Canberra
Climate overview
Rainfall
Rainfall across the Canberra region was average for the 2013–14 year (Figure C1). The total area-averaged rainfall over the Canberra region during the 2013–14 year was 805 mm, which is slightly above the long-term area-averaged rainfall of 794 mm (period 1900–2014).
These conditions represent an increase in rainfall compared to the 2012–13 year (see 2013 Account), when rainfall was generally below average. This contributed to increased inflow volumes into the water storages during the 2013–14 year.
Figure C1 Annual rainfall deciles for the Canberra region during the 2013–14 year
Annual rainfall was more than 900 mm in areas along the western borders of the region and between 600-900 mm in the rest of the region (Figure C2).
Figure C2 Total annual rainfall for the Canberra region during the 2013–14 year
Rainfall was well below average in much of eastern Australia during the 2013-14 year, while rainfall was well above average in parts of southern and northern central Australia and the southeast coast. There were no strong influences from large-scale drivers during the reporting year, with a short-lived negative Indian Ocean Dipole event decaying at the start of the year. The El Niño-Southern Oscillation was neutral for most of the year, although rapid warming of eastern Pacific towards the end of the year caused an El Niño Alert to be issued in April.
The area-averaged monthly rainfall for the Canberra region was above the long-term average for most months during the 2013–14 year, with the exception of five months (August, October and December 2013, January and May 2014; Figure C3). September 2013 was the wettest month of the 2013–14 year in the Canberra region and exceeded the 90th percentile for the month. The rainfall during this month contributed to well above average streamflows during September in the region, particularly in the Molonglo and Queanbeyan rivers (see Water overview).
Figure C3 Total monthly rainfall for the Canberra region during the 2013–14 year compared with the long-term average and percentiles for the region
Evapotranspiration
Figure C4 shows that potential evapotranspiration was generally above average across most of the Canberra region during the 2013–14 year.
Figure C4 Annual potential evapotranspiration deciles for the Canberra region during the 2013–14 year
The potential evaporation estimate was produced by the Australian Water Resources Assessment system landscape model (AWRA-L) version 3.0 (Van Dijk 2010). The AWRA-L model uses a modified version of the Penman–Monteith method to produce the potential evaporation. Daily AWRA-L potential evaporation grids were produced based on daily gridded climate data that were available on a 0.050 (approximately 5 km) national grid.
The total area-averaged potential evapotranspiration over the Canberra region during the 2013–14 year was 1,041 mm, which is above the long-term area-averaged potential evapotranspiration of 1,006 mm (based on the 1970–2014 period). Potential evapotranspiration was highest in areas close to southeastern, southwestern and west boundaries of the region and lowest in the north around Canberra (Figure C5).
Figure C5 Total annual potential evapotranspiration for the Canberra region during the 2013–14 year
Temperature
The Australian area-averaged mean temperatures were highest on record for the 12-month period ending June 2014. The entire Canberra region experienced mean temperatures above the long-term average during the 2013–14 year (Figure C6), where the long-term average is based on the 1911–2014 period.
Figure C6 Annual mean temperature deciles for the Canberra region during the 2013–14 year
Mean temperatures across the Canberra region ranged from more than 12 °C in the north and central of the region to less than 9 °C in an area along the western border (Figure C7).
Figure C7 Annual mean temperature for the Canberra region during the 2013–14 year
Monthly mean temperatures for the Canberra region were above the long-term average for all months during the reporting period, with the exception of November (Figure C8).
Figure C8 Average monthly mean temperature for the Canberra region during the 2013–14 year compared with the long-term average and percentiles for the region