Monday, 3 March 2014 - Monthly Climate Summary for Northern Territory - Product code IDCKGC12R0

Northern Territory in February 2014: Cool with average rainfall

The month began with a continuation of monsoonal conditions over the Northern half of the NT. Temperatures stayed down for most of the month and for the first time in over a year more low temperature records were set than high temperature records.

• Coolest February since 1976
• Active monsoon brought plenty of rainfall

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Month begins with a monsoon

The month began with monsoon conditions already in place over the Top End. Heavy falls over the western Top End during the last few days of January and the early February rose the Adelaide River above major flood levels with a peak of 10.67 metres at 2:00 am on February 1st at Adelaide River Township. As part of these monsoonal storms, Douglas River measured 207.2 mm in the 24 hours to 9am of the 1st, new February daily rainfall record at this site.

On the 4th and 5th a surface trough moved across the continent bringing rainfall to the Alice Springs District, including 44 mm at Alice Springs Airport over the two days. While this was not a record, it was still a significant amount of rainfall equaling the monthly mean for February at Alice Springs over the course of only two days.

Another series of heavy falls occurred on the 18th over the northwest Top End . While the large-scale monsoonal pattern was beginning to dissipate, a band of convection formed in the early morning bringing heavy rainfall to a very narrow area including Darwin and the surrounding rural region. By the 9:00 am reading on the 18th, Black Point had accumulated 205.6 mm over the 24 hour period and Walker Creek had set a new February daily rainfall on record with 262.0 mm.

The monsoon activity waned toward the end of the month. When averaged across the Territory, February's total rainfall was 169.2 mm which is almost 40% higher than the long term average.

Coolest February since 1976

The mean temperature (average of daily maximum and daily minimum) for the Northern Territory this month was 27.8 °C, this is 1.5 °C below normal for February and represents the coolest February mean temperature since 1976. This came about by a combination of low daytime temperatures and cool nights due to monsoon activity in the north and fresh winds and a few passing storms in the south.

Thick cloud meant cool days in the tropics

On average, the Northern Territory saw cooler than normal days this month. The average daytime maximum temperature in the NT was 33.1 °C which is 2.3 °C below normal for this time of year and is the coolest February in the NT in 21 years (since 1993). The cool temperatures in the north were mostly attributed to the thick cloud cover and monsoonal rainfall for most of the month. After the monsoons retreated temperatures returned to normal across the Top End. There were two sites that experienced their lowest February mean daily maximum temperature on record, these were Rabbit Flat and Port Keats (Wadeye) Aero.

Even with the overall cool weather, there were a few hot days this month, especially in the south. The hottest day in the NT this month was at Jervois with 41.8 °C on the 14th when a low pressure system over the Kimberly and a high over the Tasman pulled warm air south over the Red Centre.

Mild overnight temperatures

The monsoonal conditions kept the overnight temperatures close to normal, if not a little cooler than normal, for most of the month. Across the desert regions, the relatively cool days allowed for the nights to remain relatively cool also.

Milingimbi Airport recorded their lowest February temperature on record, this month, with 21.9 °C on the 22nd. When averaged across the month Bradshaw, Port Keats (Wadeye) and Walungurru each had their lowest February mean daily minimum temperature on record. There were no high minimum temperature records set this month. The Territory as a whole ended the month with a mean daily minimum temperature of 22.5 °C, 0.75 °C below normal for February. The coldest night in the NT this month was at Kulgera with 11.2 °C on the 23rd and the the warmest night was at Curtin Springs with 29.0 °C on the 11th.

Wind

A few monsoonal lows around the north coast provided some strong wind gusts this month. The strongest wind gust was at Cape Wessel with 94 km/h on the 19th, followed by McCluer Island with 87 km/h and Cape Wessel with 85 km/h on the 4th. There were no tropical cyclones to cross the Northern Territory coast this month and very few gusty storms.

Darwin Region

Monsoon activity at Darwin saw several burst and break periods throughout the month. The first few days saw a very active monsoon but after that much of the monsoon activity moved inland. When the monsoon trough was located to the south, Darwin and the surrounding area was mostly on the fringe of the heavy rainfall region. The highest rainfall total came overnight and early morning of the 18th when a narrow band of convection formed over the northwest Top End and Darwin Airport received 108.2 mm in the space of a few hours. Darwin Airport ended the month with 366.0 mm which fell over 21 days of rain and is 8.5 mm below the long-term average for February.

Daytime temperatures were near average at Darwin Airport this month, with a mean daily maximum temperature of 31.3 °C. High humidity levels kept overnight minimum temperatures slightly warmer than average at Darwin; Darwin Airport ended the month with a mean daily minimum temperature of 25.2 °C, this is 0.5 °C above average.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Maps
	Observed	Anomaly	Decile rank
Total rainfall
Mean daily maximum temperatures
Mean daily minimum temperatures

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Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top