Wednesday, 30 September 2009 - Monthly Climate Summary for South Australia - Product code IDCKGC13R0

South Australia in September 2009
Gales, thunderstorms and hail - a very mixed month.

Summary

• 40 mm hailstones damage crops on Eyre Peninsula.
• Gale force winds generate dust storms over the north of the state which eventually blankets Sydney and Brisbane.
• Rainfall totals for the month are near average across most of the agricultural areas. This pattern is also the case for the April to end of September rainfall totals, as representing the growing season rainfall to date.

An archive of previous monthly summaries for South Australia is also available, as are summaries for other states and many other climate summaries and diagnostics.

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Rainfall

Pastoral Districts

Rainfall totals in eastern parts of the pastoral areas were average whilst over the western areas they were all above average but some locations in the central northern parts of the state recorded very much above average totals.

Rainfall totals were predominantly less than 10 mm in eastern pastoral areas. In the remainder of the pastoral districts rainfall totals were generally between 10 mm and 30 mm, with Nonning's total of 53.3 mm being the highest.

Agricultural Districts

Rainfall totals were average to above average across most of the agricultural areas, with some locations in the south-eastern districts of the state receiving very much above average.

Over the northern parts of the agricultural districts rainfall totals were between 10 and 25 mm gradually increasing to more than 150 mm in the southern and higher elevated parts of the state. The highest total being 161.0 mm at the Heathfield Works Depot, in the Mount Lofty Ranges.

Across the longer term, rainfall for the growing season to date (April to September) is generally average or above average across all of the agricultural districts.

The year to date rainfall is generally near average across most agricultural districts apart from in the east, while the remainder of the state is generally below average to the end of September.

See a map of total rainfall. See a map of rainfall deciles.

Temperature

Looking at the September records since 1950; state-wide the monthly mean September temperature (the average of the maximum and minimum temperatures) was 1.0°C above the average for the South Australian agricultural areas. For South Australia as a whole the monthly mean September 2009 temperature is the coolest since 2005.

Maximum

The mean maximum temperatures for September graded from near average in the Lower Southeast, Kangaroo Island and western Eyre Peninsula districts up to 2°C above average in the north of the state.

In the Pastoral districts mean maximum temperatures ranged from 21.7°C at the Yunta Airstrip to 27.5°C at the Moomba Airport. Mean maximum temperatures over the Agricultural districts ranged from 13.2°C at Mount Lofty in the Mount Lofty Ranges to 23.8°C at Port Augusta.

The highest maximum recorded during September was 38.3°C at Oodnadatta Airport on the 16th of September. The lowest was 9.2°C at Mount Crawford on the 25th of September.

Minimum

Similar to the maximum temperatures, the mean minimum temperatures for September were near average to 1°C above average in agricultural areas of the state and as high as up to 3°C above in the north.

Mean minimum temperatures in the pastoral areas ranged from 7.3°C at the Yunta Airstrip to 13.4°C at the Oodnadatta Airport. Over the agricultural districts mean monthly minimum temperatures ranged from 3.7°C at Yongala to 12.2°C on Neptune Island.

The lowest minimum temperature recorded during September was −2.3°C at Yongala in the Upper North Pastoral district on the 14th. Arkaroola recorded the warmest overnight temperature with 23.4°C on the 12th of September.

Some sites had their coldest September day (lowest maximum temperature) on record.

Some sites had their warmest September night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record.

Wind

Associated with a deepening low pressure cell that developed northwest of Ceduna and travelled eastwards during the 21st and 22nd of September, gale force winds (63km/h) were recorded over large areas of the state's western and northern districts resulting in widespread duststorms which eventually blanketed 2 of Australia's major cities, Sydney and Brisbane, and travelled as far north as the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Also during these days wind gusts of greater than 90km/h were recorded at Coober Pedy, Tarcoola and Woomera to name a few. he highest gust during the month was 117km/h at Cape Willoughby on the 11th and Oodnadatta Airport on the 19th.

Thunderstorms

With the development of a low pressure system on the 21st many thunderstorms were recorded across most of the agricultural districts. Associated with these thunderstorms many incidents of hail showers were observed with hailstones measuring up to 40 mm in diameter mainly on the Eyre Peninsula. Crop damage resulted from these hail showers but mostly confined to some areas of the Western Agricultural district.

Further information

Extremes

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Records

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Summaries

In this table, key sites have been highlighted to make them easier to find. This table is very wide and may not fit if printed.

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Notes

Further information