Monday 1 March 2021 — Monthly Summary for Australia — Product Code IDCKGC1A00

Australia in February 2021

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

In brief

• Mean maximum temperatures for February were cooler than average for large areas of mainland Australia, but warmer than average for much of the southern half of Queensland
• Mean minimum temperatures for February were warmer than average for most of Queensland and the north and east of the Northern Territory; cooler than average for some areas, mostly across inland southern Australia
• Rainfall was above average for Australia as a whole
• Rainfall for the month was above average for Western Australia except the Kimberley, the Top End of the Northern Territory, much of New South Wales except the southern half of the coast and in the west, north-eastern Victoria, and much of Tasmania
• Rainfall for the month was below average for parts of Queensland's east coast south of Townsville, much of western News South Wales and western Victoria, and parts of the Kimberley coast in Western Australia

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Temperatures

The national mean temperature for February was −0.22 °C cooler than average for Australia as a whole.

The mean maximum temperature was below average for February at −0.44 °C. The mean minimum temperature was close to average for February at −0.02 °C.

Mean maximum temperatures for February were cooler than average for most of Western Australia, the inland north-west of the Northern Territory, much of inland South Australia, most of New South Wales away from the north and west, and central to eastern Victoria. The mean maximum temperature for February was warmer than average for most of the southern half of Queensland, stretching along the coast south from Mackay, in a narrowing band through the inland south then covering much of the Channel Country.

The mean minimum temperature for the month was above average for most of Queensland, the east and north of the Northern Territory, parts of the northern Kimberley and pockets of the northern coast of Western Australia. Mean minimum temperatures were below average for areas of western, interior, and south-eastern Western Australia, much of South Australia away from the west and the coast, adjacent parts of north-west Victoria and south-western New South Wales, and an area of eastern New South Wales inland of the ranges.

A few stations in Western Australia and South Australia had their coldest February day (lowest maximum temperature) on record during the first week of the month.

Late in the month a heatwave across Queensland led to a few stations observing their highest February daily maximum temperature on record on the 22nd.

Temperature maps
	Mean	Anomaly	Deciles
Mean daily maximum temperatures
Mean daily minimum temperatures
Mean daily temperatures

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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Rainfall

February rainfall was above average for Australia as a whole.

Rainfall for the month was above average for Western Australia except the Kimberley, the Top End of the Northern Territory, much of New South Wales except the southern half of the coast and in the west, north-eastern Victoria, and much of Tasmania.

Rainfall for the month was below average for parts of Queensland's east coast south of Townsville, much of western News South Wales and western Victoria, and parts of the Kimberley coast in Western Australia.

An area of the coastal Gascoyne in Western Australia observed highest on record total rainfall for the month, mostly as a result of a significant unnamed tropical low in early February. A number of stations observed their highest February daily rainfall on record between the 5th and the 8th. A number of stations received their highest total February rainfall on record, or their highest total February rainfall for at least 20 years.

Some sites in southeast New South Wales, northeast Victoria, and Tasmania had their highest February daily rainfall on record on the 2nd or the 6th, associated with the passage of cold fronts.

Area-average rainfall
	Rank (of 122)	Average (mm)	Departure from mean	Comment
Australia	79	89.3	+16%
Queensland	55	113.2	−2%
New South Wales	84	66.4	+34%
Victoria	50	26.0	−16%
Tasmania	94	92.1	+45%
South Australia	79	21.1	+8%
Western Australia	90	81.4	+30%
Northern Territory	88	149.4	+22%
Murray-Darling Basin	80	49.4	+26%

Rank ranges from 1 (lowest) to 122 (highest). A rank marked with ’=‘ indicates the value is tied for that rank. Departure from mean is relative to the long-term (1961–1990) average.

Rainfall maps
	Totals	Percentages	Deciles
Total rainfall

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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Australian weather extremes during February 2021
Hottest day	45.5 °C	at Ballera Gas Field (Qld) on the 12th
Coldest day	4.7 °C	at Thredbo AWS (NSW) on the 23rd
Coldest night	−2.5 °C	at Liawenee (Tas.) on the 24th
Warmest night	32.4 °C	at Windorah Airport (Qld) on the 1st
Wettest day	327.4 mm	at King Ash Bay (NT) on the 19th

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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