Thursday, 1 May 2014 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC17R0

Tasmania in April 2014: a warm start but a cool finish

April 2014 started very warm in Tasmania, with several sites (including Hobart) having their highest April temperature on record. Mild weather dominated the first half of the month (although the 11th and 12th were cool in the east), but the second half saw plenty of cold weather. The 21st was particularly unusual: in many areas very cold daytime temperatures gave way to a mild night. Cold fronts brought some snow to the higher peaks by the 26th. There were a number of rainfall events, but whilst the north and west caught most of the rain, totals on the lower East Coast were generally below 30 mm.

• Record hot day on the 1st
• Cold weather developed during the month
• Warm overall
• A few wet days
• Average monthly rain in most areas

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record hot start to the month

The 1st saw temperatures in the high 20s or even low 30s in many parts of Tasmania, as an approaching cold front dragged warm air off the mainland and across the State. Several sites, including Hobart, had their highest April temperature on record. The warm air persisted through the following night, ensuring a few locations had their warmest April night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record.

Cold weather developing during the month

After the very warm start, temperatures continued generally mild, but not especially hot. The 11th and 12th were quite cool in the east and inland, with temperatures struggling to reach double digits at many locations. Cold weather came to the fore on the 21st, with Liawenee dropping to -6.9 °C that morning. In the north it was mostly below 10 °C at 3 pm on the 21st, but warmer air arrived in the afternoon and pushed temperatures into the teens. Cold fronts on the 24th and 26th brought cold weather to most of the State, with dustings of snow on the higher peaks. Lake St Clair's maximum of 4.6 °C on the 26th was an equal-record cold April day for that site.

Warm overall

Averaged across the month, daytime maximum temperatures were generally above average, although mostly by less than a degree. Overnight minimum temperatures were also above average, also by less than a degree.

A few wet days

Locally moderate to heavy rainfalls occurred several times during the month. Cold fronts on the 2nd and 9th brought falls to the west, and on the 11th a front interacted with a low to the north to bring rain across the State with moderate falls around Flinders Island. A cold front crossing on the 22nd triggered thunderstorms about the north and northeast: Mount Victoria registered 70.2 mm in the 24 hours to 9 am on the 22nd, Targa 56.2 mm and Mount Barrow 54.0 mm. Westerly winds and fronts brought further rain to the west and north from the 24th, with a front crossing on the 29th bringing moderate falls across the State, with totals around 30 mm through the north and west.

Average monthly rain in most areas

For most parts of Tasmania, rainfall was close to the long-term average for April. Several wet days ensured the Central North, Northern Midlands and Bass Strait islands were wetter than usual, but the East Coast was generally below average. Totals ranged from 17.6 mm at Grindstone Point northeast of Triabunna to 296.4 mm at Mount Read in the western highlands.

Rainfall for the first four months of 2014 has been below average in most areas of Tasmania, with the East Coast particularly dry.

Record warm April day for Hobart

Hobart reached 31.0 °C on the 1st, the hottest April day recorded at the site. The minimum temperature in the 24 hours to 9 am on the 2nd was 18.1 °C, close to the record high 18.6 °C to the 2nd in 1959. The "accounting period" for minimum temperatures means this was not a record, but the night was warm: the temperatures at midnight (23.2 °C), 3 am (23.9 °C) and 6 am (25.5 °C) were all records for those times of day in April.

Like most of the State, Hobart had plenty of warm temperatures in the first half of the month but some cool ones in the second half. The coldest day was the 24th when the temperature peaked at just 12.8 °C, and the coldest temperature was 4.8 C on the morning of the 28th. Hobart's mean daily maximum temperature for the month was 18.5 °C, which is 1.0 °C above the long-term average. Hobart's mean daily minimum temperature of 9.0 °C was 0.2 °C above the long-term average.

Hobart's rain was a little below normal for April, with rain on 11 days totalling to 42 mm. So far this year the city has had 107 mm, well below the long-term January-to-April average of 184 mm, and about the same as received over those four months last year.

 

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Extremes in April 2014
Hottest day	31.6 °C at Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates) and Campania (Kincora) on the 1st
Warmest days on average	19.5 °C at Flinders Island Airport
Coolest days on average	8.0 °C at Mount Wellington
Coldest day	0.1 °C at Mount Wellington on the 26th
Coldest night	-6.9 °C at Liawenee on the 21st
Coolest nights on average	2.3 °C at Liawenee
Warmest nights on average	12.5 °C at Swan Island
Warmest night	19.6 °C at Flinders Island Airport on the 2nd
Warmest on average overall	15.5 °C at Swan Island
Coolest on average overall	5.2 °C at Mount Wellington
Wettest overall	296.4 mm at Mount Read
Driest overall	17.6 mm at Grindstone Point
Wettest day	70.2 mm at Mount Victoria (Una Plain) on the 22nd
Highest wind gust	139 km/h at Cape Grim BAPS (Comparison) on the 24th

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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Highest total April rainfall for at least 20 years
	Total rainfall for April 2014 (mm)	Most recent April at least this wet		Years since wetter	Average for April
Lady Barron (Franklin Parade)	96.4*	108.8	in 1992*	20	62.7

* note: the final total may be higher, as some days are missing. Also, there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a higher value from the past has gone unreported.

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Record highest April temperature
	Highest temperature in April 2014 (°C)		Previous warmest for April		Years of record	Average for April
Hobart (Ellerslie Road)	31.0	on the 1st	30.6	on the 1st in 1941	127	17.3
Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates)	31.6	on the 1st	30.6	on the 1st in 2005	54	18.0
Fingal (Legge Street)	29.4	on the 1st	28.7	on the 2nd in 2005	29	18.3
Geeveston (Cemetery Road)	29.8	on the 1st	29.5	on the 4th in 1992	28	17.2
Lake Leake (Elizabeth River)	24.1	on the 1st	23.4	on the 1st in 2005	25	14.2
Lake St Clair National Park	24.6	on the 1st	23.5	on the 2nd in 2005	24	13.0
Cape Grim BAPS (Comparison)	25.4	on the 1st	24.0	on the 2nd in 2005	23	16.5
Maydena Post Office	30.1	on the 1st	28.5	on the 2nd in 2005	22	15.9
Strahan Aerodrome	27.8	on the 1st	27.6	on the 2nd in 2005	22	16.7

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Record lowest April daily maximum temperature
	Lowest daily maximum temperature in April 2014 (°C)		Previous coolest for April		Years of record	Average for April
Lake St Clair National Park	4.6	on the 26th	= 4.6	on the 28th in 2008	24	13.0

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Record highest April daily minimum temperature
	Highest daily minimum temperature in April 2014 (°C)		Previous warmest for April		Years of record	Average for April
Orford (Aubin Court)	18.5	on the 2nd	18.1	on the 5th in 1981	46	8.4
Cape Grim BAPS (Comparison)	17.0	on the 1st	= 17.0	on the 29th in 2000	23	11.4

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Macquarie Island, 1500 km southeast of Hobart but technically part of Tasmania, also set a new record for April mean daily maximum temperature, and equalled the April record for mean daily minimum and mean temperature.

Record highest April mean daily maximum temperature
	Mean daily maximum temperature for April 2014 (°C)	Previous warmest for April		Years of record	Average for April
Macquarie Island	8.1	8.0	in 1993	66	7.0

Record highest April mean daily minimum temperature
	Mean daily minimum temperature for April 2014 (°C)	Previous warmest for April		Years of record	Average for April
Macquarie Island	5.2	= 5.2	in 2006	66	3.7

Record highest April mean temperature
	Mean daily temperature for April 2014 (°C)	Previous warmest for April		Years of record	Average for April
Macquarie Island	6.6	= 6.6	in 1980	66	5.3

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Summary statistics for April 2014
	Maximum temperatures for April (°C)				Minimum temperatures for April (°C)				Rainfall for April (millimetres)
	Mean for April 2014	Diff from average	Highest for April 2014		Mean for April 2014	Diff from average	Lowest for April 2014		Total for April 2014	Average for April	Rank of April 2014	Fraction of April average
Northern (district 91)
Bridport (Sea View Villas)	18.5	+0.4	22.0	1st	9.4	-0.1	2.2	27th	88.5	61.9	high	143%
Burnie (Round Hill)	18.7	+1.0	23.5	1st	11.2	+1.2	5.0	27th	72.0	74.3	average	97%
Burnie NTC AWS	17.2		24.9	1st	11.8		5.5	27th
Cape Grim	17.2		25.3	1st	11.6		6.6	27th	83.2
Cape Grim BAPS (Comparison)	17.6	+1.1	25.4	1st	11.7	+0.3	6.5	27th	78.8	67.6	average	117%
Cressy Research Station	17.9	-0.3	25.3	1st	5.3	-0.2	-3.5	25th	69.6	44.8	high	155%
Devonport Airport	18.3	+0.6	22.3	1st	9.1	+0.4	1.6	27th	54.2	60.7	average	89%
Launceston (Ti Tree Bend)	19.1	+0.2	26.3	1st	7.1	-0.4	-0.5	25th	71.4	52.7	high	135%
Launceston Airport	18.0		26.4	1st	6.4		-0.7	25th	63.8	48.5	average	132%
Low Head	18.3	+0.6	22.9	1st	10.9	-0.2	4.6	27th	81.0	57.1	average	142%
Luncheon Hill (Forestry)	16.0	+0.4	25.1	1st	8.5	+0.4	3.0	27th
Marrawah	17.4	+0.6	23.0	1st	10.6	+0.3	5.0	27th
Scottsdale (West Minstone Road)	17.4	-0.6	24.2	1st	7.9	0.0	0.4	25th	114.2	80.5	high	142%
Sheffield School Farm	16.0	-0.5	22.2	1st	7.4	+0.4	0.3	27th	110.0	69.2	v high	159%
Smithton Aerodrome	18.3	+0.5	25.4	1st	8.2	+0.5	-0.8	27th	84.8	61.0	high	139%
Wynyard Airport	18.1	+0.6	24.7	1st	8.0	+0.8	-0.7	27th	80.8	73.4	average	110%
East Coast (district 92)
Bicheno (Council Depot)	19.0	+0.1	25.5	1st	10.7	+0.4	5.5	28th	29.7	59.4	low	50%
Fingal (Legge Street)	18.1	-0.2	29.4	1st	5.0	-0.4	-4.5	25th	25.2	51.7	average	49%
Friendly Beaches	19.4	+0.7	30.4	1st	9.7	-0.1	3.5	28th	28.0	51.5	average	54%
Lake Leake (Elizabeth River)	14.2	0.0	24.1	1st	3.5	-0.7	-4.0	25th	52.2	69.1	average	76%
Larapuna (Eddystone Point)	18.6	+0.4	23.9	2nd	11.9	+0.4	3.6	25th	58.6	66.2	average	89%
Maria Island (Point Lesueur)	18.2		27.5	1st	11.7		6.5	28th	24.4	41.2	low	59%
Orford (Aubin Court)	18.8	+0.4	29.2	1st	9.2	+0.8	3.3	27th	22.0	57.0	low	39%
Spring Bay NTC AWS	18.3		28.0	1st	10.7		5.2	28th
St Helens Aerodrome	18.6	+0.2	28.4	1st	9.3	-0.3	2.3	25th	71.6	59.2	high	121%
Swan Island	18.4	+0.2	24.5	1st	12.5	-0.3	6.5	25th	69.6	51.0	high	136%
Swansea (Francis Street)	19.1		31.0	1st	8.6		2.4	28th	30.2
Midlands (district 93)
Ross (The Boulevards)	17.6	+0.1	26.9	1st	5.1	-0.5	-3.1	25th	45.4	36.5	average	124%
Southeast (district 94)
Bull Bay (Lauriston)	18.0	+0.7	26.0	1st	9.8	+0.2	4.0	27th	34.8	48.7	average	71%
Campania (Kincora)	19.0	0.0	31.6	1st	7.7	+0.4	1.0	21st	27.0	35.1	average	77%
Cape Bruny (Cape Bruny)	17.0	+0.6	24.9	1st	10.3	+0.4	5.4	27th	57.0	55.0	average	104%
Cape Bruny Lighthouse	16.7	+1.2	24.8	1st	10.1	+0.5	5.3	25th	59.4	79.6	average	75%
Dennes Point	17.8		26.0	1st	10.3		6.2	21st	24.8
Dover	17.2	+0.4	25.3	1st	7.3	+0.2	1.2	28th	54.0	67.1	average	80%
Dunalley (Stroud Point)	18.4		26.1	1st	11.2		5.8	27th	25.4
Geeveston (Cemetery Road)	17.9	+0.7	29.8	1st	6.3	0.0	0.6	28th	73.6	64.7	average	114%
Grove (Research Station)	17.8		29.8	1st	5.8		0.0	21st	55.8	50.4	average	111%
Hobart (Ellerslie Road)	18.3	+1.0	31.0	1st	9.7	+0.7	4.8	28th	42.0	51.1	average	82%
Hobart Airport	18.5	+0.4	28.1	1st	9.0	+0.2	3.3	28th	23.2	42.2	average	55%
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse	15.0	+0.5	24.3	1st	10.4	+0.9	5.6	27th	82.8	108.3	average	76%
Melton Mowbray (North Stockman)	17.5	+0.2	30.0	1st	5.4	-0.4	-1.3	28th	44.0	29.8	high	148%
Mount Wellington	8.0	-0.4	19.8	1st	2.5	+0.3	-2.9	27th	90.8	88.9	average	102%
Tasman Island	15.8	+0.9	24.4	1st	10.5	+0.7	4.4	27th	69.2	68.7	average	101%
Tunnack Fire Station	15.4	+0.1	24.8	1st	5.0	-0.2	-3.2	21st	40.4	44.8	average	90%
Derwent Valley (district 95)
Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates)	18.2	+0.2	31.6	1st	5.8	-0.4	-0.3	25th	38.0	46.2	average	82%
Maydena Post Office	16.3	+0.4	30.1	1st	5.2	-0.2	0.9	25th	88.2	82.9	average	106%
Ouse Fire Station	17.7	-0.6	30.5	1st	5.2	+0.3	-1.5	28th	46.8	31.4	high	149%
Central Plateau (district 96)
Butlers Gorge	13.3	+0.2	24.6	1st	3.7	+0.3	-3.7	28th	128.2	143.9	average	89%
Lake St Clair National Park	13.2	+0.2	24.6	1st	3.3	+0.4	-2.3	28th	156.4	137.3	average	114%
Liawenee	11.2	-1.0	22.4	1st	2.3	+0.7	-6.9	21st	80.8	70.9	high	114%
West Coast (district 97)
Cape Sorell	17.3	+1.8	23.2	1st	11.0	+0.7	5.8	28th	80.2	109.0	low	74%
Hartz Mountain (Keoghs Pimple)	11.3	+0.3	24.3	1st	4.9	+0.4	-0.5	27th	76.6	70.2	average	109%
Low Rocky Point	16.6		24.5	1st	9.9		5.7	28th	128.8	111.2	average	116%
Mount Read	9.1	+0.2	19.0	1st	3.7	+0.3	-1.6	27th	296.4	283.7	average	104%
Scotts Peak Dam	15.6	+1.0	29.1	1st	6.3	-0.4	2.5	28th	140.0	128.9	average	109%
Strahan Aerodrome	17.6	+0.9	27.8	1st	8.8	+0.4	0.7	28th	147.0	115.3	high	127%
Strathgordon Village	14.8	+0.6	26.2	1st	7.2	+0.3	1.9	28th	204.0	201.6	average	101%
Warra	13.6		25.6	1st	5.4		0.0	21st	159.6	138.3	high	115%
King Island (district 98)
King Island Airport	18.5	+0.8	31.1	1st	11.1	+0.6	4.5	27th	84.0	57.7	high	146%
Flinders Island (district 99)
Flinders Island Airport	19.5	+0.8	29.3	1st	11.1	+0.4	1.8	28th	83.2	59.1	high	141%
Antarctica and Macquarie Island (district 300)
Macquarie Island	8.1	+1.1	9.7	2nd	5.2	+1.5	-1.1	12th	69.0	93.2	low	74%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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