Tuesday, 3 June 2008 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Western Australia - Product code IDCKGC21R0

Western Australia in autumn 2008
A dry and warm autumn


Summary

  • WA statewide rainfall below average.
  • Fifth highest mean maximum temperature for WA.
  • Near average overnight temperature for WA.

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Details

Rainfall

Autumn 2008 was a dry autumn for Western Australia as a whole. Most of the central and eastern of the state received below to very much below average autumn rainfall contrasting with above to very much above average autumn rainfall in the southwest Pilbara, west Gascoyne and southwest corner of WA (see autumn 2008 rainfall decile map).

Temperature

Mean maximum temperatures in autumn 2008 were above to very much above average across a large area of WA whilst near average daytime temperatures were experienced in the Kimberley and western parts of the state. The statewide mean maximum temperature was 1.16°C above normal, the fifth highest autumn on record.

Mean minimum temperatures in autumn 2008 were above to very much above average in a large area of the southern half of WA, whilst below to very much below average minima were recorded in the Kimberley, Exmouth and adjacent areas. The statewide mean minimum temperature was near average with 0.20°C above normal.

Extremes

Hottest day
Highest temperature		 45.7°C at Eyre on 13 Mar
Warmest days on average
Highest mean daily maximum temperature		 36.3°C at Fitzroy Crossing Aero
36.3°C at Marble Bar
Coolest days on average
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature		 21.0°C at Shannon
Coldest day
Lowest daily maximum temperature		 12.2°C at Rocky Gully on 19 Apr
Coldest night
Lowest temperature		 −0.9°C at Eyre on 13 Apr
Coolest nights on average
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature		 9.0°C at Collie East
Warmest nights on average
Highest mean daily minimum temperature		 26.1°C at Troughton Island
22.0°C at Onslow
Warmest night
Highest daily minimum temperature		 30.2°C at Leonora Aero on 7 Mar
Wettest overall
Highest total rainfall		 497.2 mm at Exmouth Town
Driest overall
Lowest total rainfall		 4.6 mm at Rawlinna Homestead
Wettest day
Highest daily rainfall		 234.4 mm at Exmouth Town on 27 Mar
Highest wind gust
 163 km/h at Roebourne Aero on 8 Mar

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Records

Record highest autumn daily rainfall
Highest daily rainfall
in autumn 2008 (mm) 		Previous highest
for autumn		 Years of
record
Warroora 135.0 on 5 Apr 126.0 on 6 Mar 2000 72
Hamelin Station 131.0 on 30 Mar 125.0 on 9 Mar 2000 60
Theda 170.0 on 12 Mar 160.0 on 27 Mar 2006 39
Victoria Dam 82.8 on 6 Apr 76.2 on 13 May 1988 40
Exmouth Town 234.4 on 27 Mar 137.8 on 20 May 1984 37
Urala 159.4 on 27 Mar 137.0 on 28 May 1989 31


Record highest total autumn rainfall
Total rainfall
for autumn 2008 (mm) 		Previous highest
for autumn		 Years of
record		 Normal for
autumn
Exmouth Town 497.2 318.6 in 2000 37 109.2


Record highest autumn temperature
Highest temperature
in autumn 2008 (°C) 		Previous highest
for autumn		 Years of
record		 Normal for
autumn
Salmon Gums Res.Stn. 43.2 on 7 Mar 42.5 on 12 Mar 1954 67 23.6
Esperance 44.0 on 7 Mar 42.7 on 9 Mar 1992 39 22.9




Record lowest autumn mean daily minimum temperature
Mean daily minimum
temperature
for autumn 2008 (°C) 		Previous lowest
for autumn		 Years of
record		 Normal for
autumn
Wyndham 20.2 21.1 in 1976 40 23.3


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Notes

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Tuesday 3 June 2008. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

Normals 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 30 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The median is sometimes more representative than the mean of "normal" rain.

Further information

Yanhui Blockley
Western Australia Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (08) 9263 2222
Email climate.wa@bom.gov.au