Friday, 31 May 2013 - Monthly Climate Summary for Adelaide Metro & Hills - Product code IDCKGC23L0

Adelaide Metro & Hills in May 2013: A warm finish to autumn, with near average rainfall

• Very much hotter than average to start with, resulting in May temperatures 1 to 2 °C above average.
• Record hottest May days were recorded at several locations.
• Hottest May for Adelaide in 92 years (since 1921), and third hottest on record.
• Near average rainfall on the Adelaide plains, though drier than average in the Adelaide Hills.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

The May 2013 rainfall total at Adelaide (Kent Town) was slightly below average, with 54.8 mm received on 13 rain days. This is compared to the long-term average of 60.0 mm on 14 rain days, with median rainfall being 60.8 mm. By comparison, during May 2012, 62.8 mm was recorded.

The wettest periods for the Adelaide and Hills region occurred mid-month with a significant cold frontal system producing much of the month's rainfall in a 5 day period, though the month ended part way through a significant rainfall event.

Rainfall totals for May 2013 typically ranged from 40 to 60mm across the Adelaide Plains with slightly higher totals of up to 80 mm observed in the Hills. The wettest location for the month was at Crafers in the Adelaide Hills where 94.2 mm was recorded for the month, most of that occurring mid- month. This is the lowest May rainfall recorded at that site since observations commenced in 2005.

Note that the Adelaide official climate rainfall record is taken from the manually observed 203mm rain gauge at the Kent Town site in Adelaide. These figures may differ from totals on some Bureau of Meteorology web pages as these may be from automatic tipping bucket rain gauge readings.

Temperature

The first half of the month was very much warmer than average for daytime temperatures, and minimum temperatures remained consistently warmer than average for the whole month, and both ended up 1 to 2 °C above average across the month.

The mean temperature for the month (the combination of maximum and minimum temperature) was the third hottest on record for Adelaide, since temperature observations began in 1887, and the warmest in 92 years, after 1921, and 1918.

The coldest period, with respect to daytime temperatures, occurred on the 22nd following the passage of a cold frontal system. The coldest nights occurred in the last week as a high pressure system maintained mostly fine and clear conditions across the State.

The average maximum temperature recorded at Adelaide (Kent Town) for May 2013 was 20.6 °C, 1.7°C above the long-term mean maximum temperature of 18.9°C. In comparison, May 2012 averaged 18.2°C for May maximum temperature at Adelaide (Kent Town). The record highest May mean maximum in Adelaide is 22.0°C set in 1934 at the West Terrace site.

The coldest day in the region in May 2013 was reported at Mount Lofty on the 22nd when the maximum reached 9.4 °C, and Adelaide (Kent Town) also recorded the coldest day for the month, a maximum of 15.2 °C, on this day.

The hottest day across the Adelaide and Hills region was reported at Edinburgh RAAF with a maximum of 31.2 °C on the 8th. The warmest days on average for the month were at Parafield Airport with monthly average maximum temperatures of 20.9 °C.

Minimum temperatures were between 1 to 2 °C warmer than average throughout the month. The mean minimum temperature for May 2013 at Adelaide (Kent Town) was 12.3 °C, 2.0 °C warmer than the long term May average of 10.3 °C. This is the warmest May nights for Adelaide since 2007. By comparison, May 2012 saw minimum temperature for the month averaging 9.3 °C.

The coldest minimum temperature recorded during May 2013 in the Adelaide and Hills area was 3.8 °C on the 18th at Mt Barker, whilst the coolest nights on average were recorded at Mount Barker were nights averaged 8.9 °C. The warmest night was 22.5°C at Noarlunga on the 10th. Noarlunga also recorded the warmest nights on average with a monthly average 13.0 °C

Other phenomena

Some other things happened too, and they are mentioned here.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

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

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

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top