Wednesday, 6 January 2016 - Monthly Climate Summary for Western Australia - Product code IDCKGC11R0

Western Australia in December 2015: Hot northwest, wet start in southwest

It was equal eighth-warmest December on record for Western Australia. Rainfall was slightly above to the long-term average.

• Eighth-warmest December on record for WA
• Slightly above average rainfall for WA
• Temperatures over 40 °C throughout December at Marble Bar and Telfer Aero
• Heavy rainfall in the southwest from the 4th to 6th

Western Australia's mean temperature in December 2015 was 0.82 °C above average, ranking as the equal eighth-highest on record, equalling with 1997.

Above to very much above average mean maximum temperatures were reported in a broad area from inland northwest and central to southeastern Western Australia, with a number of sites recording their highest December mean maximum temperature on record. Cooler than normal daytime temperatures were observed along the Pilbara coast, whilst most of the southwestern WA saw near average mean maximum temperatures. Averaged across the State, the mean maximum temperature was about 1 °C above average.

Generally cooler than normal maximum temperatures were observed in the southwest of the state during the first half of the month, with a particularly cool day in the Lower West on the 5th where a number of sites observed their coolest December day on record. Daily maximum temperatures in inland Pilbara were frequently over 40 °C during December, and expanded to the Goldfields from mid-December . A number of sites recorded their highest December temperature on record. Both Marble Bar and Telfer Aero recorded 31 consecutive days with temperatures over 40 °C, which was the first occurrence at Telfer Aero in 41 years of record, and it was the sixth time at Marble Bar with over 100 years record.

The mean minimum temperature for Western was above average, largely due to warmer than normal overnight temperatures in a broad area from the west Kimberley and east Pilbara to central and southeastern WA. Sites in the west Kimberley and east Pilbara saw their highest December mean minimum temperature on record.

Below average rainfall was observed in the northwest of WA, particularly in the west Kimberley and inland Pilbara where several sites observed their driest December since 1992. Average to above average rainfall was observed in the southern half and eastern parts of the State, with a number of sites in the Central Wheat Belt and Great Southern districts either recording their wettest December on record or the wettest for at least 20 years.

Heavy rainfall occurred in the Great Southern and south coastal districts on 4 to 6 December 2015 resulted in above average monthly rainfall, with some sites reporting their highest monthly, and daily rainfall for December. Flooding was reported in Lake Grace, with the site observing 75.4 mm on the 6th which is their highest December daily total in 114 years of record.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Extremes in December 2015
Hottest day	46.7 °C at Mardie on the 16th
Warmest days on average	43.9 °C at Marble Bar
Coolest days on average	21.5 °C at Albany
Coldest day	15.6 °C at Narrogin on the 5th 15.6 °C at Shannon on the 5th
Coldest night	4.8 °C at Jarrahwood on the 1st
Coolest nights on average	10.7 °C at Rocky Gully
Warmest nights on average	28.0 °C at Broome Airport
Warmest night	33.1 °C at Telfer Aero on the 12th
Warmest on average overall	35.3 °C at Telfer Aero
Coolest on average overall	17.6 °C at Shannon
Wettest overall	388.0 mm at Theda
Wettest day	81.0 mm at Lake Argyle Resort on the 17th
Strongest wind gust	119 km/h at Warburton Airfield 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 highest December daily rainfall
	New record (mm)		Old record		Years of record
Lake Grace	75.4	on the 6th	64.3	on the 20th in 1913	114
Mount Barker	50.8	on the 4th	43.9	on the 16th in 1961	108
Holt Rock	40.4	on the 5th	28.2	on the 17th in 1960	84
Munglinup	48.0	on the 5th	36.0	on the 13th in 2011	26
York	29.5	on the 6th	19.5	on the 30th in 1999	20

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Record highest December total rainfall
	New record (mm)	Old record		Years of record	Average for December
The Duke	50.6	45.8	in 1987	38	19.6
York	40.1	38.4	in 1999	20	12.8

Highest December total rainfall for at least 20 years
	Observed (mm)	Most recent higher		Average for December
Colorado	55.0	64.3	in 1983	10.8
Bulyee	33.0	81.1	in 1988*	11.2

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

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Record lowest December total rainfall
	New record (mm)	Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Curtin Aero	30.4	31.2	in 2001	22	145.8

Lowest December total rainfall for at least 20 years
	Observed (mm)	Most recent lower		Average for December
Derby Aero	2.0	1.0	in 1969*	71.9
Balgo Hills	13.8	12.6	in 1992	57.0
Turee Creek	0.8	0.0	in 1992	24.2
Udialla	27.6	0.0	in 1992*	74.9
Kimberley Downs	15.2	0.0	in 1992*	100.7

* 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 December temperature
	New record (°C)		Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Laverton Aero	44.3	on the 18th	44.0	on the 27th in 2013	25	33.6
Newman Aero	45.5	on the 31st	45.2	on the 25th in 2011	20	38.9

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Record lowest December daily maximum temperature New record (°C) Old record Years of record Average for December Pearce RAAF 19.3 on the 5th 20.6 on the 6th in 1940 56 30.3 Jandakot Aero 19.6 on the 5th = 19.6 on the 11th in 2005 26 29.1 Gosnells City 19.4 on the 5th = 19.4 on the 6th in 2007 24 30.4 Gingin Aero 19.5 on the 5th = 19.5 on the 6th in 2005 20 30.6

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Record highest December mean daily maximum temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Wittenoom	42.7	41.8	in 2014	63	39.6
Telfer Aero	43.2	42.3	in 1990	41	40.2
Carnegie	40.1	40.0	in 2014	26	37.4
Laverton Aero	36.1	36.0	in 2014	24	33.6
Forrest	34.6	33.4	in 2005	22	31.4

Highest December mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent higher		Average for December
Cocos Island Airport	30.3	30.4	in 1972	29.4
Warburton Airfield	38.9	39.1	in 1977*	36.6

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

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Record highest December daily minimum temperature
	New record (°C)		Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Karnet	23.6	on the 23rd	23.5	on the 29th in 2012	50	13.5
Telfer Aero	33.1	on the 12th	33.0	on the 21st in 1990	42	25.4
Cygnet Bay	30.5	on the 2nd	29.9	on the 24th in 2005	30	25.4

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Record lowest December temperature
	New record (°C)		Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Murchison	11.5	on the 6th	12.4	on the 3rd in 2005	25	20.1

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Record highest December mean daily minimum temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Broome Airport	28.0	27.7	in 2011	76	26.5
Cocos Island Airport	25.7	= 25.7	in 1997	63	24.6
Bidyadanga	27.6	27.2	in 2014	56	25.8
Telfer Aero	27.4	26.9	in 2012	41	25.4
Cygnet Bay	26.9	26.4	in 2004	29	25.4
Derby Aero	27.5	27.2	in 2002	29	26.2

Highest December mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent higher		Average for December
Forrest	15.6	15.8	in 1994	14.8

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Record highest December mean temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Cocos Island Airport	28.0	= 28.0	in 1997	63	27.0
Eyre	21.7	21.5	in 2013	56	19.8
Telfer Aero	35.3	34.5	in 1990	41	32.8
Derby Aero	33.3	= 33.3	in 1972	29	31.7
Forrest	25.1	24.2	in 2000	22	23.1

Highest December mean temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent higher		Average for December
Wittenoom	34.5	34.6	in 1986	32.6
Curtin Aero	32.9	33.8	in 1993	31.7
Warburton Airfield	31.1	31.5	in 1977*	29.0

* 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 December 2015
	Maximum temperatures (°C)				Minimum temperatures (°C)				Rainfall (millimetres)
	Mean for December 2015	Diff from average	Highest for December 2015		Mean for December 2015	Diff from average	Lowest for December 2015		Total for December 2015	Average for December	Rank of December 2015	Fraction of December average
North Kimberley (district 01)
Doongan	33.9	-0.5	38.8	1st	23.3	+0.2	20.5	16th	191.0	221.4	average	86%
Mount Elizabeth	34.1	0.0	36.6	13th	22.9	+0.6	20.5	16th	264.4	168.4	high	157%
Troughton Island	32.9	-0.1	34.8	14th	27.5	+0.2	22.5	17th	113.2	117.4	high	96%
Wyndham Aero	36.2	-1.7	40.4	1st	25.6	-1.1	21.3	30th	295.0	145.9	v high	202%
East Kimberley (district 02)
Argyle Aerodrome	36.9	-0.3	40.1	31st	25.3	-0.6	21.7	2nd	183.4	141.0	high	130%
Halls Creek Airport	37.1	-0.7	39.9	1st	24.7	0.0	21.4	14th	107.2	83.1	average	129%
Kununurra Aero	36.3	-0.9	39.5	7th	25.1	-0.3	21.7	12th	244.2	139.1	high	176%
Warmun	37.7	-0.7	41.5	1st	25.5	+0.4	22.8	24th	208.9	118.8	high	176%
West Kimberley (district 03)
Bidyadanga	34.3	-0.7	37.0	11th	27.6	+1.8	25.9	2nd	0	55.0	lowest	0%
Broome Airport	33.9	0.0	35.6	11th	28.0	+1.5	22.7	4th	29.8	57.4	average	52%
Curtin Aero	40.0	+1.7	42.8	13th	25.8	+0.8	22.4	5th	30.4	145.8	lowest	21%
Cygnet Bay			38.8	14th	26.9	+1.5	22.0	7th	0	74.1	lowest	0%
Derby Aero	39.0	+1.8	41.0	14th	27.5	+1.3	24.5	9th	2.0	71.9	v low	3%
Fitzroy Crossing Aero	39.0	-0.1	44.5	1st	25.5	-0.2	21.8	2nd	206.6	129.4	high	160%
De Grey (district 04)
Bedout Island	33.1		35.3	11th	26.5		24.8	24th
Karratha Aero	35.4	-0.4	43.1	16th	25.0	-0.5	21.5	7th	0	14.2	lowest	0%
Legendre Island	31.7		35.9	16th	25.1		23.6	22nd
Mandora	34.7	-2.1	38.1	14th	25.2	+0.8	22.0	8th	0	33.9	lowest	0%
Marble Bar	43.9	+2.3	46.5	18th	25.9	-0.2	22.3	14th	7.4	33.8	low	22%
Port Hedland Airport	34.9	-1.8	38.9	18th	24.9	+0.8	21.3	7th	0	19.0	lowest	0%
Roebourne Aero	39.6	+0.3	45.3	12th	24.1	-0.6	18.2	7th	1.0	14.7	average	7%
Fortescue (district 05)
Barrow Island Airport	30.9	-1.3	36.8	15th	23.9	-0.5	22.0	23rd	0	5.9	v low	0%
Learmonth Airport	36.1	-0.8	43.2	15th	20.1	-0.8	14.5	6th	0	6.3	lowest	0%
Mardie	35.8	-1.8	46.7	16th	23.2	+0.2	16.2	7th	0	8.8	lowest	0%
Onslow Airport	35.2	-0.7	45.3	16th	22.3	0.0	18.7	6th	0	3.4	lowest	0%
Wittenoom	42.7	+3.1	46.0	16th	26.4	+1.0	21.6	4th	0.8	49.4	v low	2%
West Gascoyne (district 06)
Carnarvon Airport	29.2	-0.2	38.5	2nd	20.9	+0.2	17.1	6th	0	5.5	lowest	0%
Denham	28.5	-0.7	38.2	2nd	20.8	+0.3	17.9	7th	0.8	2.3	high	35%
Emu Creek Station	39.8	-0.1	44.0	11th	20.7	-1.7	16.5	6th	1.0	12.9	average	8%
Murchison	37.7	+0.3	44.5	29th	20.3	+0.2	11.5	6th	12.0	13.9	average	86%
Shark Bay Airport	31.8	-0.5	40.6	27th	19.4	-0.3	15.8	6th	0	10.5	v low	0%
East Gascoyne (district 07)
Newman Aero	41.7	+2.8	45.5	31st	24.9	+1.1	16.8	7th	6.0	37.4	low	16%
Paraburdoo Aero	42.1	+1.8	44.7	17th	24.3	-0.2	17.1	7th	0	27.6	lowest	0%
Murchison (district 07A)
Meekatharra Airport	38.7	+2.3	43.4	30th	23.1	+1.0	12.8	6th	0.2	14.9	low	1%
Mount Magnet Aero	36.9	+1.3	42.9	12th	21.6	+0.5	11.8	6th	4.6	21.9	low	21%
Paynes Find	35.7	+0.7	43.4	29th	18.7	+0.3	9.4	6th	2.0	12.6	low	16%
North Coast (district 08)
Dalwallinu	32.9	-0.3	43.0	29th	15.9	+0.1	8.8	6th	0	13.5	v low	0%
Geraldton Airport	30.8		45.1	28th	16.7		10.2	8th	17.0
Kalbarri	31.3	+0.1	43.0	28th	18.2	+0.7	12.4	6th	0.8	3.7	average	22%
Morawa Airport	34.9	-0.3	42.7	29th	17.9	+0.4	9.9	6th	54.8	16.7	high	328%
Mullewa	35.1	+0.7	43.1	28th	17.0	0.0	9.0	20th	9.0	8.4	average	107%
North Island	26.4	-0.2	32.3	28th	19.8	-0.2	16.5	5th	2.0	3.6	average	56%
Wongan Hills	32.9	+0.4	42.8	29th	16.1	+0.3	10.3	6th	4.2	10.0	average	42%
Central Coast (district 09)
Badgingarra Research Stn	31.7	-0.3	42.2	28th			7.0	8th	0.6	9.3	low	6%
Bickley	28.2	+0.2	39.6	28th	14.0	+0.4	8.9	8th	40.6	13.8	v high	294%
Garden Island HSF	25.1	-0.4	34.1	23rd	17.1	-0.1	13.3	8th	3.6	11.0	low	33%
Gingin Aero	30.8	+0.2	42.9	28th	14.4	0.0	6.5	8th	11.0	9.8	high	112%
Gosnells City	30.3	-0.1	41.4	28th	16.9	+0.7	10.4	8th	15.4	11.4	high	135%
Jandakot Aero	29.1	0.0	40.3	28th	15.1	+0.5	7.1	8th	19.0	10.7	high	178%
Jurien Bay	28.9	+0.7	38.5	27th	16.0	+0.4	11.8	15th	0.4	6.6	low	6%
Karnet	27.9	-0.3	38.5	28th	13.7	+0.2	6.9	8th	38.6	18.2	high	212%
Lancelin	27.3	-0.1	39.0	28th	16.3	+0.1	12.0	1st	4.2	8.0	average	53%
Pearce RAAF	31.5	+1.2	43.6	28th	15.3	+0.8	8.1	8th	15.4	10.7	high	144%
Perth Airport	30.1	+1.1	41.7	28th	16.0	+1.1	8.3	8th	17.0	11.2	high	152%
Perth Metro	29.4	+0.3	41.6	28th	16.3	-0.1	10.2	8th	13.6	13.2	average	103%
Rottnest Island	25.0	0.0	34.7	23rd	17.4	-0.2	10.8	5th	16.0	9.9	high	162%
Swanbourne	27.2	-0.8	38.3	23rd	16.8	+0.3	11.6	6th	18.0	12.0	high	150%
South Coast (district 09A)
Albany	21.5	-0.3	27.0	28th	15.1	+1.1	12.1	10th	50.0	30.2	high	166%
Albany Airport	23.6		36.8	23rd	12.1		6.2	2nd	57.0
Bridgetown	27.7	+0.3	39.3	28th	11.2	+0.2	5.0	10th	9.2	17.8	average	52%
Bunbury	27.4	+0.1	37.2	28th	13.5	0.0	7.5	8th	2.2	18.8	average	12%
Busselton Aero	27.9	-0.1	37.6	22nd	12.2	-0.2	5.5	5th	2.4	9.0	average	27%
Cape Leeuwin	22.3	+0.5	25.8	21st	16.1	+0.3	14.1	5th	10.6	20.6	average	51%
Cape Naturaliste	24.9	+1.3	35.8	28th	14.3	+0.4	10.1	10th	4.4	13.6	average	32%
Collie East	29.3	+0.8	38.9	28th	11.3	-0.2	5.7	1st	4.6	21.6	low	21%
Donnybrook	29.2	+1.0	40.6	28th	13.9	+1.5	8.5	8th	5.8	16.3	average	36%
Dwellingup	28.7	+1.4	39.3	28th	13.4	+0.8	7.0	8th	26.2	20.5	average	128%
Esperance	24.6	0.0	41.6	29th	15.1	+0.7	9.1	2nd	44.4	19.7	high	225%
Esperance Aero	26.4	+0.7	41.6	29th	13.9	+0.5	9.0	2nd	40.0	21.2	high	189%
Hopetoun North	22.7	-1.4	41.5	29th	12.1	-1.7	6.4	27th	42.8	26.5	high	162%
Jarrahwood	28.4	+1.4	39.4	22nd	11.4	+0.2	4.8	1st	11.4	16.6	average	69%
Mandurah	27.7	+0.7	37.0	28th	17.3	+0.1	12.9	5th	4.2	17.1	average	25%
Manjimup	26.2	+1.3	38.2	23rd	11.9	+0.2	7.3	26th	21.2	25.1	average	84%
North Walpole	22.9	+0.5	32.8	27th	12.6	-0.3	9.7	2nd	51.6	42.0	average	123%
Rocky Gully	25.6	+0.1	39.0	23rd	10.7	-0.3	7.3	11th	34.0	30.8	average	110%
Shannon	24.0	-0.3	37.2	23rd	11.1	-0.1	6.4	10th	33.2	28.4	average	117%
Witchcliffe	25.0	+0.2	35.0	23rd	12.3	-0.1	4.9	5th	13.6	14.1	average	96%
North Central (district 10)
Bencubbin	31.8	-0.7	42.2	30th	15.6	-0.4	9.9	6th	8.2	13.3	average	62%
Cunderdin Airfield	33.1	+0.3	45.4	29th	15.2	+0.4	8.5	8th	3.6	8.2	average	44%
Merredin	32.5	+0.5	43.3	29th	16.3	+0.5	10.0	6th	6.3	14.1	average	45%
Northam	32.8	+0.7	43.8	29th	15.6	+0.3	10.2	8th	8.4	9.3	average	90%
York	32.3	+0.1	43.0	29th			9.0	6th	40.1	12.8	highest	313%
South Central (district 10A)
Beverley	32.8	+0.6	43.6	29th	13.9	-0.5	7.8	8th	26.8	10.4	high	258%
Brookton	31.7	+0.7	42.2	29th	14.5	+1.0	7.5	8th	25.8	10.4	high	248%
Corrigin	31.2	+0.8	43.1	29th	14.5	+0.5	8.6	8th	15.0	13.0	high	115%
Hyden	32.6	+0.8	44.0	29th	14.2	+0.3	6.5	8th	5.8	14.8	average	39%
Jacup	26.9	+0.8	43.2	29th	11.9	+0.4	7.4	8th	69.4	29.0	v high	239%
Katanning	28.7	+0.2	42.1	29th	12.2	+0.5	8.3	1st	34.2	25.5	average	134%
Lake Grace	29.2	-0.2	42.4	29th	13.9	+0.4	8.9	8th	95.0	22.3	v high	426%
Narembeen	33.0	+1.1	42.8	29th	15.0	+0.5	8.9	7th	4.9	12.8	average	38%
Narrogin	29.9	+1.0	41.0	29th	13.6	+1.3	7.8	8th	27.0	14.2	high	190%
Newdegate Research Station	30.0	+0.7	43.0	29th	11.3	-0.4	5.6	8th	45.2	15.4	v high	294%
Ongerup	27.7	+0.5	41.4	29th	12.7	+0.3	8.2	8th	29.8	17.4	high	171%
Pingelly	31.1	+1.1	41.4	29th	13.6	-0.3	9.0	8th	29.0	12.6	high	230%
Ravensthorpe	26.8	-0.4	41.8	29th	13.6	+0.8	9.0	2nd	57.3	24.2	v high	237%
Wagin	30.0	+0.8	41.7	29th	13.2	+0.2	8.3	8th	38.4	13.2	v high	291%
Wandering	30.5	+0.2	41.9	29th	12.8	+0.8	5.8	8th	48.0	19.1	high	251%
Eucla (district 11)
Eucla	27.8	+2.9	41.7	30th	16.0	+0.9	9.6	9th	26.8	18.4	high	146%
Eyre	28.9	+3.4	44.4	30th	14.6	+0.5	7.6	16th	22.8	20.5	average	111%
Forrest	34.6	+3.2	44.1	18th	15.6	+0.8	9.6	12th	16.8	24.7	average	68%
Red Rocks Point	25.8	+1.4	42.0	30th	17.2	+0.8	10.6	16th	14.0	19.7	average	71%
South East (district 12)
Bulga Downs	37.0	+1.1	44.1	16th	19.9	-0.2	11.5	6th	12.8	13.4	average	96%
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport	32.8	+0.8	41.2	16th	16.8	+0.2	10.8	6th	34.4	16.2	high	212%
Laverton Aero	36.1	+2.5	44.3	18th	20.4	+0.8	13.8	26th	38.8	29.1	high	133%
Leinster Aero	37.2	+1.9	43.9	17th	21.5	+0.4	13.4	6th	40.4	27.4	high	147%
Leonora Aero	36.4		43.5	16th	20.8		13.3	6th	19.2
Munglinup West	27.3	-0.1	42.5	29th	12.8	+0.2	8.6	2nd	71.0	31.1	high	228%
Norseman Aero	31.4	+0.4	40.9	16th	14.3	+0.4	7.0	26th	16.4	22.5	average	73%
Salmon Gums Res.Stn.	30.0	+1.0	40.5	29th	12.7	+0.5	5.6	11th	17.2	20.0	average	86%
Southern Cross Airfield	33.0	+0.2	42.1	29th	16.1	+0.7	10.3	6th	4.2	15.4	average	27%
Yeelirrie	38.2	+2.0	44.0	18th	20.4	+0.5	13.0	6th	12.1	20.1	average	60%
North East (district 13)
Carnegie	40.1	+2.7	44.4	31st	22.6	+0.5	16.5	3rd	19.6	23.9	average	82%
Giles Meteorological Office	37.6	+1.8	41.8	5th	22.8	+0.9	18.3	26th	55.0	45.9	high	120%
Telfer Aero	43.2	+3.0	46.5	25th	27.4	+2.0	22.6	29th	10.4	46.7	low	22%
Warburton Airfield	38.9	+2.3	42.6	10th	23.3	+1.9	16.7	26th	29.0	31.4	average	92%
Offshore Islands (district 200)
Adele Island	32.0		33.1	8th	22.1		9.2	28th
Browse Island	31.2		34.0	11th	27.8		23.3	15th
Christmas Island Aero	28.5	+0.7	30.4	31st	23.7	+1.1	20.4	25th	193.6	221.6	average	87%
Cocos Island Airport	30.3	+0.9	31.6	20th	25.7	+1.1	24.1	25th	188.4	118.6	high	159%
Note: Observations for “Perth Metro” are taken from the current site at Mount Lawley (Bureau number 009225). Comparisons are made against combined data from the current site (which opened in early 1993) and the previous site at Perth Regional Office (009034), which ran from 1876 to early 1992. Observations for “Rottnest Island” are taken from the current site at Rottnest Island (Bureau number 009193). Comparisons are made against combined data from the current site(which opened in 1995) and the previous site at Rottnest Island Lighthouse (009038),which ran from 1879 to 1994.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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