Greater Adelaide in spring 2023

Rainfall

  • Rainfall totals for spring were generally close to or below average at sites across Adelaide and the Hills.
  • Rainfall totals ranged from 58% of average at Edinburgh RAAF to 115% of average at Noarlunga.
  • September and October were drier than average months across Greater Adelaide, but November rainfall totals were above average.
  • On 28 November, several sites had their highest spring daily rainfall on record.

Temperature

  • Mean maximum temperatures for spring were above average at most sites across Adelaide and the Hills.
  • September was much warmer than average for Greater Adelaide, while October and November included numerous cooler than average days and nights.
  • The mean maximum temperatures for spring ranged from equalling the average at Kuitpo Forest Reserve to 2.4 °C warmer than average at Mount Lofty.
  • The hottest day during spring was on 10 November, when Edinburgh RAAF recorded 41.6 °C.
  • Mean minimum temperatures for spring were within 1 °C of average at all sites across Adelaide and the Hills, ranging from 0.5 °C below average at Parafield Airport to 0.7 °C above average at Mount Barker.
  • The coldest temperature recorded during spring was 1.3 °C at Mount Barker on 9 September under clear skies after the passage of a low pressure system.

Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira)

  • Total rainfall for Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) was 97.0 mm, which is 77% of the long-term average of 125.8 mm.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) was 22.7 °C, which is 1.3 °C above the long-term average of 21.4 °C.
  • The warmest day was 40.3 °C on 10 November, and the coolest day was on 8 September when the temperature reached 13.4 °C.
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) was 10.9 °C, which is 0.3 °C below the long-term average of 11.2 °C.
  • The coldest morning was 3.7 °C on 9 September, and the warmest morning was on 20 October when the minimum temperature was 19.8 °C.

Extremes in spring 2023
Hottest day 41.6 °C at Edinburgh RAAF on 10 Nov
Warmest days on average 24.0 °C at Parafield Airport
Coolest days on average 17.7 °C at Mount Lofty
Coldest day 7.7 °C at Mount Lofty on 7 Sep
Coldest night 1.3 °C at Mount Barker on 9 Sep
Coolest nights on average 7.9 °C at Mount Lofty
Warmest nights on average 11.5 °C at Noarlunga
Warmest night 20.7 °C at Parafield Airport on 20 Oct
Warmest on average overall 16.9 °C at Parafield Airport
Coolest on average overall 12.8 °C at Mount Lofty
Wettest overall 191.0 mm at Ashton
Wettest day 74.8 mm at Brownhill Creek (Scotch College) on 28 Nov
Strongest wind gust 106 km/h at Noarlunga on 2 Oct

Record highest spring daily rainfall
New record
(mm)
Old
record
Years of
record
Sellicks Beach 44.6 on 28 Nov 42.6 on 13 Nov 2022 32
McLaren Vale (Pirramimma Winery) 49.6 on 28 Nov 43.2 on 29 Sep 2016 31
Brownhill Creek (Scotch College) 74.8 on 28 Nov 38.8 on 2 Sep 2001 26
Noarlunga 46.2 on 28 Nov 37.0 on 2 Sep 2001 24
Belair (St Johns) 52.8 on 28 Nov 50.6 on 8 Nov 2005 21
Adelaide Airport Alert 39.6 on 28 Nov 30.6 on 29 Sep 2016 20



Summary statistics for spring 2023
Maximum temperatures
(°C)
Minimum temperatures
(°C)
Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
spring
2023
Diff
from
average
Highest for
spring
2023
Mean for
spring
2023
Diff
from
average
Lowest for
spring
2023
Total for
spring
2023
Average
for
spring
Rank of
spring
2023
Fraction of
spring
average
Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) 22.7 +1.3 40.3 10 Nov 10.9 -0.3 3.7 9 Sep 97.0 125.8 low 77%
Adelaide Airport 21.8 +0.7 40.0 10 Nov 10.9 0.0 4.3 9 Sep 94.8 105.9 average 90%
Edinburgh RAAF 23.4 +1.0 41.6 10 Nov 10.1 -0.3 3.0 9 Sep 64.2 110.3 low 58%
Kuitpo Forest Reserve 18.9 0.0 38.1 10 Nov 9.2 -0.3 3.3 8 Sep 129.0 167.2 low 77%
Mount Barker 21.2 +1.6 37.9 10 Nov 8.1 +0.7 1.3 9 Sep 125.4 191.3 low 66%
Mount Crawford AWS 19.8 +1.3 37.8 10 Nov 8.5 -0.3 2.8 26 Oct 119.4 157.8 average 76%
Mount Lofty 17.7 +2.4 34.5 10 Nov 7.9 +0.3 1.6 8 Sep 179.8 219.9 average 82%
Noarlunga 21.9 +0.4 40.0 10 Nov 11.5 -0.4 4.9 9 Sep 115.0 100.4 average 115%
Parafield Airport 24.0 +1.8 41.4 10 Nov 9.9 -0.5 1.6 9 Sep 77.4 110.7 low 70%

Notes

The Seasonal climate summary, usually published in the first week of the following month, lists the main features of the weather in Greater Adelaide using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated.

This summary includes data from observing sites in or near the Greater Adelaide “Greater Capital City Statistical Area” (GCCSA). The Australian Bureau of Statistics designed the GCCSAs to represent a socio-economic definition of each capital city. This means the greater capital city boundary includes people who regularly socialise, shop or work within the capital city, but live in the small towns and rural areas surrounding the capital city. It does not define the built up edge of the capital city.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Friday 1 December 2023. 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.

Information about Australian Indigenous seasonal calendars is available at the Indigenous Weather Knowledge website.


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