Thursday, 31 May 2012 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Adelaide Metro & Hills - Product code IDCKGC26L0

Adelaide Metro & Hills in autumn 2012: Above average rainfall with warm days and cool nights

  • Average to above average autumn rainfall.
  • Warmer than the average days, cooler than average nights.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Autumn rainfall across the Adelaide metropolitan area was mostly above average for 2012, with some locations receiving up to 27% more rainfall than normal. Adelaide (Kent Town) received 153.0mm against the long term average of 126.5 mm, and only 0.4mm less than the total autumn rainfall total recorded in 2011. The lowest autumn rainfall total on record for the South Australian Regional Office (Kent Town) is 23.0 mm in 2005 and the highest is 281.8 mm received in 1983.

The season started with a wetter than average March, with April tending slightly drier than average, with much of May tending drier than average until a significant rain event towards the end of the month, and season.

The northern suburbs of Adelaide had above average rainfall with both Edinburgh and Parafield Airport receiving more than 20% more autumn rainfall than average. Elsewhere in the Adelaide and hills region, rainfall totals were generally closer to average. The wettest location in the Adelaide metropolitan and hills area was at Happy Valley Reservoir in the foothill of the Mount Lofty Ranges where 341.0 mm was recorded.

Temperature

Both maximum and minimum temperatures were generally cooler than average through March and May, whereas April recorded above average day and night-time temperatures. An excess number of hot days and maximum temperatures up to 2 °C warmer than normal through April, resulted in slightly warmer than average days through autumn 2012, while nights were generally below the seasonal average.

The mean autumn maximum temperature at Adelaide (Kent Town) was 22.8°C, which is 0.2°C above the average autumn mean maximum temperature of 22.6°C.  The lowest recorded mean maximum temperature for autumn at the South Australian Regional Office (Kent Town) is 20.6°C in 1995. By comparison, the mean maximum temperature for autumn 2011 was 21.8°C.

The hottest day during autumn, for any location in the Adelaide metropolitan and Hills area was 36.3°C recorded at Parafield Airport on the 14th of March 2012. Mount Lofty, in the Adelaide hills, recorded the coldest day during autumn with 6.3°C on the 24th of May.

Parafield Airport recorded the warmest days on average with 23.4°C, with the coolest days on average of 17.1°C at Mount Lofty.

The Adelaide (Kent Town) mean minimum temperature for autumn 2012 was 12.3°C, just below the autumn mean minimum of 12.6°C. Last autumn the mean minimum temperature was 12.5°C. The lowest mean minimum temperature for autumn in Adelaide (Kent Town) is 11.5°C observed in 1997.  

The coldest night during autumn was recorded at Mount Barker with 0.0°C on the 16th of May, whilst the warmest night was recorded at Noarlunga with 23.3°C on the 20th of March.

The coolest nights on average for the season were at Mount Barker with 9.2°C, whilst the warmest nights on average was at Noarlunga, averaging 13.2°C.

 

Further information

Bureau of Meteorology
South Australian Regional Office
South Australian Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone Phone (08) 8366 2600
Email climate.sa@bom.gov.au
Extremes in autumn 2012
Hottest day 36.3 °C at Parafield Airport on 14 Mar
Warmest days on average 23.4 °C at Parafield Airport
Coolest days on average 17.1 °C at Mount Lofty
Coldest day 6.3 °C at Mount Lofty on 24 May
Coldest night 0.0 °C at Mount Barker on 16 May
Coolest nights on average 9.2 °C at Mount Barker
Warmest nights on average 13.2 °C at Noarlunga
Warmest night 23.3 °C at Noarlunga on 20 Mar
Warmest on average overall 17.6 °C at Adelaide (Kent Town)
Coolest on average overall 13.3 °C at Mount Lofty
Wettest overall 341.0 mm at Happy Valley Resv. (Saw)
Driest overall 129.2 mm at Edinburgh RAAF
Wettest day 49.0 mm at Noarlunga on 1 Mar
Highest wind gust 87 km/h at Edinburgh RAAF on 14 Mar

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top



Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for autumn 2012
Maximum temperatures
for autumn
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for autumn
(°C)		 Rainfall
for autumn
(millimetres)
Mean for
autumn
2012		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
autumn
2012		 Mean for
autumn
2012		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
autumn
2012		 Total for
autumn
2012		 Average
for
autumn		 Rank of
autumn
2012		 Fraction of
autumn
average
Adelaide (Kent Town) 22.8 +0.2 35.0 13 Mar 12.3 -0.3 4.6 16 May 153.0 126.5 average 121%
Adelaide Airport 22.3 +0.3 34.8 14 Mar 11.8 -0.1 3.8 16 May 132.6 111.3 high 119%
Edinburgh RAAF 23.1 +0.1 36.0 14 Mar 11.4 -0.4 2.7 16 May 129.2 101.4 high 127%
Mount Barker 20.2 -0.3 33.0 14 Mar 9.2 +0.7 0.0 16 May 226.6 177.8 high 127%
Mount Lofty 17.1   30.1 14 Mar 9.6   3.0 24 May 236.4
Noarlunga 21.8   33.9 5 Apr 13.2   7.1 3 May 161.8
Parafield Airport 23.4 +0.6 36.3 14 Mar 10.9 -1.0 2.6 16 May 132.8 110.1 average 121%

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 Thursday 31 May 2012. 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

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