Friday, 1 June 2012 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Melbourne Metropolitan Area and Environs - Product code IDCKGC1xx0
Autumn 2012 summary for the Melbourne Area: Warm nights and wetter than normal
Autumn 2012 was characterised by:
- Warmer than normal night-time temperatures
- Above average rainfall
- Mostly close to normal maximum temperatures.
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
Rainfall
Preliminary rainfall totals for autumn in the Melbourne area are above normal. March 2012 delivered above average rainfall totals to the Melbourne area whilst April totals were mostly closer to normal but with some areas of above average rainfall in the east. May turned out wetter than usual. The wettest station overall was Cerberus with 307.6 mm, while the driest is Avalon Airport with 123.0 mm. The wettest single day was 25 April when Scoresby Research Institute recorded 63.4 mm. Coldstream observed their highest autumn daily rainfall on record. Cerberus has observed their highest autumn rainfall on record.
Temperature
The warmest station on average was Melbourne Regional Office with 16.5 °C whilst the coolest on average was Coldstream with 14.0 °C.
Maximum temperature
Average maximum temperatures in the Melbourne area were mostly close to normal for autumn 2012. Most stations in the Melbourne area recorded average maximum temperatures more than 1 °C below normal during March. During April, most stations recorded average maximum temperatures between 0.5 °C and 1.5 °C above normal. Maximum temperatures during May in the Melbourne area have been average to below average. The hottest day was 14 March when Avalon Airport recorded 33.0 °C. Melbourne Regional Office recorded the warmest days on average with 20.8 °C while Cerberus recorded the coolest with 19.3 °C. The coldest day was 25 May when Scoresby Research Institute recorded 10.5 °C.
Minimum temperature
Average minimum temperatures were warmer than normal in the Melbourne area during autumn 2012. Average minimum temperatures during March and April were generally close to normal with most stations recording monthly minimum temperatures within 0.5 °C of their respective long-term averages. Average minimum temperatures during May have ranged from close to normal to very much above normal. The coldest night was 21 May when Coldstream recorded -1.1 °C and Coldstream also recorded the coolest nights on average with 8.0 °C. The warmest nights on average were recorded at Melbourne Regional Office with 12.2 °C and Melbourne Regional Office also recorded the warmest night of the season on 15 March with 21.2 °C.
Wind
The strongest wind gust was 89 km/h recorded at Avalon Airport on 6 April.
Further information
Dr Harvey SternClimate Meteorologist
Victoria Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 9669 4956
Email climate.vic@bom.gov.au
| Extremes in autumn 2012 | |
|---|---|
| Hottest day | 33.0 °C at Avalon Airport on 14 Mar |
| Warmest days on average | 20.8 °C at Melbourne Regional Office |
| Coolest days on average | 19.3 °C at Cerberus |
| Coldest day | 10.5 °C at Scoresby Research Institute on 25 May |
| Coldest night | -1.1 °C at Coldstream on 21 May |
| Coolest nights on average | 8.0 °C at Coldstream |
| Warmest nights on average | 12.2 °C at Melbourne Regional Office |
| Warmest night | 21.2 °C at Melbourne Regional Office on 15 Mar |
| Warmest on average overall | 16.5 °C at Melbourne Regional Office |
| Coolest on average overall | 14.0 °C at Coldstream |
| Wettest overall | 307.6 mm at Cerberus |
| Driest overall | 123.0 mm at Avalon Airport |
| Wettest day | 63.4 mm at Scoresby Research Institute on 25 Apr |
| Highest wind gust | 89 km/h at Avalon Airport on 6 Apr |
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Record highest autumn daily rainfall | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Highest daily rainfall in autumn 2012 (mm) |
Previous wettest for autumn |
Years of record |
||||
| Coldstream | 56.0 | on 25 Apr | 46.0 | on 24 Apr 2001 | 18 | |
| Record highest total autumn rainfall | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total rainfall for autumn 2012 (mm) |
Previous wettest for autumn |
Years of record |
Average for autumn |
||
| Cerberus | 307.6 | 293.2 | in 1995 | 21 | 181.9 |
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Summary statistics for autumn 2012 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures for autumn (°C) |
Minimum temperatures for autumn (°C) |
Rainfall for autumn (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean for autumn 2012 |
Diff from average |
Highest for autumn 2012 |
Mean for autumn 2012 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for autumn 2012 |
Total for autumn 2012 |
Average for autumn |
Rank of autumn 2012 |
Fraction of autumn average |
|||
| East Central (district 86) | ||||||||||||
| Bundoora (Latrobe University) | 20.1 | -0.4 | 31.5 | 14 Mar | 10.5 | +0.5 | 1.1 | 21 May | 196.6 | 152.8 | high | 129% |
| Cerberus | 19.3 | -0.4 | 32.0 | 14 Mar | 10.8 | +0.6 | 3.6 | 30 Apr | 307.6 | 181.9 | highest | 169% |
| Coldstream | 20.0 | -0.6 | 31.3 | 14 Mar | 8.0 | +0.8 | -1.1 | 21 May | 228.8 | 176.8 | high | 129% |
| Cranbourne Botanic Gardens | 19.4 | -0.4 | 31.4 | 14 Mar | 10.3 | 0.0 | 3.6 | 21 May | 274.8 | 181.4 | v high | 151% |
| Essendon Airport | 20.1 | +0.1 | 31.4 | 14 Mar | 10.5 | +0.6 | 3.7 | 21 May | 161.0 | 144.0 | high | 112% |
| Melbourne Airport | 19.8 | -0.5 | 30.8 | 14 Mar | 10.1 | -0.3 | 3.8 | 30 Apr | 152.4 | 121.7 | high | 125% |
| Melbourne Regional Office | 20.8 | +0.5 | 31.6 | 14 Mar | 12.2 | +1.3 | 4.6 | 21 May | 189.6 | 163.6 | high | 116% |
| Moorabbin Airport | 19.9 | -0.3 | 31.5 | 14 Mar | 11.0 | +0.4 | 3.0 | 30 Apr | 214.0 | 178.3 | high | 120% |
| Scoresby Research Institute | 19.8 | -0.3 | 30.8 | 14 Mar | 10.3 | +0.1 | 3.3 | 21 May | 290.6 | 213.5 | v high | 136% |
| Viewbank | 20.4 | -0.8 | 32.1 | 14 Mar | 10.2 | +0.1 | 1.1 | 21 May | 201.2 | 157.1 | high | 128% |
| West Central (district 87) | ||||||||||||
| Avalon Airport | 20.6 | +0.1 | 33.0 | 14 Mar | 10.0 | +0.2 | 2.7 | 21 May | 123.0 | 99.5 | high | 124% |
| Laverton RAAF | 20.2 | 0.0 | 31.5 | 14 Mar | 10.1 | +0.1 | 2.4 | 21 May | 147.0 | 127.9 | high | 115% |
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
Notes
A Seasonal Climate Summary is prepared to list the main features of the weather in Melbourne Metropolitan Area and Environs 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 12 pm on Friday 1 June 2012. 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 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.
Further information
Dr Harvey SternClimate Meteorologist
Victoria Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 9669 4956
Email climate.vic@bom.gov.au
