Greater Perth in summer 2023-24

Rainfall

  • Summer rainfall was below average across Greater Perth and seasonal rainfall totals were less than 10 mm, which was 80% to 99% below the summer average rainfall at most sites.
  • Bickley recorded the highest summer rainfall at 43.6 mm in the Greater Perth, which was the wettest summer for 4 years since 2020-21, although it was still 20% below its summer average rainfall. The highest daily rainfall was 34.8 mm on 17 January.

Temperature

  • Summer mean maximum temperatures were 1–3 °C above average. Perth Airport and a number of other sites had their highest summer temperature on record.
  • Perth Metro recorded a mean maximum temperature of 32.6 °C, which was 1.7 °C above average, and the second-warmest summer on record. The record is 33.3 °C in summer 2021–2022.
  • Perth Metro recorded 9 days in total with maximum temperatures at or above 40 °C this summer, the second highest number of such days, and the record is 13 days in summer 2021–2022.
  • A number of sites had their highest summer temperature on record.

Perth Metro

  • Total rainfall for Perth Metro was 6.8 mm, which is 17% of the long-term average of 38.9 mm.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Perth Metro was 32.6 °C, which is 1.7 °C above the long-term average of 30.9 °C.
  • The warmest day was 42.9 °C on 18 February, and the coolest day was on 25 February when the temperature reached 24.1 °C.
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Perth Metro was 18.6 °C, which is 0.9 °C above the long-term average of 17.7 °C.
  • The coldest morning was 14.1 °C on 9 December, and the warmest morning was on 19 February when the minimum temperature was 27.5 °C.

Extremes in summer 2023-24
Hottest day 46.1 °C at Pearce RAAF on 19 Feb 2024
Warmest days on average 35.3 °C at Pearce RAAF
Coolest days on average 27.7 °C at Rottnest Island
Coldest day 20.5 °C at Bickley on 25 Feb 2024
Coldest night 10.5 °C at Bickley on 9 Dec 2023
Coolest nights on average 16.4 °C at Bickley
Warmest nights on average 19.6 °C at Mandurah
19.6 °C at Rottnest Island
Warmest night 28.7 °C at Swanbourne on 19 Feb 2024
Warmest on average overall 26.6 °C at Pearce RAAF
Coolest on average overall 24.0 °C at Karnet
Wettest overall 43.6 mm at Bickley
Wettest day 34.8 mm at Bickley on 17 Jan 2024
Strongest wind gust 94 km/h at Millendon (Swan Valley) on 16 Jan 2024

Record highest summer temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
summer
Pearce RAAF 46.1 on 19 Feb 2024 46.0 on 4 Jan 1977 67 32.5
Bickley 42.1 on 1 Feb 2024 42.0 on 26 Feb 1997 31 29.9
Mandurah 42.0 on 16 Jan 2024 41.6 on 11 Jan 2014 23 28.9



Record highest summer mean daily maximum temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
summer
Perth Airport 34.3 34.1 in 2021 79 31.0
Pearce RAAF 35.3 35.2 in 2021 61 32.5
Bickley 32.1 31.9 in 2021 29 29.9
Garden Island HSF 29.3 29.1 in 2010 22 27.2
Mandurah 31.0 30.9 in 2021 22 28.9



Record highest summer daily minimum temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
summer
Swanbourne 28.7 on 19 Feb 2024 28.4 on 19 Jan 2022 31 17.9



Record highest summer mean daily minimum temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
summer
Jandakot Aero 18.0 = 18.0 in 2019 33 16.3
Bickley 16.4 16.2 in 2021 29 15.1

Highest summer mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years
Observed
(°C)
Most recent
higher
Average for
summer
Karnet 16.5 16.6 in 1977* 14.9

* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a higher value has gone unreported




Record highest summer mean temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
summer
Perth Airport 26.2 26.0 in 2021 79 23.8
Pearce RAAF 26.6 = 26.6 in 2021 61 24.5
Bickley 24.2 24.0 in 2021 29 22.5
Mandurah 25.3 25.2 in 2021 22 23.7



Summary statistics for summer 2023-24
Maximum temperatures
(°C)
Minimum temperatures
(°C)
Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
summer
2023-24
Diff
from
average
Highest for
summer
2023-24
Mean for
summer
2023-24
Diff
from
average
Lowest for
summer
2023-24
Total for
summer
2023-24
Average
for
summer
Rank of
summer
2023-24
Fraction of
summer
average
Bickley 32.1 +2.2 42.1 1 Feb 2024 16.4 +1.3 10.5 9 Dec 2023 43.6 54.1 average 81%
Garden Island HSF 29.3 +2.1 43.0 18 Feb 2024 19.1 +0.5 14.0 17 Feb 2024 3.0 36.5 low 8%
Jandakot Aero 33.0 +2.2 42.8 19 Feb 2024 18.0 +1.7 12.8 23 Jan 2024 2.8 42.9 low 7%
Karnet 31.7 +1.9 41.8 1 Feb 2024 16.5 +1.6 11.0 9 Dec 2023 8.9 55.5 low 16%
Mandurah 31.0 +2.1 42.0 16 Jan 2024 19.6 +1.0 14.2 9 Dec 2023 2.4 40.5 v low 6%
Millendon (Swan Valley) 34.7   45.1 1 Feb 2024 17.9   13.0 13 Dec 2023 1.4
Pearce RAAF 35.3 +2.8 46.1 19 Feb 2024 18.0 +1.6 13.0 13 Dec 2023 4.0 30.9 low 13%
Perth Airport 34.3 +3.3 44.6 1 Feb 2024 18.1 +1.5 12.8 22 Jan 2024 3.4 35.7 low 10%
Perth Metro 32.6 +1.7 42.9 18 Feb 2024 18.6 +0.9 14.1 9 Dec 2023 6.8 38.9 low 17%
Rottnest Island 27.7 +1.3 40.6 9 Feb 2024 19.6 +0.8 14.5 9 Dec 2023 0.2 35.2 lowest 1%
Swanbourne 31.0 +1.6 43.0 18 Feb 2024 19.1 +1.2 14.1 9 Dec 2023 12.6 38.3 average 33%

Notes

The Seasonal climate summary, usually published in the first week of the following month, lists the main features of the weather in Greater Perth using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated.

This summary includes data from observing sites in or near the Greater Perth “Greater Capital City Statistical Area” (GCCSA). The Australian Bureau of Statistics designed the GCCSAs to represent a socio-economic definition of each capital city. This means the greater capital city boundary includes people who regularly socialise, shop or work within the capital city, but live in the small towns and rural areas surrounding the capital city. It does not define the built up edge of the capital city.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 1 pm on Friday 1 March 2024. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

In some situations, some or all of the rainfall is in the form of hail or snow. In these cases the totals given are for the water equivalent: the depth of liquid water that results from melting any frozen precipitation. There can be significant 'undercatch' of snow in strong winds, meaning the true precipitation can be higher than that reported.

Averages for individual sites 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.

Where temperature area averages are mentioned, they are derived from the ACORN-SAT dataset.

Information about Australian Indigenous seasonal calendars is available at the Indigenous Weather Knowledge website.


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