Tuesday, 1 March, 2011 — Seasonal Climate Summary for Australia — Product Code IDCKGC1A00
Australia in Summer (December-February) 2010-11
Summer 2010-11 has been the second wettest on record for Australia with Victoria recording its wettest summer on record, WA recording its second wettest, SA recording its third wettest and NSW recording its fifth wettest summer on record. Maximum temperatures were generally cooler than normal whilst overnight minima were mostly above normal, with SA recording its fourth warmest summer on record for minimum temperatures.
Significant rainfall and flooding occurred over large parts of eastern and northern Australia, most notably the southeast Queensland floods in early January 2011.
Maximum temperatures averaged over Australia were 0.72ºC below normal for summer making it the coolest year since 2001. Most of Australia recorded below average maximum temperatures. Daytime temperatures were more than 1ºC below normal in northeast and southern WA, a large part of NT and Queensland as well as in an area in southeast Australia. The northwest coast of WA also recorded maximum temperatures more than 1ºC below normal. Northern Territory and Queensland recorded the most pronounced cool anomalies of more than 2ºC below normal. This area, as well as an area in northern Queensland and parts of WA, ranked in the coolest 10% of records. The cool conditions in the NT and Queensland resulted in the coolest summer in a decade with anomalies of -1.40ºC and -0.97ºC recorded respectively in each state.
In contrast, areas in southwest Queensland, on the NSW central coast and over the eastern interior and west coast of WA, recorded maximum temperatures of over 1ºC above normal. Temperatures along the western coast of WA ranked in the top 10% of warmest summers on record, with records set locally in the far southwest and around Shark Bay.
Nationally averaged minimum temperatures were 0.49ºC above normal with most states recording above average minimums, with the exception of the NT. The southern half of the country recorded particularly above average overnight minima. This includes large areas in the interior and west coast of WA and large parts of SA, as well as the coast and tablelands of eastern NSW and far eastern Victoria, which all ranked in the warmest 10% of summers on record. The west coast of WA between Perth and Karratha recorded its warmest minimum temperatures on record, with temperatures more than 3ºC above normal, while South Australia recorded its fourth warmest summer on record statewide for minimum temperatures (+1.44ºC).
Parts of northeast WA and the inland NT recorded minimum temperatures of around 1ºC below normal which rank in the coolest 10% of summers on record. Most of the NT and northeast WA, as well as a large area of inland Queensland, recorded temperatures up to 1ºC below normal, with the rest of the state recording above average overnight minima.
Exceptional rainfall conditions also affected four of Australia’s capital cities: Darwin, which broke its record for wettest day, week and month in February with a monthly total of 1110.2 mm; Brisbane which experienced very heavy falls which led to severe flooding in early January; Canberra which recorded its second wettest summer on record; and Melbourne, which experienced exceptionally heavy rainfall in early February which resulted in flash flooding in the greater metropolitan area. For more information on these events please see the Bureau’s Special Climate Statement page.
(out of 111)
2nd highest on record; record is 419.8 (1973/1974)
|New South Wales||107||273.2||+60%||5th highest on record; record is 384.9 (1975/1976)
Highest on record; previous record 237.4 (1911)
|Tasmania||95||338.9||+39%||Highest since 1995/1996|
|South Australia||109||159.9||+158%||3rd highest on record; record is 195.9 (1973/1974)|
|Western Australia||110||290.9||+95%||2nd highest on record; record is 301.8 (1999/2000)|
|Murray-Darling Basin||109||271.9||+88%||3rd ighest on record; record is 336.1 (1975/1976)
*The mean is calculated for the 1961-1990 reference period.
|Australian weather extremes in summer 2010-11|
|Hottest day||48.5 °C at Roxby Downs (SA) on 25 January|
|Coldest day||1.2 °C at Mt Hotham (Vic) on 19 December|
|Coldest night||−14.1 °C at Trangie (NSW) on 6 February|
|Warmest night||34.2 °C at Oodnadatta (SA) on 28 January|
|Wettest day||435.4 mm at Marrara (NT) on 16 February|