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

Tasmania in spring 2011: warm with a wet finish

Spring rainfall was close to average across Tasmania in 2011. In the north, a dry September was balanced by a wet November. Maximum temperatures were up to one degree warmer than normal following a warm September and November, whilst minimum temperatures were about half a degree warmer than average.

• Warm spring days and nights overall
• Average rainfall for the season
• Hobart’s warmest spring in 24 years
• A record 111 mm at Eddystone Point on 27 November

Monthly summaries have also been prepared for September, October and November.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

A wet finish to spring

Spring rainfall was close to average for all areas of Tasmania. It had been dry in the north in September, and average to dry across Tasmania in October, but wet conditions in the last week of November helped raise overall spring rainfall totals. The most significant rainfall event was around 26 November when a low pressure system to the northeast of Tasmania extended rainfall state wide. The heaviest falls were in the northeast, notably at Eddystone Point which had its wettest spring day on record with 111 mm in the 24 hours to 9am on 27 November.

Lake Margaret Power Station’s 832 mm was the wettest confirmed overall (the rain gauge on Mount Read registered 1170 mm but was affected by snow on some days in October and the full total there is not known). In strong contrast, Fingal was the driest location with 105 mm for the whole season.

Warm spring days

Daytime temperatures were up to one degree warmer than normal overall, following warm conditions in September and November and a few hot days in October. There were many cool days in October. Most locations had their warmest spring day on 6 November when northerly winds pushed temperatures up into the high 20s at several locations, but a few had their warmest day around 19 October in similar conditions.

Warm spring nights

Average minimum temperatures were around half a degree warmer than normal for spring. This was due to warmer than average nights in November, and despite several very cold nights in October. Strahan and Dover had their lowest October temperatures on record, and the temperature dropped below -5 °C at Liawenee on four occasions. In contrast, at many locations the temperature did not drop below 10 °C in the final five days of November.

Hobart’s warmest spring in 24 years

Hobart’s spring average maximum temperature was 18.0 °C, which is just over a degree warmer than average. The last time spring days were this warm in Hobart was in 1987. There were warm conditions in September, a few very warm days in October, and a warm November.

The average minimum temperature of 8.7 °C was close to one degree warmer than normal due to several mild nights in September and November. The coldest spring nights were in October, with the temperature falling below 3 °C on two occasions (2.8 °C on the 25th was the coldest morning of spring). There were also a few warm nights in October however, with the warmest spring night of 16.6 °C occurring on the 20th.

Hobart’s spring rainfall total of 162 mm was just shy of the long-term spring average of 170 mm, but much lower than the 235 mm received last spring, or the 268 mm received in the spring of 2009.

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