Wednesday, 1 February 2017 - Monthly Climate Summary for South Australia - Product code IDCKGC13R0

South Australia in January 2017: Wet, warm and windy

It was a wet start to 2017 for South Australia with much of the State recording very much above average rainfall for January. Both day and night temperatures were above average, with particularly warm nights across the Northeast.

Heavy rainfall results in ninth-wettest January for the State

• On the 19th and 20th a broad area of low pressure over the West Coast and Pastoral districts combined with tropical moisture resulted in very humid conditions with heavy shower and thunderstorm activity over northern, western and central districts
• The line of thunderstorms also saw several locations record more than 50 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours to 9am on the 20th, including a record high of 106.2 mm at Wilpena Pound in the Upper North, and several other locations reporting record high daily rainfall for January
• Much of the State reported more than double the January average rainfall, and many sites had their wettest January on record or their wettest January for several decades
• With up to four times the long-term January average rainfall being observed across the western agricultural district, many locations there reported their wettest January on record
• For the State as whole, it was the ninth-wettest January on record

Warmer than average nights across much of the State; mild days in the west

• Minimum temperatures were more than one degree above average across most districts, and more than three degrees above average in the northeast of the State
• The statewide January mean minimum temperature was more than 2 °C warmer than average, coming in eighth-warmest on record
• Maximum temperatures were generally above average across the eastern half of the state, but tended cooler across the far west
• The statewide mean maximum temperature was more than 1 °C above average

Damaging winds and high humidity

• On the 19th and 20th, a vigorous line of thunderstorms associated with a deep low pressure trough passed over the State, bringing very high humidity, strong wind gusts and heavy showers to most areas
• Several locations recorded wind gusts in excess of 100 km/h, including a wind gust of 111 km/h at Adelaide Airport, the highest wind speed to be recorded there since observations began in 1955

Further information

Media

media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057

Enquiries

helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Extremes in January 2017
Hottest day	46.3 °C at Moomba Airport on the 13th
Warmest days on average	41.3 °C at Moomba Airport
Coolest days on average	22.4 °C at Cape Willoughby 22.4 °C at Neptune Island
Coldest day	17.7 °C at Cape Willoughby on the 2nd
Coldest night	5.3 °C at Keith (Munkora) on the 12th
Coolest nights on average	12.5 °C at Naracoorte Aerodrome
Warmest nights on average	27.1 °C at Moomba Airport
Warmest night	32.7 °C at Oodnadatta Airport on the 13th
Warmest on average overall	34.2 °C at Moomba Airport
Coolest on average overall	18.7 °C at Robe Airfield
Wettest overall	123.0 mm at Buckleboo (Karinya)
Wettest day	106.2 mm at Wilpena Pound on the 20th
Strongest wind gust	111 km/h at Adelaide Airport on the 19th

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 highest January daily rainfall
	New record (mm)		Old record		Years of record
Elliston	60.6	on the 24th	37.3	on the 24th in 1941	133
Mount Bryan	67.2	on the 6th	60.8	on the 20th in 2007	117
Arno Bay	34.0	on the 19th	31.4	on the 30th in 1974	109
Cummins	50.0	on the 24th	38.9	on the 1st in 1921	103
Upper Hermitage	43.0	on the 20th	34.0	on the 25th in 1987	47
Edinburgh RAAF	44.8	on the 20th	37.0	on the 17th in 1979	45
Wilpena Pound	106.2	on the 20th	102.0	on the 4th in 1980	45
Leigh Creek Airport	61.2	on the 20th	57.0	on the 13th in 2015	31
Wilpena (Oraparinna)	45.4	on the 20th	33.5	on the 24th in 1993	30
Buckleboo (Karinya)	76.2	on the 20th	37.4	on the 24th in 1993	29
Mount Crawford AWS	34.2	on the 20th	31.8	on the 20th in 2007	23




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Record highest January total rainfall
	New record (mm)	Old record		Years of record	Average for January
Elliston	97.2	62.0	in 1896	136	10.8
Coulta	59.8	57.5	in 2003	130	10.8
Mount Hope (Fairview)	55.0	45.6	in 1995	104	9.7
Cummins	81.0	79.2	in 1995	102	11.6
Wirrulla	46.8	38.9	in 1940	94	9.6
Buckleboo (Karinya)	123.0	94.0	in 1993	29	18.9
Goolwa Barrage	43.3	= 43.3	in 2007	29	17.0
Coffin Bay	70.9	38.8	in 2010	27	13.3
McLaren Vale (Pirramimma Winery)	60.4	53.0	in 2007	24	21.8
Sellicks Beach	56.4	52.2	in 2007	24	21.3
Coulta (Coles Point)	56.8	56.2	in 2003	23	16.9
Minnipa Pirsa	52.6	27.8	in 2014	21	11.2
Stenhouse Bay	53.4	40.2	in 2003	21	15.1
Strathalbyn Racecourse	36.8	36.0	in 2007	21	17.5
Roseworthy AWS	50.2	44.4	in 2015	20	18.4




Highest January total rainfall for at least 20 years
	Observed (mm)	Most recent higher		Average for January
Penong	54.4	80.3	in 1896*	9.7
Willunga	73.8	74.2	in 1946*	21.1
Adelaide (Morphett Vale)	74.2	111.6	in 1941*	21.6
Mount Bold Reservoir	68.6	68.9	in 1963	24.6
Myponga	62.4	73.3	in 1963*	24.0
Cooke Plains	45.0	68.9	in 1972	16.2
Minlaton	54.4	64.2	in 1972	13.9
Neptune Island	51.0	144.2	in 1972	13.4
Goolwa Council Depot	57.6	81.1	in 1972*	19.7
Port Lincoln (Westmere)	50.2	62.1	in 1972*	11.6
Quorn	66.0	99.2	in 1974	19.0
Coonalpyn	55.8	71.4	in 1974*	19.4
Port Vincent	39.6	47.8	in 1974*	12.9
Minlaton (Eversley)	46.2	52.4	in 1977	16.3
Curramulka	47.2	47.6	in 1977*	14.3
Ungarra	56.4	69.4	in 1974*	11.9
Adelaide (Salisbury Bowling Club)	52.4	62.8	in 1979*	19.3
Inman Valley	59.4	66.2	in 1981*	26.0
Marree (Farina)	118.0	171.4	in 1984*	18.9
Finniss	47.4	75.0	in 1972*	19.6
Darke Peak	40.8	91.4	in 1993	14.5
Kimba	57.6	128.0	in 1993	17.6
Oodnadatta Airport	94.8	273.4	in 1984*	24.2
Ardrossan	49.8	52.4	in 1993*	14.3
Ceduna AMO	71.8	87.6	in 1995	12.3
Leigh Creek Airport	86.8	101.8	in 1995	24.1
Streaky Bay	48.3	75.8	in 1995	10.9
Todmorden	65.4	72.4	in 1995	21.8
Butler Tanks (North Parnda)	35.2	90.4	in 1995*	10.3
Clarendon	71.4	76.6	in 1994*	26.7
Edinburgh RAAF	65.8	92.2	in 1996	21.9
Happy Valley Reservoir	61.0	66.2	in 1996	22.2
North Adelaide	45.6	49.8	in 1996	21.6
Parafield Airport	56.6	75.6	in 1996	21.5
Port Victoria	43.0	46.0	in 1993*	12.7
Moonta	46.2	51.4	in 1997	14.4
Penneshaw	40.6	49.8	in 1997	16.6

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





Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Summary statistics for January 2017
	Maximum temperatures (°C)				Minimum temperatures (°C)				Rainfall (millimetres)
	Mean for January 2017	Diff from average	Highest for January 2017		Mean for January 2017	Diff from average	Lowest for January 2017		Total for January 2017	Average for January	Rank of January 2017	Fraction of January average
Northwest (district 16)
Andamooka	37.0	+0.5	44.3	17th	23.1	+1.7	16.4	14th	44.2	18.6	high	238%
Coober Pedy Airport	37.4	+0.7	43.8	17th	23.6	+1.4	15.6	14th	23.4	13.4	high	175%
Ernabella (Pukatja)	33.9	-1.5	38.1	30th	21.9	+0.9	17.7	14th	87.0	27.2	v high	320%
Mount Ive	34.4		42.4	17th	16.5		11.3	8th	58.0	15.0	v high	387%
Roxby Downs (Olympic Dam Aerodrome)	36.7	-0.4	44.1	17th	22.1	+1.0	14.8	16th	34.6	13.8	high	251%
Tarcoola Aero	36.1	-0.7	43.2	6th	20.4	+0.6	14.5	14th	44.6	12.5	v high	357%
Woomera Aerodrome	35.2	+0.6	43.5	17th	21.2	+1.7	14.2	14th	51.6	16.1	v high	320%
Far North (district 17)
Leigh Creek Airport	37.3	+1.7	44.0	17th	22.5	+1.7	15.4	14th	86.8	24.1	v high	360%
Marree Aero	39.0	+0.3	44.0	19th	24.2	+1.2	18.8	15th	39.0	18.2	high	214%
Moomba Airport	41.3	+2.7	46.3	13th	27.1	+2.6	22.1	15th	32.6	15.5	high	210%
Oodnadatta Airport	39.7	+1.9	43.7	30th	25.9	+2.9	19.1	14th	94.8	24.2	v high	392%
Western Agricultural (district 18)
Ceduna AMO	30.5	+1.9	45.8	29th	17.8	+2.6	11.2	26th	71.8	12.3	v high	584%
Cleve	29.2	+0.9	41.9	17th	17.0	+1.3	13.3	14th	52.8	16.1	v high	328%
Cleve Aerodrome	29.7	+0.6	42.6	17th	16.4	+0.4	11.9	25th	45.8	16.3	high	281%
Coulta (Coles Point)	28.5	+1.1	40.5	6th	15.7	+0.7	10.1	28th	56.8	16.9	highest	336%
Cummins Aero	30.3		41.8	29th	15.4		9.4	11th	84.2	17.5	v high	481%
Elliston	26.9	+1.1	39.5	17th	16.7	+1.0	12.1	21st	97.2	10.8	highest	900%
Kimba	32.5	+1.0	42.0	17th	16.7	+1.0	12.5	14th	57.6	17.6	v high	327%
Kyancutta	34.0	+1.0	44.0	17th	16.0	+1.6	10.6	3rd	57.7	14.6	v high	395%
Minnipa Pirsa	32.9	-0.2	42.8	17th	17.0	+1.1	11.3	15th	52.6	11.2	highest	470%
Neptune Island	22.4	+0.3	30.0	6th	17.1	+0.9	15.3	3rd	51.0	13.4	v high	381%
North Shields (Port Lincoln AWS)	25.9	-0.2	42.0	17th	16.4	+0.6	13.2	16th	42.8	16.4	high	261%
Nullarbor	27.3	-0.6	43.3	6th	17.0	+1.1	12.5	27th	80.6	12.0	v high	672%
Port Augusta Aero	33.1	-1.2	43.1	17th	19.8	+0.4	15.2	15th	39.2	14.2	high	276%
Streaky Bay	30.2	+0.9	42.1	6th	17.5	+1.4	12.9	15th	48.3	10.9	v high	443%
Whyalla Aero	30.6	+0.5	43.6	17th	18.8	+1.1	14.6	14th	35.6	17.4	high	205%
Wudinna Aero	33.7	+0.3	43.7	17th	16.3	+0.8	11.6	15th	69.6	14.8	v high	470%
Upper North (district 19)
Hawker	35.0	+0.7	42.0	7th	19.2	+1.1	13.3	14th	41.0	20.2	high	203%
Northeast (district 20)
Gluepot Reserve (Gluepot)	33.7	-0.1	43.7	17th	16.1	+0.2	11.4	15th	39.6	20.0	high	198%
Yunta Airstrip	34.0	+0.2	42.4	17th	17.5	+1.0	11.9	14th	43.2	22.1	high	195%
Lower North (district 21)
Clare High School	30.3	+0.1	38.8	7th	15.4	+0.6	9.2	26th	54.6	24.1	high	227%
Port Pirie Aerodrome AWS	33.8		43.5	7th	17.5		12.0	15th	33.0
Snowtown (Rayville Park)	32.3	-0.5	41.5	7th	14.6	+0.1	8.3	26th	54.2	17.1	v high	317%
Yorke Peninsula (district 22A)
Edithburgh	26.7	+1.4	41.7	7th	17.8	+1.1	15.9	16th	36.6	13.7	v high	267%
Kadina AWS	31.6	-0.6	41.9	7th	15.9	+0.3	10.5	26th	38.6	15.3	v high	252%
Maitland	31.1	+1.8	41.0	18th			11.0	25th	45.6	17.7	v high	258%
Minlaton Aero	30.5	+1.0	42.2	17th	16.0	+0.7	10.0	25th	42.6	15.1	v high	282%
Stenhouse Bay	25.4	+0.3	39.4	7th	17.2	+0.5	14.9	1st	53.4	15.1	highest	354%
Warooka	28.2	+1.0	39.2	17th	16.8	+1.3	13.2	1st	40.4	14.4	v high	281%
Kangaroo Island (district 22B)
Cape Borda	24.2	-0.4	34.3	6th	14.3	-0.1	10.0	25th	47.4	17.0	v high	279%
Cape Willoughby	22.4	+0.7	34.9	7th			14.7	14th	0	18.4	lowest	0%
Kingscote Aero	26.6	0.0	39.0	17th	14.2	+0.9	8.7	25th	36.0	15.7	high	229%
Parndana Cfs AWS	27.1		38.4	6th	13.8		9.9	25th	33.8
Adelaide Plains (district 23A)
Adelaide (Kent Town)	30.7	+1.3	41.1	17th	18.2	+1.0	12.4	25th	47.2	20.9	v high	226%
Adelaide Airport	29.1	+1.0	39.6	6th	17.8	+1.8	12.8	25th	37.6	18.1	high	208%
Edinburgh RAAF	30.1	+0.1	41.5	7th	17.2	+0.7	11.2	26th	65.8	21.9	v high	300%
Parafield Airport	30.7	+1.0	40.7	17th	17.4	+1.0	12.5	21st	56.6	21.5	v high	263%
Roseworthy AWS	31.5	-0.3	43.2	7th	15.9	+1.0	8.7	25th	50.2	18.4	highest	273%
County Light (district 23B)
Nuriootpa Pirsa	30.0	0.0	40.0	7th	15.3	+0.8	9.8	11th	39.6	17.7	v high	224%
Rosedale (Turretfield Research Centre)	31.3	+0.8	41.8	7th	16.0	+0.8	9.7	25th	55.6	19.1	v high	291%
Mount Lofty Ranges (district 23C)
Hindmarsh Island AWS	26.6	+1.3	40.9	7th	16.5	+0.4	11.9	25th	37.6	18.3	high	205%
Kuitpo Forest Reserve	26.1	0.0	37.2	7th	14.7	+0.5	10.7	3rd	71.4	27.6	v high	259%
Mount Barker	28.2	+1.0	38.8	7th	13.8	+1.9	9.8	25th	39.2	26.1	high	150%
Mount Crawford AWS	27.6	+0.1	37.9	7th	14.3	+0.3	8.7	3rd	53.6	24.4	high	220%
Mount Lofty	25.1	+3.4	34.5	7th	13.4	+1.3	8.4	25th	65.0
Noarlunga	28.5	-0.2	39.6	6th	17.6	+0.5	13.5	21st	34.2	18.1	high	189%
Victor Harbor (Encounter Bay)	25.8	+0.8	40.0	7th	15.6	+0.9	9.4	16th	45.0	22.0	high	205%
Upper Murray Valley (district 24A)
Loxton Research Centre	33.0	+1.1	43.2	17th	16.1	+1.4	11.8	15th	27.0	19.6	high	138%
Renmark Aero	34.1	+0.5	43.8	17th	16.8	+0.5	12.6	16th	36.4	20.4	high	178%
Lower Murray Valley (district 24B)
Eudunda	29.9	+0.6	39.0	17th	15.0	+1.0	10.0	3rd	48.4	22.3	high	217%
Meningie	27.7	+1.6	39.9	17th	15.3	+1.3	10.2	25th	44.2	18.8	v high	235%
Murray Bridge (Pallamana Aerodrome)	30.5	-0.1	42.5	7th	14.5	+0.1	8.9	12th	17.4	14.2	high	123%
Strathalbyn Racecourse	28.1	+0.2	40.3	7th	15.4	+0.7	10.6	25th	36.8	17.5	highest	210%
Murray Mallee (district 25A)
Karoonda	31.3	-0.2	42.4	17th	14.7	+0.4	11.0	21st	29.2	18.2	high	160%
Upper Southeast (district 25B)
Keith	30.5	+0.4	41.5	17th	14.0	+0.8	9.0	3rd	31.2	19.5	high	160%
Keith (Munkora)	30.9	+0.2	42.6	17th	12.6	+0.3	5.3	12th	28.8	23.9	average	121%
Lameroo (Austin Plains)	31.9	-0.2	43.3	17th	14.3	0.0	8.9	15th	34.2	30.6	average	112%
Lower Southeast (district 26)
Cape Jaffa (The Limestone)	24.2	-0.5	38.1	6th	14.3	+0.7	10.1	19th	41.4	18.9	high	219%
Coonawarra	27.8	+0.5	38.7	7th	12.7	+1.1	7.1	12th	53.4	29.4	high	182%
Mount Gambier Aero	26.1	+0.8	39.0	7th	12.8	+1.6	6.6	25th	24.4	27.0	average	90%
Naracoorte Aerodrome	29.3	-0.4	40.5	7th	12.5	+0.9	6.0	19th	44.2	24.8	high	178%
Padthaway South	29.3	+0.2	40.0	7th	12.9	+0.4	7.2	12th	43.2	24.5	high	176%
Robe Airfield	23.8	-0.7	36.5	7th	13.6	+0.8	6.6	25th	56.6	22.6	high	250%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Notes

The Monthly climate summary, generally published on the first working day of each month, lists the main features of the weather in South Australia using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated. More extensive discussion of significant weather events, along with later information and data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Wednesday 1 February 2017. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

Averages for individual sites are long-term means based on observations from all available years of record, which vary widely from site to site. They are not shown for sites with less than 10 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The median is sometimes more representative than the mean of long-term average rain.

The Rank indicates how rainfall this time compares with the climate record for the site, based on the decile ranking (very low rainfall is in decile 1, low in decile 2 or 3, average in decile 4 to 7, high in decile 8 or 9 and very high is in decile 10).
The Fraction of average shows how much rain has fallen this time as a percentage of the long-term mean.

Where temperature area averages are mentioned, they are derived from the ACORN-SAT dataset.

Further information

Media

media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057

Enquiries

helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au

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