Minima were also exceptionally warm for large parts of northern Australia, and highest on record for much of southeastern Australia. All values in this statement were compiled from data available on the issue date. The most serious included a fire at Cape Conran, in eastern Victoria, on the 11th, and fires in the Bega Valley at Bemboka on the New South Wales south Coast, which destroyed three houses on the 15th. The Bureau collects, manages and safeguards Australia's climate data archive. Strong cold fronts crossed southeastern Australia in the middle of April. The links below are to text files which contain all our data for each day in monthly chunks - giving the following information: average temperature, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, average wind speed, maximum wind speed, maximum pressure, minimum pressure and total rainfall. A new March record wind gust of 126 km/h was observed at Darwin Airport. They were warmest on record in areas of the Southern Ocean to the east and southwest of New Zealand. Rainfall for the month was also above average for western to northern central Victoria and adjacent parts of other States, as a result of a period of very heavy showers and storms around mid-month, to which Owen contributed by drawing moist tropical air south. NOAA Extended Reconstructed Sea Surface Temperature dataset, ERSST v5. Sites in coastal South Australia; parts of western, coastal and elevated Victoria; and western and southern Tasmania reported gusts over 100 km/h, peaking at 144 km/h at kunanyi / Mount Wellington and 141 km/h at Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse on the 17th. An increased diurnal temperature range (the difference between daily maximum and minimum temperatures) and increased occurrence of frosts are typical of eastern inland Australia during the cool season in drought years, due to reduced cloud cover, low humidity, and low soil moisture. A Severe Weather Warning for heavy rainfall has been issued for parts of the Gulf Country and a Flood Watch is current for Gulf Rivers and Cape York Peninsula. Annual minima were in the highest 10% of historical observations for parts of southwestern Queensland; central coast, northern and western New South Wales; southern Victoria; southern South Australia to southeastern Western Australia; and all of Tasmania. The reformed severe tropical cyclone Owen helped fuel a low-pressure system over southeastern Australia by drawing very moist, unstable air down from the tropics. Australia was strongly influenced by both natural variability and climate change in 2018. Nine dwellings were identified as destroyed and an additional eight damaged, along with dozens of sheds and other structures. A number of stations observed daily or multi-day rainfall records, with major flooding resulting along Lower Daly River in the Northern Territory. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said on Saturday a low-pressure system developing over Cape York posed a moderate chance of becoming a cyclone on Sunday and a high chance of doing so on Monday. February continued wet for much of Western Australia, with tropical cyclone Kelvin causing flooding around Broome. Days were cooler than average over large areas of Western Australia coinciding with above average rainfall. On the 30th thunderstorms caused widespread damage in the Central Wheat Belt and Great Southern districts, with buildings losing roofs, trees uprooted, and power poles knocked over. Further south, Innisfail has so far received 752mm, the town's highest December rainfall since 1950. The prolonged period of below average rainfall came to a peak in September, which was an exceptionally dry month for much of the country. Strong winds, heavy rain, and severe thunderstorms affected Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania over the 13th to 16th, following very warm humid weather the on the 12th. The best time of year to visit Cape Tribulation in Australia. In June 2018, the region saw average rainfall for the first time in four years. May was wet in Tasmania and southern Victoria, with exceptional rainfall in the middle of the month causing significant flash floods in southeastern Tasmania. There were destructive floods in southwest India, major hurricane impacts in the United States (Florence and Michael), and destructive wildfires in numerous regions, including Greece, western Canada and California. The 11-year mean temperature for 2008–2018 was the highest on record at 0.77 °C above average. Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, and Canberra all experienced a drier than average year. The 18th was also a very warm day for much of Victoria, with temperatures of 40 °C to 43 °C across most of the western half of the State, including a number of coastal sites. Annual rainfall in 2018 was very much below average for New South Wales, Victoria, eastern South Australia, most of the southern half of Queensland, and parts of southwest Western Australia. Warmth was widespread for October, with mean temperatures for all States and the Northern Territory amongst the ten warmest on record for October, except for Western Australia. Elsewhere in the world, extreme heat followed major floods in Japan. A Special Climate Statement discussing the event will be released. Eleven tropical cyclones were recorded in the broader Australian region during the 2017–18 Australian tropical cyclone season, equalling the long-term average (for all years since 1969–70). Although totals were generally between 15 and 50 mm, much of central southern Victoria and South to West Gippsland received more rain in just three hours than in the previous two months combined. Rain falling onto saturated catchments led to river rises, with minor flooding in several catchments. Strong to gale force winds and thunderstorms affected southern parts of South Australia on the 13th and again on the 14th. Southwell Park (north of the CBD) received 124 mm in 6 hours. While winter did see a strengthening of the westerly winds and some frontal systems, there was little linkage by these systems to the tropics and humidity remained very low over the south. View original tweet on Twitter . Most of this warming has occurred since 1950. Numerous station records for highest April mean maximum temperature were set in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. For the year as a whole, SSTs were also warmer than average for most of the western half of the Australian region. The preliminary annual 2018 sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly for the Australian region was the tenth-highest on record; 0.46 °C above the 1961–1990 average based on data for January to November from the
The very warm weather also stressed fish in the grounds of the Salmon Ponds in the Derwent Valley, killing at least half of the trout stock in some of the display ponds. The strong winds and low pressure also contributed to high storm surge tides. The tropical cyclone season runs from 1 November to 30 April. Preliminary annual average SSTs were very much warmer than average across the eastern half of the Australian region. Rainfall was particularly low over the mainland southeast from April, with rainfall deficiencies increasing during the year for many areas. Rain eased on Friday, but rain and thunderstorms are forecast for the Peninsula and north-east tropical coast on Saturday with the monsoon trough expected to develop over Cape York. Also on the 15th, a helicopter pilot lost his life while water bombing a large bushfire in Mount Kingiman, west of Ulladulla, on the New South Wales central coast. This trend towards wetter years in the north is contributing to a slight increase in mean annual rainfall for Australia as a whole. Rainfall for the year was below average for Victoria, New South Wales, the eastern half of South Australia, most of Queensland south of Cape York Peninsula, and South West Western Australia and areas along the west coast. January saw heatwave conditions both early and late in the month in southeastern Australia. The year commenced with a very weak La Niña in the tropical Pacific Ocean, although this short-lived event dissipated during February, having had relatively little effect on Australian rainfall patterns over summer 2017–18. 2019 Storms on 4 March removed roofs from buildings at Northampton and brought down trees and power lines. Numerous stations set records for high monthly rainfall totals, and flooding isolated some communities in the Top End and north of Western Australia. Rainfall for the year was very low over the southeastern quarter of the mainland (seventh-lowest on record), with much of the region experiencing totals in the lowest 10% of historical observations. The estimated global mean temperature is produced using the average of several global climate datasets. These anomalies were strongest in November, with below to very much below average SSTs along the coast of Western Australia between the Pilbara and the South West, and extending into the eastern Indian Ocean. — Dr. Eve (@Dr_Eve) February 9, 2018. Cairns Racecourse reached 43.6 °C, more than six degrees above the previous November record for any site in the Cairns area (37.2 °C at the Post Office in 1900 and the Airport in 1971). There were two large grass fires in the southwest, although they fortunately caused little damage to assets. Especailly on Wednesday sunny periods increase. There were a number of severe thunderstorms in Queensland during October, including two tornadoes observed on the 11th, at Coolabunia (southeast of Kingaroy) and Tansey (near Murgon), as well as hail up to 7 cm in diameter in the Wide Bay and Burnett region, and a wind gust of 117 km/h and hail up to 6 cm in diameter was recorded at Rolleston on the 29th. December also saw some areas with above average rainfall, notably across eastern Queensland, largely associated with severe tropical cyclone Owen, and to a lesser extent, tropical cyclone Penny. It was amongst the six warmest years on record for all States and the Northern Territory, and the warmest on record for New South Wales. In addition to the influence of natural drivers, Australia's climate is increasingly influenced by global warming. However, atmospheric indicators—such as trade winds, cloudiness, pressure patterns and the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI)—had not shown a sustained response, and El Niño had not established by the end of the year. Download time-series of monthly, seasonal and annual values. The ocean surface was warmest on record in an area of the Southern Ocean around and east of New Zealand. Positive SAM during spring and early summer is associated with increased onshore flow in parts of eastern Australia, which typically increases the likelihood of above average rainfall in affected regions. In each case, where 2018 was second-highest, the highest was in 2017 (see World Meteorological Organization Provisional statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2018). It's now working out who else it didn't pay properly, Live: NSW Now: Planning minister defends koala policy green groups branded 'catastrophic', 'We know what is sacred': The fight that saved an island's sacred site. Staff writers, The Cairns Post. From 2020 area-averaged rainfall values and mapped analyses use the new AGCD dataset. Warmth was widespread and persistent throughout 2018—the monthly national mean temperature was amongst the ten warmest on record for their respective month during January, February, March, April, July, October, and December, and was at least 0.25 °C above average in each of the remaining months except August. "It's definitely going to be an active week in terms of weather in the tropics — even if the TC [tropical cyclone] doesn't form, we do have a monsoon trough starting to ramp up around the Peninsula and the top end of Australia, so that alone is going to bring a lot of rainfall.". In Tasmania, a report from the Tasmanian Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Inland Fisheries Service (IFS) found that sustained warm weather during January led to very high river water temperatures in the Mersey River, which then contributed to the death of numerous trout, particularly around Merseylea. There were several significant heatwaves in southeastern Australia during January, particularly in New South Wales and northern Victoria. In Tasmania, rainfall was very heavy in the north and west, with daily rainfall records for November set at Strahan, Queenstown and Cape Sorell and blackouts across parts of the north and northwest. How to fly to Cape York? Severe tropical cyclone Owen developed over the Coral Sea on 2 December, reaching category 1 strength before being downgraded while still well offshore of the north Queensland coast on the 4th. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. As cool temperature anomalies in the eastern tropical Indian Ocean strengthened, waters warmed in the west of the Indian Ocean. While October was drier than average for Victoria and Tasmania, and November rainfall was below average for much of eastern Queensland, rainfall during these two months was above average across much of the country. Pan evaporation for June to August 2018 was the highest on record for the Murray–Darling Basin. Both days and nights were much warmer than average for Adelaide (maxima eighth-warmest on record, minima eleventh-warmest on record), and warmer than average for Melbourne, although outside the top ten. January and February were warmer to very much warmer than average over most of eastern Australia and South Australia. There were a number of significant storms which produced large hail in Queensland and northern New South Wales during February; including tennis ball sized hail near Boonah on the 11th, golf ball sized hail in parts of southeast Queensland between the 13th and 16th, and hail up to 8 cm in diameter in parts of central Queensland on the 20th. I am dependent': Pain sufferers say limiting their access to opioids is cruel. Global ocean heat content has also been at or near record high levels during 2018. The last week of the year again saw extreme high temperatures, this time affecting very large areas, from the northwest of the country into the inland southeast. For the Tasman Sea as a whole, the January area average SST was +1.66 °C (0.64 °C above the previous record high set in January 1935). Severe thunderstorms caused flash flooding across Sydney, and strong winds and rain caused power outages affecting 35 000 properties. December 27, 2018 2:57pm. Annual rainfall is high, ranging from over 2,000 millimetres (79 in) in the Iron Range and north of Weipa to about 700 millimetres (28 in) at the southern border. The tropical Pacific Ocean had less of an influence, starting the year with a very weak La Niña that decayed during February, and had little impact on Australian rainfall, before moving into neutral conditions (neither El Niño nor La Niña). The State Emergency Service was called to rescue 25 people whose vehicles became trapped in flood waters during peak hour. The remains of severe tropical cyclone Nora tracked across the base of Cape York Peninsula and produced heavy rainfall, renewing major flooding in catchments on the north tropical coast. Maximum temperatures were the second-warmest on record at 1.55 °C above average, coming in behind +1.59 °C in 2013. Autumn rainfall was the second-lowest on record for southern Australia (those areas south of 26°S), meaning a very dry start for the southern wet season (the southern wet season spans April–October). The State Emergency Service received 300 calls for assistance and there was over ninety million dollars in insurance claims reported, and nearly thirty million dollars in damage to municipal infrastructure. A Special Climate Statement discussing the event will be released. The climate is tropical, humid or maritime, with rainfall varying from 1000 mm to 1600 mm, including some high-rainfall areas at high altitudes. However, droughts eased in east Africa and in the Cape Province of South Africa. The library of University of Hobart was also flooded, with very significant damage to their collection, including many rare books. The highest weekly total was 389 mm at Lockhart River Airport in northern Queensland. "Whilst council crews have been doing a fantastic job in cleaning up debris, removing trees, it is still very muddy and people need to drive slow. On the south coast of New South Wales, a bushfire at Tathra on the 18th saw more than 70 homes destroyed and another 39 damaged in the blaze. A strong cold front crossed southeastern Australia on 17 July, followed by another front on the 19th, bring periods of strong and gusty winds, and moderate to heavy rainfall. However, thunderstorms will form on Monday and Tuesday . Exceptionally high temperatures affected very large areas of Australia during the last week of December, extending from the northwest of the country into the inland southeast. Currently (May 2018), prices are between $1.50-2.05/L. Nights were warmer than average for each of those cities, but not especially so. Rainfall was also below average across parts of inland northern Australia between northwestern Queensland, the central Northern Territory, and the northern Interior of Western Australia, and also in pockets along the east and north coasts of Tasmania. Cairns had received more than 640mm of rain this month, making it the wettest December in the region since 1975. However alternate averaging periods are also used for other purposes, such as facilitating comparison to a more recent period for climate outlooks, or to the pre-industrial period for long-term climate change.