Monday, 3 September 2012 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Melbourne Metropolitan Area and Environs - Product code IDCKGC2xx0

Melbourne in winter 2012: Wettest winter since 1996

Winter 2012 in Melbourne was characterised by:

  • Above average rainfall
  • Minimum temperatures ranging from average to very much above average
  • Close to normal daytime temperatures.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Rainfall totals for winter 2012 in the Melbourne area ranged from average to very much above average. Although Melbourne's winter total wasn't exceptional, compared to the winter rainfall over the past 16 years (not including 2010), you'd be excused for thinking it had been a wet winter. Rainfall totals for June were above average but July and August were closer to normal. The wettest station overall was Cranbourne Botanic Gardens with 276.6 mm and the driest with only 139.0 mm was Melbourne Airport. Cerberus recorded the most rain days for the season with 72 and Melbourne Airport the least with 50. The wettest single day was 22 June when Cranbourne Botanic Gardens recorded 57.0 mm (their highest winter daily rainfall on record).

Temperature

The warmest station on average (maximum and minimum temperatures combined) was Melbourne Regional Office with 11.4 °C whilst the coolest on average was Coldstream with 9.1 °C.

Maximum temperature

Average maximum temperatures were mostly close to normal in the Melbourne area during winter 2012. June provided typical daytime temperatures but July was warmer than normal. August maximum temperatures were mostly close to average. The hottest day of winter was 22 August when Coldstream recorded 21.5 °C and Melbourne Regional Office recorded the warmest days on average with 14.9 °C. Coldstream also recorded the coldest day of winter on 1 July with 9.0 °C and the coolest days on average, 13.7 °C, were recorded at Bundoora (Latrobe University), Cranbourne Botanic Gardens and Melbourne Airport.

Minimum temperature

Minimum temperatures during winter 2012 around Melbourne ranged from average to very much above average. Night-time temperatures during June were close to normal but during July and August they were warmer than usual. The coldest night was 8 July when Coldstream recorded -3.8 °C and  Coldstream recorded the coolest nights on average with 4.5 °C. The warmest nights on average were recorded at Melbourne Regional Office with 7.9 °C and Melbourne Regional Office recorded the warmest night of winter on 23 August with 13.1 °C.

Wind

The strongest wind gust was 89 km/h recorded at Melbourne Airport with on 8 August and at Avalon Airport  on 23 August.

Further information

Dr Harvey Stern
Climate Meteorologist
Victoria Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 9669 4956
Extremes in winter 2012
Hottest day 21.5 °C at Coldstream on 22 Aug
Warmest days on average 14.9 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Coolest days on average 13.7 °C at Bundoora (Latrobe University)
13.7 °C at Cranbourne Botanic Gardens
13.7 °C at Melbourne Airport
Coldest day 9.0 °C at Coldstream on 1 Jul
Coldest night -3.8 °C at Coldstream on 8 Jul
Coolest nights on average 4.5 °C at Coldstream
Warmest nights on average 7.9 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Warmest night 13.1 °C at Melbourne Regional Office on 23 Aug
Warmest on average overall 11.4 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Coolest on average overall 9.1 °C at Coldstream
Wettest overall 276.6 mm at Cranbourne Botanic Gardens
Driest overall 139.0 mm at Melbourne Airport
Wettest day 57.0 mm at Cranbourne Botanic Gardens on 22 Jun
Highest wind gust 89 km/h at Melbourne Airport on 8 Aug
89 km/h at Avalon Airport on 23 Aug

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record highest winter daily rainfall
Highest daily rainfall
in winter 2012 (mm) 		Previous wettest
for winter		 Years of
record
Cranbourne Botanic Gardens 57.0 on 22 Jun 43.4 on 27 Aug 1999 23

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for winter 2012
Maximum temperatures
for winter
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for winter
(°C)		 Rainfall
for winter
(millimetres)
Mean for
winter
2012		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
winter
2012		 Mean for
winter
2012		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
winter
2012		 Total for
winter
2012		 Average
for
winter		 Rank of
winter
2012		 Fraction of
winter
average
East Central (district 86)
Bundoora (Latrobe University) 13.7 -0.3 21.0 22 Aug 6.2 +0.3 -1.2 7 Jul 214.8 162.1 high 133%
Cerberus 13.8 -0.3 18.6 28 Aug 6.6 +0.1 0.3 8 Jul 254.6 222.3 average 115%
Coldstream 13.8 -0.2 21.5 22 Aug 4.5 +0.5 -3.8 8 Jul 247.4 196.5 high 126%
Cranbourne Botanic Gardens 13.7 -0.2 20.7 22 Aug 6.5 +0.2 0.7 12 Jun 276.6 227.0 high 122%
Essendon Airport 13.9 +0.3 20.5 22 Aug 6.3 +0.8 0.0 7 Jul 142.2 131.3 average 108%
Melbourne Airport 13.7 0.0 19.4 29 Aug 5.9 +0.1 -0.2 8 Jul 139.0 119.7 average 116%
Melbourne Regional Office 14.9 +0.7 21.2 22 Aug 7.9 +1.4 2.3 7 Jul 184.0 146.8 high 125%
Moorabbin Airport 14.2 0.0 20.1 22 Aug 6.8 +0.3 -0.8 8 Jul 202.8 184.6 average 110%
Scoresby Research Institute 13.9 +0.3 20.6 22 Aug 6.4 +0.3 0.3 27 Jun 250.6 224.0 high 112%
Viewbank 14.1 -0.4 21.0 22 Aug 6.3 +0.2 -1.2 7 Jul 187.2 158.7 high 118%
West Central (district 87)
Avalon Airport 14.3 -0.5 19.5 28 Aug 5.9 +0.5 -2.1 8 Jul 195.6 120.1 v high 163%
Laverton RAAF 14.2 0.0 20.1 22 Aug 6.2 +0.8 -0.6 7 Jul 139.4 122.1 high 114%

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 1 pm on Monday 3 September 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 Stern
Climate Meteorologist
Victoria Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 9669 4956