Friday, 1 March 2019 - Monthly Climate Summary for Australian Capital Territory - Product code IDCKGC15L0

Australian Capital Territory in February 2019: dry with warm days and cool nights

Days were warmer than average in February, but nights were just below average. Thunderstorms delivered rain mostly in the first half of the month but a dry second half saw below average February rainfall overall.

Below average rainfall

  • February rainfall totals tended to be below average
  • Rain was delivered by thunderstorms, mostly in the first half of the month
  • Canberra Airport recorded rain on five days, just below the February average of 7 days
  • Total rainfall for Canberra Airport was 42.8 mm, which is 75% of the long-term average of 57.4 mm

Warm days

  • Despite several cooler than average days throughout the month, overall mean maximum temperatures were above average
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Canberra Airport was 29.1 °C, which is 1.9 °C above the long-term average of 27.2 °C
  • The warmest day was 36.0 °C on the 18th, and the coolest day was on the 1st when the temperature reached 20.7 °C
  • The temperature exceeded 35 °C on two days, twice the February average but much less than the record 19 days observed the previous month in January

Cool nights

  • Mean minimum temperatures were up to almost a degree below average
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Canberra Airport was 12.9 °C, which is 0.2 °C below the long-term average of 13.1 °C
  • The coldest morning was 5.5 °C on the 10th, and the warmest morning was on the 4th when the minimum temperature was 19.3 °C

Heavy dust

  • Strong winds ahead of a cold front brought heavy dust to the ACT on 12 February, degrading the air quality with downed trees causing power outages

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057
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Extremes Maps Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top

Extremes in February 2019
Hottest day 36.0 °C at Canberra Airport on the 18th
Warmest days on average 29.1 °C at Canberra Airport
Coolest days on average 20.0 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Coldest day 12.6 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 1st
Coldest night 0.2 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 13th
Coolest nights on average 8.4 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Warmest nights on average 13.3 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Warmest night 19.3 °C at Canberra Airport on the 4th
Warmest on average overall 21.1 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Coolest on average overall 14.2 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest overall 42.8 mm at Canberra Airport
Driest overall 26.4 mm at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Wettest day 32.0 mm at Bruce (Australian Institute of Sport) on the 5th
Strongest wind gust 89 km/h at Mount Ginini AWS on the 12th

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top

Summary statistics for February 2019
Maximum temperatures
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
(°C)		 Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
February
2019		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
February
2019		 Mean for
February
2019		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
February
2019		 Total for
February
2019		 Average
for
February		 Rank of
February
2019		 Fraction of
February
average
Canberra Airport 29.1 +1.9 36.0 18th 12.9 -0.2 5.5 10th 42.8 57.4 average 75%
Mount Ginini AWS 20.0 +1.1 25.3 3rd 8.4 -0.6 0.2 13th 31.4 90.2 low 35%
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 28.9 +0.8 35.6 18th 13.3 -0.9 6.2 10th 26.4 69.6 low 38%
Note: Observations for “Canberra Airport” are taken from the current site (Bureau number 070351), which opened in late 2008.
Comparisons are made against data from the previous site Canberra Airport Comparison (070014), which ran from 1939 to 2010,
combined with the current site from March 2010 onwards.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top

Daily maximum temperatures for February 2019
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728
Canberra Airport20.729.535.833.627.029.931.131.224.424.928.430.223.027.029.529.033.336.032.928.927.726.027.225.728.932.628.932.6
Mount Ginini AWS12.618.825.324.620.520.120.319.012.917.818.918.213.119.221.022.022.924.921.520.121.420.119.518.120.323.621.122.4
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS19.828.534.533.528.029.830.230.624.025.228.129.423.427.029.728.932.735.631.928.627.625.928.625.628.932.628.732.5
Values are the maximum temperature, usually in the 24 hours from 9 am on the day indicated,
and typically occurred in the afternoon of that day.
Temperatures coloured according to their difference
from the long-term average for the period		 -10.0 -9.0 -8.0 -7.0 -6.0 -5.0 -4.0 -3.0 -2.0 -1.0 0.0 +1.0 +2.0 +3.0 +4.0 +5.0 +6.0 +7.0 +8.0 +9.0 +10.0 °C Grey outline marks highest
and lowest for the period
Daily minimum temperatures for February 2019
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728
Canberra Airport14.715.115.919.317.818.016.817.315.85.58.39.811.65.713.310.910.513.613.814.513.214.18.910.69.510.412.514.0
Mount Ginini AWS7.47.711.413.011.911.410.411.97.91.38.09.90.22.26.58.811.714.311.35.58.07.76.54.54.710.910.79.5
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS14.915.216.318.818.618.617.318.015.46.28.89.711.27.913.811.79.912.214.515.116.214.79.911.48.911.212.015.3
Values are the minimum temperature, usually in the 24 hours to 9 am on the day indicated,
and typically occurred that morning.
Temperatures coloured according to their difference
from the long-term average for the period		 -10.0 -9.0 -8.0 -7.0 -6.0 -5.0 -4.0 -3.0 -2.0 -1.0 0.0 +1.0 +2.0 +3.0 +4.0 +5.0 +6.0 +7.0 +8.0 +9.0 +10.0 °C Grey outline marks highest
and lowest for the period
Daily rainfall for February 2019
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728
Bruce (Australian Institute of Sport) - - - 2.6 32.0 5.0 - - - - 7.6
Canberra (Australian National Botanic Ga - - - 11.2 30.2 2.6 - - 6.4 - - - - - - - - - 0.6 - - -





Canberra Airport - - - 2.2 32.0 2.8 - - 5.4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 0.4 -
Mount Ginini AWS - - - 0.4 2.2 14.6 - 4.4 5.0 1.0 - - - - - - - - 3.8 - - - - - - - - -
Nicholls (Gungahlin Lakes) - - - 8.7 31.4






















Torrens (Darke St) - - - 3.4 14.2 3.2





















Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS - - - 3.0 12.4 3.6 - - 6.2 - - - - - - - - - 1.2 - - - - - - - - -
Most values are the precipitation in the 24 hours to 9 am on the day indicated. Days marked with → are part of a longer accumulation, which is shown on the final day.
Values over 100 mm have been rounded to the nearest whole millimetre.
Days marked with - have a rainfall report of zero; days left blank have no rainfall report (which often indicates no rain fell).
Rainfalls coloured
according to the amount		 0 1.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 25.0 50.0 100 150 200 300 400 600 millimetres

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top

Notes

The Monthly climate summary, generally published on the first working day of each month, lists the main features of the weather in Australian Capital Territory using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated. More extensive discussion of significant weather events, along with later information and data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review.

This summary includes data from observing sites in or near the Australian Capital Territory “Greater Capital City Statistical Area” (GCCSA). The Australian Bureau of Statistics designed the GCCSAs to “include the population within the urban area of the city, as well as people who regularly socialise, shop or work within the city, and live in small towns and rural areas surrounding the city. It is important to note that GCCSAs do not define the built up edge of the city. They provide a stable definition for these cities and are designed for the output of a range of social and economic survey data.”

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Friday 1 March 2019. 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.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057
Enquiries

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