Greater Adelaide in summer 2022-23: drier than average; generally warmer days

Rainfall totals in summer were less than average across Adelaide and the Hills. Mean maximum temperatures were generally warmer than average across Adelaide and the Hills while mean minimum temperatures for the season tended to be close to average.

Driest summer since 2018–19

  • Rainfall totals in summer were less than average across Adelaide and the Hills, ranging from 58% of average at Mount Lofty to 99% of average at Mount Crawford.
  • Averaged across Greater Adelaide as a whole it was the driest summer since 2018–19.
  • Rainfall totals were below average in December, but closer to average in January and February.

Slightly warmer days; nights close to average

  • Daytime temperatures for summer were generally warmer than average across Adelaide and the Hills.
  • Mean maximum temperatures ranged from 0.5 °C below average at Mount Crawford to 2.0 °C above average at Mount Lofty.
  • Daytime temperatures were generally warmer than average in each of December, January, and February, while night-time temperatures tended to be near-average or cooler than average for each month of summer.
  • Night-time temperatures for summer were generally close to average across Adelaide and the Hills.
  • Mean minimum temperatures ranged from 0.8 °C below average at Mount Crawford to 0.8 °C above average at Mount Barker.

Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira)

  • Total rainfall for Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) was 46.0 mm, which is 69% of the long-term average of 66.6 mm.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) was 28.7 °C, which is 0.7 °C above the long-term average of 28.0 °C.
  • The warmest day was 41.0 °C on 27 December, and the coolest day was on 12 December when the temperature reached 19.1 °C.
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) was 15.9 °C, which is 0.3 °C below the long-term average of 16.2 °C.
  • The coldest morning was 8.3 °C on 8 December, and the warmest morning was on 24 February when the minimum temperature was 29.6 °C.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057

Extremes in summer 2022-23
Hottest day 42.2 °C at Edinburgh RAAF and Parafield Airport on 27 Dec 2022
Warmest days on average 30.0 °C at Parafield Airport
Coolest days on average 23.8 °C at Mount Lofty
Coldest day 11.8 °C at Mount Lofty on 13 Dec 2022
Coldest night 4.9 °C at Mount Lofty on 6 Dec 2022
Coolest nights on average 12.0 °C at Mount Lofty
Warmest nights on average 16.1 °C at Noarlunga
Warmest night 30.6 °C at Noarlunga on 24 Feb 2023
Warmest on average overall 22.8 °C at Parafield Airport
Coolest on average overall 17.9 °C at Mount Lofty
Wettest overall 114.8 mm at Lobethal (Maidment Road)
Wettest day 46.8 mm at Lobethal (Maidment Road) on 24 Jan 2023
Strongest wind gust 89 km/h at Mount Crawford AWS on 2 Feb 2023


Summary statistics for summer 2022-23
Maximum temperatures
(°C)
Minimum temperatures
(°C)
Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
summer
2022-23
Diff
from
average
Highest for
summer
2022-23
Mean for
summer
2022-23
Diff
from
average
Lowest for
summer
2022-23
Total for
summer
2022-23
Average
for
summer
Rank of
summer
2022-23
Fraction of
summer
average
Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) 28.7 +0.7 41.0 27 Dec 2022 15.9 -0.3 8.3 8 Dec 2022 46.0 66.6 average 69%
Adelaide Airport 27.9 +0.5 40.4 14 Jan 2023 16.0 +0.3 9.7 15 Dec 2022 37.0 59.9 average 62%
Edinburgh RAAF 29.6 +0.2 42.2 27 Dec 2022 15.5 -0.5 7.2 8 Dec 2022 53.8 63.0 average 85%
Kuitpo Forest Reserve 24.9 -0.4 37.6 27 Dec 2022 13.3 -0.4 7.1 8 Dec 2022 67.6 85.7 average 79%
Mount Barker 27.4 +1.0 37.9 27 Dec 2022 12.3 +0.8 6.6 6 Dec 2022 61.0 86.7 average 70%
Mount Crawford AWS 26.1 -0.5 37.5 27 Dec 2022 12.6 -0.8 5.1 15 Dec 2022 80.8 81.3 average 99%
Mount Lofty 23.8 +2.0 35.3 27 Dec 2022 12.0 0.0 4.9 6 Dec 2022 69.0 119.8 low 58%
Noarlunga 28.2 +0.6 40.8 27 Dec 2022 16.1 -0.4 8.8 14 Dec 2022 35.4 55.1 low 64%
Parafield Airport 30.0 +0.9 42.2 27 Dec 2022 15.6 -0.3 6.6 8 Dec 2022 48.8 64.1 average 76%

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. 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 Adelaide “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 10 am on Wednesday 1 March 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.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057

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