Monday, 3 December 2012 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Melbourne Metropolitan Area and Environs - Product code IDCKGC26L0

Melbourne in spring 2012: Dry with hot days

Spring 2012 in Melbourne was characterised by:

  • Below average rainfall
  • Warmer than usual daytime temperatures
  • Mostly typical night-time temperatures.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Preliminary rainfall data indicates that spring 2012 in Melbourne was much drier than usual. The wettest station overall was Cranbourne Botanic Gardens with 155.2 mm while the driest was Essendon Airport with 74.0 mm. The wettest single day was 19 September when Avalon Airport recorded 30.0 mm. September was drier than normal with some stations only recording about half their average rainfall. October did not provide any relief with many stations recording less than half their average rainfall. Rainfall totals for November were also below average.

Temperature

The warmest station on average was Melbourne Regional Office with 16.2 °C, whilst the coolest on average was Coldstream with 13.8 °C.

Maximum temperature

Daytime temperatures were warmer than normal around Melbourne in spring 2012. The hottest day was 29 November when Melbourne Regional Office recorded 39.6 °C (several stations recorded their highest spring temperature on record on the 29th). Melbourne Regional Office also recorded the warmest days on average with 20.9 °C. The coolest days on average were at Cerberus with 19.0 °C. The lowest maximum temperature was 11.7 °C recorded at Coldstream on 29 September and Melbourne Regional Office on 11 October. Overall, daytime temperatures were close to normal during September and October. November delivered warmer than normal daytime temperatures to the Melbourne area.

Minimum temperature

Night-time temperatures around Melbourne were typical for spring. The coldest night was 2 September when Coldstream recorded -0.5 °C and Coldstream also recorded the coolest nights on average with 7.5 °C. The warmest nights on average were recorded at Melbourne Regional Office with 11.5 °C which also recorded the warmest night of the season on 30 November with 24.1 °C. Some stations had their warmest spring night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record. Night-time temperatures were warmer than normal during September but close to average for October. November delivered warmer than normal night-time temperatures.

Further information

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Extremes in spring 2012
Hottest day 39.6 °C at Melbourne Regional Office on 29 Nov
Warmest days on average 20.9 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Coolest days on average 19.0 °C at Cerberus
Coldest day 11.7 °C at Coldstream on 29 Sep
11.7 °C at Melbourne Airport on 11 Oct
Coldest night -0.5 °C at Coldstream on 2 Sep
Coolest nights on average 7.5 °C at Coldstream
Warmest nights on average 11.5 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Warmest night 24.1 °C at Melbourne Regional Office on 30 Nov
Warmest on average overall 16.2 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Coolest on average overall 13.8 °C at Coldstream
Wettest overall 155.2 mm at Cranbourne Botanic Gardens
Driest overall 74.0 mm at Essendon Airport
Wettest day 30.0 mm at Avalon Airport on 19 Sep
Highest wind gust 98 km/h at Melbourne Airport on 5 Sep

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record highest spring temperature
Highest temperature
in spring 2012 (°C) 		Previous warmest
for spring		 Years of
record		 Average for
spring
Essendon Airport 39.3 on 29 Nov 38.3 on 23 Nov 1966 43 19.2
Moorabbin Airport 39.5 on 29 Nov 38.7 on 26 Nov 1997 42 19.2
Cranbourne Botanic Gardens 38.0 on 29 Nov 36.7 on 26 Nov 1997 23 18.7
Avalon Airport 39.5 on 29 Nov 39.0 on 26 Nov 1997 18 19.9
Viewbank 39.1 on 29 Nov 38.4 on 20 Nov 2009 14 20.5


Record highest spring daily minimum temperature
Highest daily minimum
temperature
in spring 2012 (°C) 		Previous warmest
for spring		 Years of
record		 Average for
spring
Bundoora (Latrobe University) 23.6 on 30 Nov 23.2 on 23 Nov 1997 30 8.9
Coldstream 21.5 on 30 Nov 21.2 on 3 Nov 2005 19 7.0
Viewbank 23.2 on 30 Nov 21.2 on 28 Oct 2007 13 9.3

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for spring 2012
Maximum temperatures
for spring
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for spring
(°C)		 Rainfall
for spring
(millimetres)
Mean for
spring
2012		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
spring
2012		 Mean for
spring
2012		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
spring
2012		 Total for
spring
2012		 Average
for
spring		 Rank of
spring
2012		 Fraction of
spring
average
East Central (district 86)
Bundoora (Latrobe University) 20.3 +0.7 38.5 29 Nov 9.2 +0.3 1.6 2 Sep 119.3 194.2 v low 61%
Cerberus 19.0 +0.7 36.6 29 Nov 9.0 +0.1 0.8 2 Sep 150.2 189.0 low 79%
Coldstream 20.1 +0.3 36.5 29 Nov 7.5 +0.5 -0.5 2 Sep 154.8 213.2 low 73%
Cranbourne Botanic Gardens 19.4 +0.7 38.0 29 Nov 9.1 +0.1 3.2 2 Sep 155.2 241.9 low 64%
Essendon Airport 20.6 +1.4 39.3 29 Nov 9.4 +1.2 2.7 2 Sep 74.0 170.4 v low 43%
Melbourne Airport 20.4 +1.2 39.3 29 Nov 8.7 +0.1 1.5 10 Sep 77.2 165.4 v low 47%
Melbourne Regional Office 20.9 +1.3 39.6 29 Nov 11.5 +1.9 5.3 2 Sep 105.6 184.4 low 57%
Moorabbin Airport 19.8 +0.6 39.5 29 Nov 10.0 +0.6 2.4 2 Sep 112.4 199.3 v low 56%
Scoresby Research Institute 20.2 +1.3 39.0 29 Nov 9.2 +0.3 2.3 1 Sep 152.0 250.9 low 61%
Viewbank 20.7 +0.2 39.1 29 Nov 9.4 +0.1 1.2 2 Sep 107.6 200.1 v low 54%
West Central (district 87)
Avalon Airport 20.1 +0.2 39.5 29 Nov 8.2 -0.2 0.7 2 Sep 108.8 147.6 low 74%
Laverton RAAF 20.2 +1.0 39.1 29 Nov 8.8 +0.5 1.2 2 Sep 86.4 159.2 v low 54%

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 December 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

Media
(03) 9669 4057
Enquiries

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