just above average
- Maximum temperatures were 0.7 °C above average and minimum temperatures 0.4 °C above average on Norfolk Island
- Norfolk Island Airport had its driest winter since 1976 with less than half of the typical winter rain
Australia's Antarctic and sub-Antarctic territories
- Mawson recorded both its warmest winter mean maximum temperature, and equal-warmest winter mean temperature on record, both just over 3 degrees above average
- Davis was also warmer than average, by just over 3 degrees for maximum temperatures and close to 4 degrees for minimum temperatures
- Both Mawson and Davis broke warm temperature records in August
- Casey's temperatures were above average for winter, but a generally cold August meant they were well short of previous records
- Macquarie Island's temperatures were about a degree above average, with records set for winter mean temperature, winter mean daily minimum temperature, and winter mean daily maximum temperature
- On 8 June, Macquarie Island recorded its highest daily minimum temperature on record with a minimum of 6.9 °C
- Macquarie Island had its wettest winter day on record with 46.8 mm in the 24 hours to 9 am on 24 June
- Total winter rainfall was a little above average overall on Macquarie Island
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
- Enquiries
- helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au
Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Record highest winter daily precipitation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New record (mm) |
Old record |
Years of record |
||||
| Macquarie Island | 46.8 | on 24 Jun | 37.1 | on 23 Jul 1969 | 71 | |
| Lowest winter total precipitation for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Observed (mm) |
Most recent lower |
Average for winter |
|||
| Norfolk Island Aero | 185.0 | 174.2 | in 1976 | 408.1 | |
| Record highest winter temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for winter |
|||
| Cocos Island Airport | 30.9 | on 5 Jun | 30.8 | on 7 Jun 2014 | 67 | 28.2 |
| Record highest winter mean daily maximum temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for winter |
||
| Macquarie Island | 6.0 | = 6.0 | in 1971 | 70 | 5.0 |
| Mawson | -11.5 | -11.7 | in 1991 | 64 | -14.7 |
| Lowest winter mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Observed (°C) |
Most recent lower |
Average for winter |
|||
| Christmas Island Aero | 25.6 | 25.4 | in 1978* | 26.5 | |
* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a lower value has gone unreported
| Record highest winter daily minimum temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for winter |
|||
| Macquarie Island | 6.9 | on 8 Jun | 6.8 | on 16 Jun 2007 | 71 | 1.6 |
| Record lowest winter temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for winter |
|||
| Lord Howe Island Aero | 6.1 | on 23 Jul | 6.6 | on 5 Aug 2011 | 30 | 14.1 |
| Record highest winter mean daily minimum temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for winter |
||
| Macquarie Island | 3.0 | 2.9 | in 1971 | 70 | 1.6 |
| Record lowest winter mean daily minimum temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for winter |
||
| Lord Howe Island Aero | 13.4 | = 13.4 | in 1994 | 29 | 14.1 |
| Lowest winter mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Observed (°C) |
Most recent lower |
Average for winter |
|||
| Christmas Island Aero | 21.7 | =21.7 | in 1994 | 22.7 | |
| Record highest winter mean temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for winter |
||
| Macquarie Island | 4.5 | 4.4 | in 1971 | 70 | 3.3 |
| Mawson | -14.5 | = -14.5 | in 1977 | 64 | -17.7 |
| Lowest winter mean temperature for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Observed (°C) |
Most recent lower |
Average for winter |
|||
| Christmas Island Aero | 23.7 | =23.7 | in 1994 | 24.6 | |
Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Summary statistics for winter 2018 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Precipitation (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean for winter 2018 |
Diff from average |
Highest for winter 2018 |
Mean for winter 2018 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for winter 2018 |
Total for winter 2018 |
Average for winter |
Rank of winter 2018 |
Fraction of winter average |
|||
| Offshore Islands (district 200) | ||||||||||||
| Christmas Island Aero | 25.6 | -0.9 | 28.3 | 2 Jun | 21.7 | -1.0 | 18.4 | 4 Aug | 54.2 | 315.2 | v low | 17% |
| Cocos Island Airport | 28.5 | +0.3 | 30.9 | 5 Jun | 24.5 | +0.3 | 22.0 | 16 Jul | 335.6 | 546.3 | low | 61% |
| Lord Howe Island Aero | 19.5 | +0.2 | 22.6 | 13 Jun | 13.4 | -0.7 | 6.1 | 23 Jul | 295.4 | 416.5 | v low | 71% |
| Norfolk Island Aero | 19.4 | +0.7 | 21.5 | 17 Jun | 14.2 | +0.4 | 11.6 | 25 Jun | 185.0 | 408.1 | v low | 45% |
| Antarctica and Macquarie Island (district 300) | ||||||||||||
| Casey | -10.7 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 27 Jul | -17.8 | +0.9 | -33.0 | 28 Aug | ||||
| Davis | -10.6 | +3.1 | -0.3 | 25 Jul | -16.5 | +3.7 | -28.0 | 4 Jul | 14.4 | 24.3 | low | 59% |
| Macquarie Island | 6.0 | +1.0 | 8.2 | 10 Aug | 3.0 | +1.4 | -1.9 | 25 Jun | 243.6 | 227.4 | average | 107% |
| Mawson | -11.5 | +3.2 | -2.8 | 25 Jul | -17.6 | +3.2 | -33.9 | 10 Jul | ||||
| Note: Precipitation values from Casey and Davis should be used with caution. | ||||||||||||
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 Remote Islands and Antarctica 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 statement has been prepared based on information available at 9 am on Monday 3 September 2018. 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 precipitation 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 precipitation.
The Rank indicates how precipitation this time compares with the climate record for the site,
based on the
decile ranking
(very low precipitation 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 precipitation 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
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
- Enquiries
- helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au
