Adelaide Metro & Hills in summer 2009-10

Monday, 1 March 2010 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Adelaide Metro & Hills - Product code IDCKGC13R0

Adelaide Metro & Hills in summer 2009-10

Low rainfall and warmer temperatures

  • Maximum temperatures in the hills area up to 3°C above the long-term average for summer.
  • Rainfall totals recorded in the Adelaide and hills region were near 50% of average.

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

The South Australian Regional Office, Adelaide (Kent Town), recorded 33.0mm, which is 26.6mm below the normal of 59.6mm for summer at Adelaide (Kent Town). Last year 42.4mm was recorded. The last year when average or more summer rainfall was recorded in Adelaide was in 2006 with 94.4mm. This is the 33rd driest summer at the South Australian Regional Office since records commenced in 1839 (171 years).

The highest summer rainfall total recorded at the South Australian Regional Office is 172.8mm in 1925.

The wettest location in the Adelaide metropolitan and hills area was 67.4mm at Bridgewater.

Some sites had their lowest total summer rainfall for at least 25 years.

Temperature

The Adelaide region experienced one heatwave during summer when during the first half of January 2010 the maximum temperature exceeded 35°C on 5 consecutive days, 4 of which exceeded 40°C.

Throughout the metropolitan and hills area the summer 2010 average maximum temperatures were between 1.5 and 2.5 degrees above the long-term normal whilst the average minimum temperatures were mostly within one degree above the normal.

The mean temperature recorded at the South Australian Regional Office for summer 2010 is 24.1°C which is the 5th warmest summer since 1887 when temperature records commenced. The highest summer mean temperature was recorded in 2001 with 25.0°C.

The mean maximum temperature, recorded at the South Australian Regional Office (Kent Town), for summer 2010 was 30.4°C, which is 2.0°C above the average summer mean maximum temperature of 28.4°C. The highest mean maximum temperature for summer at the South Australian Regional Office (Kent Town) is 31.3°C in 2000. The mean maximum temperature for summer last year was 29.6°C.

The hottest day during summer was recorded at Edinburgh RAAF with 44.5°C on the 11th January 2010. Mount Lofty, in the Adelaide hills, recorded the coolest day during summer with 13.6°C on the 10th December 2009.

Parafield Airport recorded the warmest days on average with 31.1°C, with the coolest days on average of 25.0°C at Mount Lofty.

The mean minimum temperature for summer 2010 was 17.7°C at the South Australian Regional Office (Kent Town), which is 1.1°C above the summer mean minimum temperature of 16.6°C. Last summer the mean minimum temperature was 17.4°C.

The coldest night during summer was recorded at Mount Barker with 4.7°C on the 9th December 2009. Adelaide (Kent Town) recorded the warmest night during summer with 28.9°C on the 11th January 2010.

The coolest nights on average, 12.1°C, was recorded at Mount Barker whilst the warmest nights on average were at the South Australian Regional Office site of 17.7°C

Further information

South Australian Regional Office
South Australian Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (08) 8366 2600
Email climate.sa@bom.gov.au
Extremes in summer 2009-10
Hottest day 44.5 °C at Edinburgh RAAF on 11 Jan 2010
Warmest days on average 31.1 °C at Parafield Airport
Coolest days on average 25.0 °C at Mount Lofty
Coldest day 13.6 °C at Mount Lofty on 10 Dec 2009
Coldest night 4.7 °C at Mount Barker on 9 Dec 2009
Coolest nights on average 12.1 °C at Mount Barker
Warmest nights on average 17.7 °C at Adelaide (Kent Town)
Warmest night 28.9 °C at Adelaide (Kent Town) on 11 Jan 2010
Wettest overall 67.4 mm at Bridgewater
Highest wind gust 72 km/h at Mount Lofty on 23 Dec 2009

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Lowest total summer rainfall for at least 25 years
Total rainfall
for summer 2009-10 (mm) 		Most recent lower
for summer		 Years since
lower		 Average for
summer
Adelaide (Morphett Vale) 24.8 20.0 in 1964 26 67.2


Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for summer 2009-10
Maximum temperatures
for summer
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for summer
(°C)		 Rainfall
for summer
(millimetres)
Mean for
summer
2009-10		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
summer
2009-10		 Mean for
summer
2009-10		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
summer
2009-10		 Total for
summer
2009-10		 Average
for
summer		 Rank of
summer
2009-10		 Fraction of
summer
average
Adelaide (Kent Town) 30.4 +2.0 42.8 11 Jan 2010 17.7 +1.1 10.3 9 Dec 2009 33.0 59.6 low 55%
Adelaide Airport 28.9 +1.7 41.0 10 Jan 2010 16.6 +1.1 10.0 9 Dec 2009 28.8 59.5 low 48%
Edinburgh RAAF 30.8 +1.6 44.5 11 Jan 2010 16.3 +0.4 8.1 4 Dec 2009 40.0 58.4 average 68%
Mount Barker 29.2 +2.9 41.0 11 Jan 2010 12.1 +0.8 4.7 9 Dec 2009 46.8 85.4 low 55%
Mount Lofty 25.0   36.8 11 Jan 2010 13.0   6.4 4 Dec 2009 62.2
Noarlunga 28.3   40.3 10 Jan 2010 17.0   9.3 4 Dec 2009 28.2
Parafield Airport 31.1 +2.3 42.4 10 Jan 2010 16.0 +0.2 8.0 4 Dec 2009 18.6 63.0 v low 30%

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Notes

A Seasonal Climate Summary is prepared to list the main features of the weather in Adelaide Metro & Hills using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated. Later information, including data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review, usually published in the fourth week of the month.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 11 am on Monday 1 March 2010. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

Averages 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 20 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.

Further information

South Australian Regional Office
South Australian Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (08) 8366 2600
Email climate.sa@bom.gov.au