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Monday, 2 December 2013 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC17R0
Tasmania in spring 2013: wet and windy, with cool days and mild nights
Spring brought a variety of weather to Tasmania, but overall it was wet with cool days and relatively mild nights.
- A wet spring for most of Tasmania
- Mostly cool days
- Some low temperatures, but mild by night overall
- Damaging westerly winds
Summaries have also been prepared covering each of the months of spring: September, October and November. The 2013 Annual Climate Summary for Tasmania will be published on Friday 3 January 2014.
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
A wet spring for most of Tasmania
Rainfall was above average for almost all of Tasmania, and very much above average in parts. There were a few pockets of average rain, notably in the eastern north around Waterhouse, and the western coastal strip. September was generally wetter than usual (although not as extreme as August), with some heavy falls in both the west and the northeast: Gray (Haven of Hope) received 119 mm in the 24 hours to 9 am on the 18th. October was dominated by westerly winds and was much wetter than usual across the west and into the southeast. November brought three heavy rain events that gave the east a very wet month (Gray had 258 mm in the 24 hours to 9 am on the 13th), but was relatively dry in the west.
Some sites (including Launceston) had their highest total spring rainfall on record, or their highest for many years. The wettest confirmed total for spring was Strathgordon Village with 963.7 mm; Mount Read received at least 1248 mm, but the exact total is not known as the gauge was affected by snow during September. The driest overall was Mount Morriston (Macquarie River) with just 178.4 mm for spring; Hobart Airport also missed out on several rainy events during September and had just 180.0 mm over spring.
Mostly cool days
With rain and cloud a common feature of spring, daytime temperatures were below average in most parts of the state. It was a mixed spring: September had relatively warm days, whilst October was mostly cooler than average despite some hot days. November was quite cool, especially in the southeast where mean maxima for November were close to those for September. Spring 2013 was also markedly cooler than spring 2012.
Friendly Beaches had the hottest day of spring with 30.7 °C on 20 October, and several sites reached the high 20s on 6 November. At the other extreme, on 11 September Mount Wellington only reached −3.1 ° and the next day it reached only −1.7 °C.
Some low temperatures, but mild by night overall
Although days were cool, overnight minimum temperatures were above the spring average in most areas, and especially so in the north and east. September had particularly mild nights, October was generally warm, and November's overnight temperatures were somewhat mixed. Even though most nights were relatively mild, there was plenty of cold nights as well, with several inland sites having their lowest recorded spring temperature on September 12 or 13. Liawenee dropped to −7.0 °C on 12 September, then −8.8 °C on the 13th.
Damaging westerly winds
Strong, gusty and damaging westerly winds were frequently observed during September and October. The strongest wind gusts for spring were at Hogan Island in northern Bass Strait with 161 km/h on 26 September and 157 km/h on the 28th, and Spring Bay recorded a gust to 143 km/h on 2 October.
Hobart
Hobart's mean daily maximum for spring of 17.1 °C was 0.2 °C above the long-term average. Hobart's warmest month was October, with November just 0.2 °C warmer than September (on average November is about 3.6 °C warmer than October in Hobart). The mean overnight minimum was 1.0 °C above the long-term average at 8.8 °C. Rainfall of 240.6 mm was almost double the 121.8 mm received in spring 2012, above the long-term average of 169.6 mm, but well short of the 400.9 mm from spring 1957. As elsewhere, damaging wind gusts were a feature of spring, with a peak gust in the city of 102 km/h on 5 October.
Further information
Ian Barnes-KeoghanClimatologist
Tasmania and Antarctica Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 6221 2043
Email climate.tas@bom.gov.au
| Extremes in spring 2013 | |
|---|---|
| Hottest day | 30.7 °C at Friendly Beaches on 20 Oct |
| Warmest days on average | 18.2 °C at Friendly Beaches |
| Coolest days on average | 7.2 °C at Mount Wellington |
| Coldest day | -3.1 °C at Mount Wellington on 11 Sep |
| Coldest night | -8.8 °C at Liawenee on 13 Sep |
| Coolest nights on average | 0.3 °C at Mount Wellington |
| Warmest nights on average | 10.6 °C at Swan Island |
| Warmest night | 16.6 °C at Friendly Beaches on 20 Oct |
| Warmest on average overall | 13.5 °C at Flinders Island Airport and Friendly Beaches |
| Coolest on average overall | 3.8 °C at Mount Wellington |
| Wettest overall | 963.7 mm at Strathgordon Village * |
| Driest overall | 178.4 mm at Mount Morriston (Macquarie River) |
| Wettest day | 258.0 mm at Gray (Haven of Hope) on 13 Nov |
| Highest wind gust | 161 km/h at Hogan Island on 26 Sep |
* Mount Read received at least 1248 mm, but the gauge was affected by snow during September and the true total there is not known.
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Maps | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Observed | Anomaly | Decile rank | |
| Total rainfall |
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| Mean daily maximum temperatures |
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| Mean daily minimum temperatures |
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Click on a map to show it full size in a pop-up window
| Record highest spring daily rainfall | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highest daily rainfall in spring 2013 (mm) |
Previous wettest for spring |
Years of record |
||||
| Strathgordon Village | 86.8 | on 12 Sep | 79.5 | on 17 Sep 1970 | 46 | |
| Lake St Clair National Park | 66.8 | on 17 Oct | 62.4 | on 30 Sep 2007 | 25 | |
| Mount Seymour | 45.4 | on 14 Nov | 36.2 | on 12 Sep 2005 | 21 | |
| Derwent Bridge | 53.2 | on 17 Oct | 43.0 | on 15 Sep 1996 | 20 | |
| Strathbridge (Meander River) | 44.4 | on 9 Nov | 36.6 | on 3 Nov 2005 | 20 | |
| Record highest total spring rainfall | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total rainfall for spring 2013 (mm) |
Previous wettest for spring |
Years of record |
Average for spring |
||
| Launceston (Ti Tree Bend) | 311.2 | 277.4 | in 2000 | 33 | 171.6 |
| Tea Tree (The Point) | 266.2 | 248.4 | in 2009 | 28 | 155.9 |
| Campbell Town (Elizabeth R) | 267.8 | 251.7 | in 1975 | 26 | 152.2 |
| Lake St Clair National Park | 843.4 | 781.4 | in 1996 | 24 | 542.5 |
| Highest total spring rainfall for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total rainfall for spring 2013 (mm) |
Most recent spring at least this wet |
Years since wetter |
Average for spring |
||
| Avoca (Railway House) | 269.4 | 711.0 | in 1904* | 100 | 150.2 |
| Lady Barron (Franklin Parade) | 315.4 | 357.8 | in 1916* | 64 | 178.8 |
| Rotherwood | 273.6 | 296.0 | in 1975 | 38 | 174.6 |
| Lake Leake (Elizabeth River) | 358.4 | 435.7 | in 1975* | 37 | 210.1 |
| Wynyard Airport | 369.0 | 440.1 | in 1952* | 35 | 263.0 |
| City of Melbourne Bay | 383.6 | 416.2 | in 1979 | 34 | 259.2 |
| St Marys (Cullenswood) | 336.2 | 346.1 | in 1976* | 29 | 186.8 |
| Lunawanna | 299.2 | 317.6 | in 1984* | 27 | 209.9 |
| Dover | 321.8 | 350.6 | in 1988* | 24 | 241.3 |
| King Island Airport | 298.0 | 314.8 | in 1992* | 20 | 220.0 |
* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a higher value has gone unreported.
| Record lowest spring temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest temperature in spring 2013 (°C) |
Previous coolest for spring |
Years of record |
Average for spring |
|||
| Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates) | -3.7 | on 13 Sep | = -3.7 | on 4 Sep 2008 | 52 | 5.7 |
| Butlers Gorge | -6.0 | on 12 Sep | = -6.0 | on 4 Sep 1993 | 41 | 2.4 |
| Geeveston (Cemetery Road) | -4.6 | on 13 Sep | -3.6 | on 9 Sep 1992 | 28 | 6.1 |
| Lake Leake (Elizabeth River) | -6.9 | on 13 Sep | -6.3 | on 4 Sep 2008 | 24 | 3.6 |
| Bull Bay (Lauriston) | 0.4 | on 12 Sep | 0.8 | on 5 Sep 1995 | 23 | 8.0 |
| Ross (The Boulevards) | -6.2 | on 13 Sep | -5.6 | on 23 Oct 2008 | 21 | 5.1 |
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Summary statistics for spring 2013 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures for spring (°C) |
Minimum temperatures for spring (°C) |
Rainfall for spring (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean for spring 2013 |
Diff from average |
Highest for spring 2013 |
Mean for spring 2013 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for spring 2013 |
Total for spring 2013 |
Average for spring |
Rank of spring 2013 |
Fraction of spring average |
|||
| Northern (district 91) | ||||||||||||
| Bridport (Sea View Villas) | 16.3 | -0.2 | 22.8 | 20 Oct | 8.2 | -0.1 | 1.5 | 14 Oct | 193.7 | 181.0 | average | 107% |
| Burnie (Round Hill) | 16.6 | +0.6 | 23.2 | 28 Nov | 9.1 | +0.9 | 2.8 | 12 Sep | 341.2 | 243.7 | high | 140% |
| Burnie NTC AWS | 15.2 | 22.0 | 19 Nov | 9.7 | 4.1 | 12 Sep | ||||||
| Cape Grim | 14.4 | 19.8 | 20 Oct | 9.7 | 3.0 | 13 Sep | 292.0 | |||||
| Cape Grim BAPS (Comparison) | 14.8 | +0.2 | 20.7 | 20 Oct | 9.7 | +0.2 | 3.2 | 13 Sep | 274.6 | 195.3 | high | 141% |
| Cressy Research Station | 16.7 | -0.7 | 24.0 | 19 Nov | 6.8 | +1.4 | -3.7 | 13 Sep | 303.6 | 172.9 | high | 176% |
| Devonport Airport | 16.2 | +0.3 | 22.3 | 28 Nov | 8.3 | +0.8 | 1.2 | 12 Sep | 263.4 | 197.9 | high | 133% |
| Launceston (Ti Tree Bend) | 17.9 | -0.1 | 25.0 | 19 Nov | 8.0 | +1.0 | -0.3 | 13 Sep | 311.2 | 171.6 | highest | 181% |
| Launceston Airport | 16.9 | 24.5 | 19 Nov | 6.3 | -2.0 | 13 Sep | 263.8 | 163.8 | v high | 161% | ||
| Low Head | 15.5 | 0.0 | 20.3 | 7 Nov | 10.1 | +0.4 | 4.2 | 12 Sep | 196.4 | 167.4 | average | 117% |
| Marrawah | 15.0 | -0.1 | 20.1 | 20 Oct | 8.9 | +0.6 | 2.5 | 12 Sep | 302.0 | 264.5 | high | 114% |
| Scottsdale (West Minstone Road) | 16.3 | -0.1 | 22.9 | 19 Nov | 6.5 | +0.4 | -0.6 | 14 Oct | 280.0 | 250.8 | average | 112% |
| Sheffield School Farm | 15.0 | -0.4 | 20.9 | 23 Nov | 6.5 | +0.5 | -0.7 | 12 Sep | 388.4 | 298.7 | high | 130% |
| Smithton Aerodrome | 16.4 | -0.1 | 23.0 | 20 Oct | 7.8 | +0.5 | 0.0 | 13 Sep | 338.0 | 244.8 | high | 138% |
| Wynyard Airport | 16.5 | +0.3 | 22.8 | 1 Nov | 7.3 | +1.0 | -0.4 | 12 Sep | 369.0 | 263.0 | v high | 140% |
| East Coast (district 92) | ||||||||||||
| Bicheno (Council Depot) | 17.5 | +0.2 | 28.6 | 20 Oct | 9.1 | +0.5 | 1.6 | 13 Sep | 340.6 | 159.7 | v high | 213% |
| Fingal (Legge Street) | 17.1 | -0.3 | 27.3 | 20 Oct | 5.6 | +0.6 | -5.7 | 13 Sep | 226.2 | 149.3 | high | 152% |
| Friendly Beaches | 18.2 | +0.1 | 30.7 | 20 Oct | 8.8 | +0.1 | -1.0 | 13 Sep | ||||
| Lake Leake (Elizabeth River) | 13.3 | -0.3 | 21.9 | 19 Nov | 4.1 | +0.5 | -6.9 | 13 Sep | 358.4 | 210.1 | v high | 171% |
| Larapuna (Eddystone Point) | 17.0 | +0.6 | 25.7 | 20 Oct | 9.7 | +0.4 | 2.9 | 14 Oct | 311.6 | 194.1 | v high | 161% |
| Maria Island (Point Lesueur) | 16.0 | 24.4 | 20 Oct | 9.5 | 2.8 | 12 Sep | 257.8 | 147.5 | high | 175% | ||
| Orford (Aubin Court) | 17.1 | -0.1 | 27.6 | 20 Oct | 7.8 | +0.5 | -1.5 | 13 Sep | 283.9 | 178.0 | v high | 159% |
| Spring Bay NTC AWS | 16.1 | 25.4 | 20 Oct | 9.5 | 1.2 | 13 Sep | ||||||
| St Helens Aerodrome | 17.4 | -0.1 | 26.1 | 20 Oct | 8.4 | +0.2 | 0.1 | 13 Sep | 401.0 | 209.8 | v high | 191% |
| Swan Island | 16.3 | +0.3 | 24.2 | 22 Nov | 10.6 | +0.3 | 5.3 | 12 Sep | 232.0 | 182.8 | high | 127% |
| Swansea (Francis Street) | 17.5 | 28.8 | 20 Oct | 8.0 | -2.1 | 13 Sep | 312.5 | |||||
| Midlands (district 93) | ||||||||||||
| Ross (The Boulevards) | 16.3 | -0.9 | 23.6 | 19 Nov | 6.0 | +0.9 | -6.2 | 13 Sep | 211.2 | 147.4 | high | 143% |
| Southeast (district 94) | ||||||||||||
| Campania (Kincora) | 17.2 | -1.0 | 27.2 | 6 Nov | 7.5 | +0.8 | -3.5 | 13 Sep | 219.0 | 140.8 | v high | 156% |
| Cape Bruny (Cape Bruny) | 15.3 | -0.2 | 26.9 | 6 Nov | 8.3 | -0.1 | 1.7 | 12 Sep | 319.2 | 205.8 | v high | 155% |
| Cape Bruny Lighthouse | 14.8 | +0.4 | 25.9 | 6 Nov | 8.3 | +0.3 | 1.8 | 12 Sep | 315.0 | 240.9 | high | 131% |
| Dennes Point | 16.3 | 25.4 | 19 Oct | 8.9 | 1.2 | 12 Sep | 204.0 | |||||
| Dover | 15.9 | -0.2 | 26.0 | 6 Nov | 6.8 | +0.4 | -1.8 | 13 Sep | 321.8 | 241.3 | high | 133% |
| Dunalley (Stroud Point) | 16.3 | 26.0 | 19 Oct | 9.2 | 2.0 | 12 Sep | ||||||
| Geeveston (Cemetery Road) | 16.3 | -0.2 | 28.5 | 6 Nov | 6.3 | +0.2 | -4.6 | 13 Sep | 328.0 | 256.5 | high | 128% |
| Grove (Research Station) | 16.5 | 27.8 | 6 Nov | 6.4 | -2.4 | 13 Sep | 252.8 | 215.2 | average | 117% | ||
| Hobart (Ellerslie Road) | 17.1 | +0.2 | 29.5 | 6 Nov | 8.8 | +1.0 | 0.6 | 13 Sep | 240.6 | 169.6 | high | 142% |
| Hobart Airport | 17.0 | -0.2 | 28.4 | 6 Nov | 8.5 | +0.9 | 0.0 | 13 Sep | 180.0 | 133.5 | high | 135% |
| Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse | 13.1 | -0.2 | 23.6 | 4 Sep | 8.2 | +0.6 | 2.5 | 11 Sep | 295.6 | 307.6 | average | 96% |
| Melton Mowbray (North Stockman) | 16.2 | -0.8 | 28.4 | 20 Oct | 6.1 | +0.3 | -4.2 | 13 Sep | 188.4 | 139.2 | high | 135% |
| Mount Wellington | 7.2 | +0.1 | 19.5 | 6 Nov | 0.3 | 0.0 | -6.1 | 12 Sep | ||||
| Tasman Island | 13.7 | -0.1 | 23.1 | 19 Oct | 7.8 | +0.1 | 0.6 | 12 Sep | 335.0 | 215.8 | v high | 155% |
| Tunnack Fire Station | 14.2 | -0.5 | 22.7 | 19 Oct | 4.8 | +0.2 | -6.5 | 13 Sep | 261.2 | 191.4 | high | 136% |
| Derwent Valley (district 95) | ||||||||||||
| Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates) | 17.7 | 0.0 | 29.4 | 6 Nov | 6.4 | +0.7 | -3.7 | 13 Sep | 195.2 | 164.5 | high | 119% |
| Maydena Post Office | 15.3 | -0.4 | 27.2 | 6 Nov | 5.1 | +0.2 | -2.1 | 13 Sep | 445.4 | 355.1 | high | 125% |
| Ouse Fire Station | 17.4 | -0.7 | 27.8 | 6 Nov | 6.2 | +0.8 | -4.1 | 13 Sep | 253.8 | 170.1 | v high | 149% |
| Central Plateau (district 96) | ||||||||||||
| Butlers Gorge | 12.4 | 0.0 | 23.1 | 6 Nov | 3.0 | +0.6 | -6.0 | 12 Sep | 704.6 | 471.5 | v high | 149% |
| Lake St Clair National Park | 12.6 | -0.2 | 23.1 | 6 Nov | 2.6 | +0.4 | -5.9 | 13 Sep | 843.4 | 542.5 | highest | 155% |
| Liawenee | 11.4 | -0.4 | 20.8 | 20 Oct | 1.3 | +0.4 | -8.8 | 13 Sep | ||||
| West Coast (district 97) | ||||||||||||
| Cape Sorell | 15.4 | +1.1 | 21.2 | 6 Nov | 9.2 | +0.5 | 2.7 | 12 Sep | 239.0 | 319.7 | low | 75% |
| Hartz Mountain (Keoghs Pimple) | 10.4 | -0.6 | 22.4 | 6 Nov | 2.7 | -0.2 | -3.4 | 11 Sep | ||||
| Low Rocky Point | 15.1 | 24.3 | 4 Sep | 8.5 | 1.1 | 12 Sep | 298.2 | 340.2 | average | 88% | ||
| Mount Read | 7.7 | 0.0 | 19.1 | 6 Nov | 1.4 | -0.1 | -5.1 | 12 Sep | ||||
| Scotts Peak Dam | 14.7 | -0.2 | 27.8 | 6 Nov | 5.4 | 0.0 | -1.4 | 12 Sep | 667.8 | 508.1 | v high | 131% |
| Strahan Aerodrome | 16.2 | +0.2 | 27.7 | 6 Nov | 7.5 | +0.2 | -1.0 | 13 Sep | 414.4 | 377.7 | average | 110% |
| Warra | 13.1 | 26.1 | 6 Nov | 4.2 | -4.3 | 13 Sep | 778.8 | |||||
| King Island (district 98) | ||||||||||||
| King Island Airport | 16.2 | +0.3 | 26.8 | 6 Nov | 9.8 | +0.8 | 3.9 | 5 Nov | 298.0 | 220.0 | v high | 135% |
| Flinders Island (district 99) | ||||||||||||
| Flinders Island Airport | 17.3 | +0.5 | 28.7 | 20 Oct | 9.8 | +1.0 | -1.2 | 13 Sep | 215.0 | 180.3 | high | 119% |
| Antarctica and Macquarie Island (district 300) | ||||||||||||
| Macquarie Island | 6.0 | +0.1 | 9.1 | 26 Nov | 1.9 | -0.2 | -5.0 | 13 Sep | 247.0 | 224.8 | average | 110% |
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
Notes
A Seasonal Climate Summary is prepared to list the main features of the weather in Tasmania 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 10 am on Monday 2 December 2013. 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
Ian Barnes-KeoghanClimatologist
Tasmania and Antarctica Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 6221 2043
Email climate.tas@bom.gov.au
