Friday, 1 June 2018 - Monthly Climate Summary for Queensland - Product code IDCKGC14R0

Queensland in May 2018: Very dry overall; a cold outbreak at the end of the month

Rainfall was well below average across large parts of Queensland, and it was the eleventh-driest May on record. Mean maximum temperatures were above average, while overnight temperatures were slightly below the long-term average.

A dry month overall, rainfall confined to eastern Queensland

• May rainfall was the eleventh-driest on record for Queensland as a whole, with some locations reporting their lowest total May rainfall on record or in several decades
• Well below average rainfall across southern and central districts, and along parts of Queensland's east coast
• Rainfall was mostly confined to the east coast and adjacent inland districts, with little or no rainfall west of the Great Dividing Range
• At the start of the month, a moist onshore flow brought showers and moderate rainfall totals to the north tropical coast, and light falls along much of the east coast
• A surface and upper level trough produced widespread showers and moderate falls in southeastern Queensland and in adjacent inland districts on the 8th and 9th
• Widespread showers occurred along coastal and adjacent inland parts of eastern Queensland in response to an upper-level disturbance and moist onshore southeasterly winds on the 18th
• Moist onshore airflow brought showers to coastal parts during the last week of the month

Warm days in the southeast, warm nights in the north

• Queensland's mean temperature was 0.18 °C, slightly above the long-term average, and the lowest since 2012
• The statewide mean maximum temperature was 0.59 °C above average
• The mean minimum temperature for Queensland was slightly below the long-term average at -0.23 °C
• Days were generally warmer than average across the southeast, the central coast and adjacent inland districts, and in far northern Queensland
• Proserpine and Coconut Island had their highest May temperature on record on the 11th and 16th respectively
• Coconut Island reported its highest May mean daily maximum temperature on record
• Overall, cooler nights were experienced through inland parts of central and southern Queensland, with a cold outbreak near the end of the month
• The first frosts set in over areas of the southern interior on the 12th, with minimum temperatures at Mitchell, Kingaroy and Oakey dipping to 0.3 °C
• Stanthorpe reported the coldest night on the 21st, dropping to -3.8 °C

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Extremes in May 2018
Hottest day	36.0 °C at Burketown Airport on the 4th
Warmest days on average	33.8 °C at Coconut Island
Coolest days on average	18.8 °C at Applethorpe
Coldest day	13.3 °C at Applethorpe on the 11th
Coldest night	-3.8 °C at Stanthorpe Leslie Parade on the 21st
Coolest nights on average	4.8 °C at Applethorpe
Warmest nights on average	25.6 °C at Coconut Island
Warmest night	26.5 °C at Horn Island on the 9th and on the 12th
Warmest on average overall	29.7 °C at Coconut Island
Coolest on average overall	11.9 °C at Applethorpe
Wettest overall	348.8 mm at Russell River
Wettest day	118.0 mm at Russell River on the 18th
Strongest wind gust	80 km/h at Double Island Point Lighthouse on the 6th

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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

Click on a map to show it full size in a pop-up window

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Record lowest May total rainfall
	New record (mm)	Old record		Years of record	Average for May
Ballandean Post Office	2.0	3.8	in 1975	52	43.5
Applethorpe	3.8	5.0	in 1975	50	48.7
Coolmunda Dam	1.0	7.6	in 2007	42	47.8
Proserpine Airport	4.0	5.6	in 2008	36	66.1
Mackay Aero	13.0	14.2	in 2004	33	88.1
Roma Airport	0.2	3.6	in 2001	33	32.7
Gold Coast Seaway	15.6	17.4	in 2016	24	102.5
Beardy Junction	0.8	1.4	in 2008	22	28.5
St George Airport	0.0	1.2	in 2006	22	26.1

Lowest May total rainfall for at least 20 years
	Observed (mm)	Most recent lower		Average for May
Stanthorpe Leslie Parade	2.6	2.1	in 1922*	46.4
Canungra Finch Road	7.2	6.1	in 1966	84.1
Dalveen	7.5	6.2	in 1975	54.9
Injune Post Office	0.2	0.0	in 1975	32.1
Plane Creek Sugar Mill	17.0	10.8	in 1975*	77.7
Hannaford Post Office	0.4	0.0	in 1975*	35.6
Koumala Hatfields Road	4.0	0.0	in 1975*	59.7
Greenbank Thompson Road	13.0	12.6	in 1988	79.3
Cooby Creek Dam	6.2	5.0	in 1994*	38.9

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

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Record highest May temperature
	New record (°C)		Old record		Years of record	Average for May
Proserpine Airport	32.1	on the 11th	32.0	on the 20th in 2002	29	26.6
Coconut Island	34.9	on the 16th	34.8	on the 14th in 2016	22	31.3

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Record highest May mean daily maximum temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for May
Coconut Island	33.8	33.6	in 2010	21	31.3

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Summary statistics for May 2018
	Maximum temperatures (°C)				Minimum temperatures (°C)				Rainfall (millimetres)
	Mean for May 2018	Diff from average	Highest for May 2018		Mean for May 2018	Diff from average	Lowest for May 2018		Total for May 2018	Average for May	Rank of May 2018	Fraction of May average
North Peninsula (district 27)
Coconut Island	33.8	+2.5	34.9	16th	25.6	+0.2	23.2	31st	28.0	71.7	average	39%
Coen Airport	30.0	-0.4	31.8	11th	20.5	+0.7	17.4	31st	0	12.0	v low	0%
Horn Island	30.5	+0.5	31.5	12th	25.2	+0.4	22.9	31st	25.8	67.7	average	38%
Scherger RAAF	31.3	-0.7	33.1	11th	21.5	+0.3	18.2	29th	1.0	19.6	v low	5%
Weipa Aero	31.6	-0.3	32.7	13th	22.0	+0.6	19.4	29th	0.6	19.8	low	3%
South Peninsula (district 28)
Palmerville	31.6	+0.4	33.6	11th	16.6	-0.9	11.4	31st	7.6	16.0	average	48%
Lower Carpentaria (district 29)
Burketown Airport	31.9	+0.1	36.0	4th	17.3	-0.9	10.4	14th	0	5.4	v low	0%
Century Mine	31.5	0.0	35.9	4th	16.4	-0.8	11.1	25th	0	6.1	v low	0%
Cloncurry Airport	29.4	0.0	34.4	4th	15.9	+0.3	10.5	13th	0	7.3	lowest	0%
Julia Creek Airport	30.1	-0.7	34.2	5th	13.3	-0.2	5.8	13th	0	8.4	v low	0%
Kowanyama Airport	32.7	+0.5	34.8	3rd	19.4	+0.3	13.6	15th	0.8	11.5	average	7%
Lake Julius AWS	29.2		33.9	3rd	17.1		13.4	25th	0
Mornington Island Airport	28.5		32.0	3rd	20.3		15.5	16th	0
Mount Isa Aero	28.2	+0.2	32.7	3rd	14.6	+0.7	9.6	25th	0.2	12.2	average	2%
Normanton Airport	31.2	-0.8	33.6	9th	18.6	-0.8	13.5	14th	0	5.1	v low	0%
Sweers Island	28.3	-0.5	31.0	1st	21.2	-0.7	18.4	28th	4.0	5.4	average	74%
Upper Carpentaria (district 30)
Georgetown Airport	29.9	-0.5	32.3	4th	16.3	-0.4	8.5	14th	0	13.9	v low	0%
Hughenden Airport	28.3	-0.5	32.7	4th	13.3	-0.4	4.5	13th	0	5.3	v low	0%
Richmond Airport	29.5	-0.3	34.3	4th	12.7	-0.5	6.0	13th	0	7.0	lowest	0%
Richmond Post Office	29.1	0.0	33.6	4th	13.7	+0.5	7.0	15th	0	14.7	lowest	0%
Barron North Coast (district 31)
Cairns Aero	28.1	+0.4	30.6	11th	20.6	+0.7	15.3	15th	46.6	90.9	low	51%
Cairns Racecourse	27.5		30.6	11th	19.7		12.2	15th	42.0
Cape Flattery	28.4	-0.2	29.9	8th	23.2	-0.1	21.7	29th	22.0	63.5	low	35%
Cooktown Airport	27.7	-0.2	29.8	10th	22.4	+1.3	19.7	2nd	34.4	47.5	average	72%
Low Isles Lighthouse	27.0	-0.6	29.8	11th	22.8	-0.1	21.4	2nd	70.4	99.4	average	71%
Mareeba Airport	26.4	-0.6	29.4	11th	17.3	+0.6	11.6	31st	1.0	11.4	v low	9%
Walkamin Research Station	24.9	-0.2	29.8	11th	16.5	+0.3	11.3	16th	7.6	26.0	low	29%
Herbert North Coast (district 32)
Cardwell Marine Pde	26.8	-0.3	29.8	12th	18.4	+0.7	11.2	14th	33.6	94.3	low	36%
Cowley Beach (Defence)	25.6		28.5	11th	19.6		13.2	15th	183.8
Ingham Composite	27.1	0.0	31.5	12th	16.9	-0.9	10.9	14th	50.5	107.2	low	47%
Innisfail	25.8	-0.6	28.9	11th	19.0	+0.6	14.3	14th	265.9	301.0	average	88%
Innisfail Aerodrome	26.0		29.2	11th	18.0		10.7	15th	205.4
Lucinda Point	25.1	-0.9	27.8	11th	21.1	-0.2	16.9	14th	3.2	59.9	v low	5%
Mount Stuart (Defence)	27.9		30.9	24th	17.9		14.9	14th	7.6
South Johnstone Exp Stn	25.7	-0.6	29.4	11th	19.0	+0.6	13.0	14th	166.4	266.8	low	62%
Townsville Aero	28.7	+1.0	31.7	11th	17.4	-0.3	10.6	14th	1.8	33.1	low	5%
Townsville- Air Weapons Range (Defence)	27.1		30.7	10th	13.7		5.8	14th	14.4
East Central Coast (district 33)
Alva Beach	26.9	-0.1	31.1	11th	17.0	-0.8	11.5	13th	9.6	39.7	low	24%
Ayr DPI Research Stn	28.0	+0.4	32.2	11th	15.4	-0.8	8.6	14th	4.2	40.7	low	10%
Bowen Airport AWS	27.4		30.8	11th	17.6		8.6	14th	0.2
Collinsville Post Office	28.6	+1.0	33.0	11th	12.3	-1.5	4.7	23rd	2.4	33.0	low	7%
Hamilton Island Airport	23.7	-0.8	27.8	11th	20.6	0.0	18.4	26th	102.0	88.3	average	116%
Mackay Aero	26.1	+0.8	30.0	11th	15.7	0.0	7.0	22nd	13.0	88.1	lowest	15%
Mackay M.O	24.5	+0.3	29.4	11th	17.0	-0.2	10.9	13th	48.0	103.1	low	47%
Ooralea Racecourse (Mackay Turf Club)	25.8		30.4	11th	15.1		7.2	13th	26.8
Proserpine Airport	27.0	+0.4	32.1	11th	15.5	-0.4	7.0	23rd	4.0	66.1	lowest	6%
Samuel Hill Aero	24.6	-0.4	29.4	11th	14.6	+0.9	6.0	22nd	122.2	97.4	high	125%
St Lawrence	27.3	+0.6	30.8	11th	14.2	-0.4	7.0	23rd	6.8	28.7	low	24%
Townsville- Fanning River (Defence)	27.4		30.1	11th	13.4		7.5	14th	3.0
Williamson	26.0	-0.4	29.1	9th	14.0	+0.1	6.7	22nd	25.4	29.0	average	88%
Woolshed	24.5	+0.5	28.1	11th	14.5	+0.1	7.8	23rd	1.2	27.7	low	4%
Yeppoon The Esplanade	24.1	-0.1	26.8	11th	16.0	+0.1	8.0	22nd	28.0	70.0	low	40%
West Central Coast (district 34)
Charters Towers Airport	27.7	+0.3	31.0	10th	14.3	-1.0	7.5	15th	2.8	23.3	low	12%
Moranbah Airport	27.4		32.1	10th	12.1		5.2	22nd	16.0
Central Highlands (district 35)
Blackwater Airport	26.9		30.8	10th	12.4		7.7	13th	15.4
Clermont Airport	26.7		31.2	10th	10.0		2.1	22nd	0
Emerald Airport	27.1	+0.7	31.2	5th	13.1	0.0	7.8	12th	10.8	19.0	average	57%
Lochington	27.1		31.8	4th	9.7		2.7	23rd	4.6
Rolleston Airport	26.2		30.8	4th	10.0		4.2	13th	14.2
Springsure Comet St	25.9	+0.6	30.4	4th	10.4	-0.6	1.8	12th	3.2	34.7	low	9%
Tambo Post Office	25.3	+0.3	30.0	4th	6.9	-1.3	0.8	12th	0	33.6	lowest	0%
Taroom Post Office	25.9	+1.3	31.6	4th	8.4	-1.3	3.2	20th	14.6	39.4	average	37%
Central Lowlands (district 36)
Barcaldine Post Office	27.1	+1.1	31.8	4th	13.5	+1.1	6.4	12th	50.0	29.9	high	167%
Blackall Airport	26.6	+0.2	31.9	4th	10.4	-0.4	3.2	23rd	0	12.8	v low	0%
Isisford Post Office	27.4	+1.1	32.2	4th	11.4	+0.1	6.3	12th	0	27.9	lowest	0%
Upper Western (district 37)
Camooweal Township	29.8	+0.8	34.3	3rd	13.5	0.0	6.3	13th	0	10.7	lowest	0%
Carters Bore	27.5		33.1	3rd	16.1		11.4	12th	0
New May Downs	27.7		33.1	3rd	15.6		10.8	12th	0
Trepell Airport	28.0	-0.4	32.8	3rd	11.8	-1.4	5.9	12th	0	7.7	v low	0%
Urandangi Aerodrome	28.5		34.8	3rd	11.2		5.6	13th	0
Winton Airport	28.7	0.0	33.1	4th	13.1	0.0	6.5	13th	7.0	12.6	average	56%
Lower Western (district 38)
Bedourie	25.8	-0.9	33.2	2nd	11.6	-0.4	7.0	18th	0	11.4	lowest	0%
Birdsville Airport	25.4	-0.5	33.3	3rd	10.7	-1.0	4.8	31st	0	9.0	v low	0%
Boulia Airport	27.6	+0.8	34.5	3rd	13.7	+1.1	7.8	31st	0	12.7	lowest	0%
Windorah Airport	26.2		32.9	3rd	11.7		4.4	31st	0
Port Curtis South Coast (district 39)
Bundaberg Aero	25.7	+0.9	28.6	5th	14.1	-0.1	7.6	13th	14.8	67.5	low	22%
Gayndah Airport	26.2	+0.6	30.7	4th	10.4	-0.4	3.7	12th	16.4	27.7	low	59%
Gladstone Airport	26.3	+0.6	29.3	5th	15.8	+0.2	10.3	13th	15.4	35.5	average	43%
Gladstone Radar	26.5	+0.8	29.5	4th	17.0	0.0	12.8	31st	15.2	55.7	low	27%
Lady Elliot Island	24.5	+0.4	27.8	3rd	19.1	-0.5	12.5	23rd	186.4	114.7	high	163%
Monto Township	25.2	+1.0	29.6	5th	9.5	-0.6	1.5	23rd	10.3	43.4	low	24%
Rockhampton Aero	27.3	+1.3	31.1	5th	14.9	+0.6	7.4	13th	9.2	45.8	low	20%
Seventeen Seventy	24.0	-0.2	27.0	10th	16.7	-0.3	11.9	31st	70.0	97.8	average	72%
Thangool Airport	26.7	+0.4	31.4	4th	9.0	-1.0	1.9	23rd	4.6	38.6	low	12%
Moreton South Coast (district 40)
Amberley AMO	25.4	+1.3	28.8	5th	8.5	-1.5	1.2	22nd	17.2	52.8	low	33%
Archerfield Airport	25.0	+1.0	28.2	4th	11.4	-0.5	6.4	22nd	19.6	72.9	low	27%
Beaudesert Drumley Street	25.5	+1.4	29.6	4th	9.2	-0.2	2.1	31st	3.0	54.6	v low	5%
Beerburrum Forest Station	24.2	+0.1	27.7	4th	12.8	+0.2	7.9	12th	45.6	122.2	low	37%
Brisbane	24.8	+0.3	27.9	10th	13.9	+0.2	8.3	31st	26.8	64.1	low	42%
Brisbane Aero	23.8	+0.2	26.6	9th	13.1	+0.1	7.2	31st	36.6	101.2	low	36%
Canungra (Defence)	24.0		27.4	4th	7.4		0.5	31st	7.8
Cape Moreton Lighthouse	22.5	+0.6	26.0	3rd	17.1	+0.6	12.0	31st	128.0	167.2	average	77%
Coolangatta	24.0	+0.8	27.6	10th	13.2	-0.8	4.6	12th	34.4	134.5	v low	26%
Double Island Point Lighthouse	22.8	+0.5	27.9	4th	17.5	+0.2	11.7	31st	128.4	144.5	average	89%
Gold Coast Seaway	24.7	+1.1	27.7	4th	15.4	0.0	9.7	21st	15.6	102.5	lowest	15%
Greenbank (Defence)	24.9		28.7	4th	9.4		1.9	31st	13.6
Gympie	24.3	-0.2	27.9	4th	11.2	+0.4	3.1	22nd	94.4	71.6	high	132%
Hervey Bay Airport	24.4	+0.1	27.4	4th	14.4	+0.3	7.4	22nd	137.4	92.6	high	148%
Kingaroy Airport	22.5	0.0	27.8	4th	7.1	-0.2	-1.4	21st	20.0	32.5	average	62%
Logan City Water Treatment Plant	24.7	+0.7	28.2	10th	12.6	0.0	7.4	21st	24.1	101.1	low	24%
Maryborough	25.5	+0.8	28.9	4th	13.0	-0.1	5.5	22nd	14.2	77.6	low	18%
Nambour Daff - Hillside	24.1	+0.3	27.8	4th	14.0	+0.6	6.4	12th	147.6	111.2	average	133%
Point Lookout	24.1	+0.2	27.2	3rd	16.9	+0.2	11.1	12th	169.7	148.1	average	115%
Rainbow Beach	23.9	+0.1	26.9	10th			12.6	31st	180.0	153.9	high	117%
Redcliffe	23.8	+0.4	27.4	10th	14.5	+0.2	10.1	31st	50.4	69.7	average	72%
Redland (Alexandra Hills)	23.6		26.0	10th	13.4		8.3	31st	51.6
Sunshine Coast Airport	24.2	+0.6	27.9	10th	13.9	+0.3	6.6	31st	237.2	155.2	high	153%
Tewantin RSL Park	23.9	+0.2	28.0	10th	14.9	+0.1	7.8	31st	186.4	147.9	average	126%
Tin Can Bay (Defence)	23.9		27.6	10th	14.1		5.9	12th	154.4
University of Queensland Gatton	25.5	+1.7	29.9	4th	9.7	-0.5	3.4	19th	25.8	45.4	average	57%
East Darling Downs (district 41)
Applethorpe	18.8	+1.3	22.7	4th	4.8	-1.3	-2.8	21st	3.8	48.7	lowest	8%
Dalby Airport	23.9	+0.6	28.9	5th	7.4	-0.9	-0.3	21st	21.0	36.7	average	57%
Oakey Aero	23.3	+1.0	28.7	4th	6.4	-1.4	-2.0	21st	6.8	39.5	low	17%
Stanthorpe Leslie Parade	19.6	+1.2	24.0	5th			-3.8	21st	2.6	46.4	v low	6%
Texas Post Office	23.8	+0.8	28.5	4th	7.1	-0.9	0.3	31st	1.4	39.1	v low	4%
Toowoomba Airport	20.6	+0.7	25.5	4th	9.8	-0.2	2.1	31st	7.6	37.2	v low	20%
Warwick	22.2	+0.9	26.5	4th	6.4	-0.4	-1.9	21st	11.2	38.1	low	29%
West Darling Downs (district 42)
Miles Constance Street	24.2	+0.3	29.4	4th	7.2	-1.0	0.2	21st	3.0	23.3	v low	13%
Maranoa (district 43)
Injune Post Office	24.6	+1.0	30.9	4th	5.6	-2.1	0.0	31st	0.2	32.1	v low	1%
Mitchell Post Office	24.9	+1.7	31.2	4th	5.8	-1.3	-0.2	21st	0	32.0	lowest	0%
Roma Airport	24.5	+0.6	31.2	4th	5.9	-1.9	-0.5	31st	0.2	32.7	lowest	1%
St George Airport	24.1	+0.7	29.7	4th	8.2	-0.8	2.4	31st	0	26.1	lowest	0%
Surat	24.2	+0.6	30.2	4th	8.3	-0.5	1.2	21st	0	33.7	lowest	0%
Warrego (district 44)
Bollon Mary St	24.4	+1.3	29.2	8th	8.6	0.0	3.7	21st	0	31.8	lowest	0%
Charleville Aero	24.5	+1.1	29.1	8th	8.7	-0.3	2.1	31st	0.2	30.6	v low	1%
Cunnamulla Post Office	23.9	+0.9	29.3	9th	10.2	+0.3	3.6	31st	0	29.5	lowest	0%
Far Southwest (district 45)
Ballera Gas Field	24.7	-0.1	31.6	3rd	10.8	-0.8	5.5	31st	0	11.6	v low	0%
Thargomindah Airport	24.3	+0.2	30.8	2nd	11.1	+0.1	6.0	31st	0	16.4	v low	0%
Offshore Islands (district 200)
Frederick Reef	24.5		26.0	11th	22.5		18.0	26th
Middle Percy Island	23.0	-0.4	26.0	11th	19.1	0.0	16.9	31st	50.4	81.8	v low	62%
Willis Island	27.9	+0.1	29.4	10th	24.0	+0.1	22.0	29th	50.2	72.4	average	69%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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