Thursday, 1 September 2011 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC27R0

Tasmania in winter 2011: Wet with flooding in the northeast

Two heavy flooding rain events in August meant it was a wet winter in the northeast of Tasmania.
Night time and daytime temperatures were warmer than average this winter, following a very warm August. There were however, a few very cold nights, mostly in July.

• Wet with flooding in the northeast in August
• Warm winter days and nights
• Strong winds and large waves in June and July
• A record low -11.2 °C for Liawenee

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

A wet winter in the northeast

The northeast received well above average rainfall due to wet conditions in June and August . Winter rainfall totals in the northeast generally ranged from 200 mm to 300 mm, increasing up to 900 mm at Mount Victoria (not far behind the usually wet Strathgordon in the southwest with 919 mm). Fingal recorded its wettest winter in 20 years with 347 mm following its wettest August on record. In contrast, the driest winter site was Maria Island off the southeast coast, where 104 mm was recorded.

Winter rainfall was generally close to average across the rest of Tasmania. Cold fronts delivered most of the state’s rainfall, along with the passage of low pressure systems across Bass Strait delivering rainfall to the north and east of Tasmania in July and August. In the south, Richmond and Huonville had their wettest winter days on record on 8 and 9 June respectively associated with the passage of a low pressure system and cold front.

Flooding in the northeast

There were two significant flooding events in the northeast this winter associated with complex areas of low pressure to the north of Tasmania. Both events were in August and within a week of each other, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage to infrastructure.

Warm winter nights with a few very cold ones

Average minimum temperatures were up to 2 °C warmer than normal for winter, due largely to very warm nights in August when several sites across Tasmania had their warmest August minimum temperatures on record. Nights were warm at the end of July too, with Bushy Park, Butlers Gorge, Tarraleah Village and Strahan all recording their warmest July nights on record on the 29th.

There were some very cold nights this winter however, most of those in July. Of particular note was the 23rd of July when Liawenee recorded its coldest temperature ever with -11.2 °C. The mix of a mild August and a cold July ensured that no other winter temperature records were set.

A very warm end to winter

Daytime temperatures were close to the winter average overall, but generally on the warm side. The coldest days were in July. Many areas were on track to record their coldest July in several years until a warm spell developed at the end of the month. This warmth generally persisted for the rest of winter. For most areas, their warmest winter days were either at the start or the end of August.

Bicheno was the warmest winter location, recording an average winter maximum of 14.7 °C, whilst Mount Wellington, as usual, had the coolest days with a mean winter maximum of 4.0 °C.

Wild weather

In addition to the two flooding events in August, there were two other significant weather events in winter. Strong winds, large waves, and low level snow affected Tasmania in the first week of June, and again in the first week of July. Winds were especially damaging in the July event, and the waverider buoy off Cape Sorell recorded an exceptionally large 18.68 m wave.

Hobart: a warm winter with average rainfall

Temperatures were warmer than normal overall and rainfall was close to average in Hobart this winter. Both the average maximum (13.3°C) and the average minimum (5.9 °C) temperatures were close to one degree warmer than the long-term winter average. Daytime temperatures were below average for most of July, when Hobart was on track to record its coolest July in 16 years, but temperatures rose at the end of the month and remained warmer than average for most of winter. Hobart had 25 winter days were the maximum temperature was 15 °C or higher, compared to the average of 14 days. The warmest day was on 24 August where the temperature rose to 22 °C, which was the warmest winter day since 30 August 2006.

Hobart did have some cold winter nights. On 16 June the temperature dipped to 0.8 °C, and every night from 23 July to 27 July it dropped below 2 °C, and right down to 0.6 °C on both 25 and 27 July. In contrast, it stayed above 11 °C from 17 to 21 August.

The 168 mm of rain that Hobart received this winter was very close to average, and slightly more than the 124 mm received last winter. There was 43 mm of rain over two days early in June, ensuring it was the wettest of the months this winter.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Maps
	Observed	Anomaly	Decile rank
Total rainfall
Mean daily maximum temperatures
Mean daily minimum temperatures

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Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top