Monday, 2 March 2020 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC27R0

Tasmania in summer 2019-20: record hot days, rain below average

Tasmania saw plenty of hot weather during December and January, but in February days were mostly cooler than average. Rainfall was below average for most of the State, despite a wet December in the west and some wet days in the northeast during February.

Below average rainfall for most of Tasmania

• Most of the State had less than average summer rainfall, with some sites in the southeast having only half of their summer average
• The west had a wet December, and summer rainfall totals were close to or slightly above average there
• Some wet days in the northeast and on King Island during February meant summer totals were average or above there
• Overall, Tasmania's summer rainfall was about 5% below average

Record hot days, record cool days, cool in February, warm overall

• Tasmania saw plenty of hot weather during December and January, but in February days were mostly cooler than average
• Some sites had their highest temperature on record either on 30 December or 31 January, with the highest temperature in the State over 40 °C on both days
• Friendly Beaches reached 41.9 °C on 30 December, the second-highest temperature ever reported in Tasmania (just behind Scamander's 42.2 °C on 30 January 2009)
• There was also some very cool days, including 2 and 3 December which saw several sites have their coldest summer day on record
• Night-time temperatures were above average in most areas apart from the northwest: Marrawah had its lowest summer mean daily minimum temperature since 1995
• Taken across all of summer, temperatures were above average for most of the State away from the far northwest
• Tasmania's mean maximum temperature for the summer was 0.27 °C above average, the mean minimum temperature was 0.32 °C above average, and the overall mean temperature was 0.29 °C above average; all considerably cooler than last summer

Little rain and some hot days for Hobart

• Total rainfall for Hobart (Ellerslie Road) was 65.4 mm, which is 46% of the long-term average of 142.7 mm
• The mean daily maximum temperature for Hobart (Ellerslie Road) was 22.3 °C, which is 1.0 °C above the long-term average of 21.3 °C
• Hobart recorded 40.8 °C on 30 December and 40.4 °C on 31 January: Hobart has only reached 40 °C on nine days over 134 years of record, and two of those days were this summer
• A maximum temperature of 40.8 °C on 30 December was the equal-second highest temperature ever recorded at the Ellerslie Road site, behind 41.8 °C on 4 January 2013 and equal to 4 January 1976
• The coolest day was on 3 February when the temperature reached 15.1 °C
• The mean daily minimum temperature for Hobart (Ellerslie Road) was 12.4 °C, which is 0.7 °C above the long-term average of 11.7 °C
• The coldest morning was 5.8 °C on 4 December, and the warmest morning was on 1 February when the minimum temperature was 19.9 °C

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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

Click on a map to show it full size in a pop-up window

* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a higher value has gone unreported

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top