ANNUAL CLIMATE SUMMARY - ACT METEOROLOGICAL OFFICE

ACT marked by lack of rain and warmer conditions in 2001

Rainfall: At Canberra airport, 500.0 millimetres of rain was recorded for the year, well below the average of 630.2mm. This puts 2001 within the driest 30 per cent on record. Rainfall was above average in February, August and September, but below average for the other months. April, May and December were considerably drier than normal. The wettest month was February with 98.0mm, while the driest was May with only 2.6mm. The wettest 24-hour total to 9am occurred on 5 February with 55.4mm. There was only one other occasion when more than 30mm was recorded - on 7 November when 30.4mm fell.

The number of rain days for the year - 90 - was well below the average of 106 days. There were 21 thunderstorm days recorded at the airport, just below the average of 23. On several occasions thunderstorms were reported at some parts of the ACT but not recorded at the airport.

A severe thunderstorm on 13 February caused considerable damage to trees in the Stromlo forest. Severe thunderstorms were also recorded in the ACT on 2 October and 6 November. While there were only two days when the airport recorded hail (13 February and 18 August), there were reports of hail within the ACT on several other occasions (25 July, 1 August, 4 October and 18 November). There was only one report of snow for the year at the airport (27 August), which is average.

Temperatures: The mean daily temperature for 2001 was 13.6 degrees Celsius, well above the long-term average of 13.1 degrees. The mean annual day-time maximum temperature of 20.6 degrees was well above the average 19.6 degrees, while the mean annual night-time temperature of 6.5 degrees was right on average. The warmest month was January (average daily temperature of 22.8 degrees), while the coldest month was June (average daily temperature of 6.7 degrees).

Mean daily maximum temperatures were below average in March and October, average in November, and above average for the other months. The highest average daily maximum of 31.0 degrees occurred in January, while the lowest of 12.9 degrees occurred in July. The temperature reached 30.0 degrees or more on 37 days during the year compared with the average of 30 days. January had 17 days of 30.0 degrees or more (average 11), February had 12 days (average eight), and December had eight days (average seven). No days of 30.0 degrees or more were recorded in either March (average three) or November (average two). There were seven days when a temperature of 35.0 degrees or more was recorded (average five days), all in January. The hottest day of the year was 24 January with 39.9 degrees, while the coldest was 5.5 degrees on 6 July.

Mean daily minimum temperatures were below average in March, April, May, June, October, November and December. All other months recording above-average minimum temperatures. The coldest morning was minus 6.0 degrees on 30 May. There were 109 frosts for the year (average 99), with winter recording 59 frosts (average 58), spring 21 (average 21), and autumn 28 (average 18).

Frosts, fogs: The first frost of the year was recorded on 28 March (the median date for the first frost is 9 April), while the last frost was recorded on 27 December (the median date for the last frost is 16 November). There were only 26 fogs for the year, well below the average of 44. No fogs were recorded in February (average one), August (average five), October (average three), November (average one) or December (average one). All other months recorded either average or a below-average number of fogs.

Wind: The mean daily wind run for the year was 192.7 kilometres a day, well above the long-term average of 183.9 km/day. The windiest month was August (257.8 km/day), while July was the calmest (137.5 km/day). In fact, the three-month period October to December was the second windiest October to December period on record with a mean daily wind run of 239.4 km/day (record 249.8 km/day in 1996). Overall, winds in five of the first seven months were below average, but were above average in four of the last five months. The number of strong wind days recorded (mean wind of 41 km/h or more) was 26, one above average. But there were only four strong wind days between January and July (average 11 days) and 22 strong wind days between August and December (average 15 days). There was also one day of gales on 6 October. The strongest wind gust recorded for the year was 85 km/h on both 17 August and 6 October. A wind gusts of 83 km/h wase recorded at the airport on 13 February, and a gust of 82 km/h was recorded on 6 November. Both events were associated with thunderstorms. The strongest wind gust ever recorded in Canberra is 128 km/h on 24 November 1957.

Sunshine: There was an average of 7.8 hours of sunshine a day for the year, just above the mean of 7.5 hours a day.

Pressure: The average daily pressure of 1016.7 hectopascals was marginally below the average of 1016.8 hPa. June had the highest mean daily pressure of 1024.6 hPa, while December had the lowest of 1007.0 hPa. Pressures were generally above average for the first half of the year and below average for the second half.

Summary for Canberra airport, 2001
Mean maximum temperature	20.6 degrees (av 19.6 degrees)
Highest maximum temperature	39.9 degrees (24 January)
Lowest maximum temperature	5.5 degrees (6 July)
Mean minimum temperature	6.5 degrees (av 6.5 degrees)
Highest minimum temperature	20.6 degrees (4 February)
Lowest minimum temperature	minus 6.0 degrees (30 May)
Lowest grass temperature	minus 9.6 degrees (30 May)
Total annual rainfall	500.0 mm (av 630.2mm)
Total annual evaporation	1700.9 mm (av 1686.9 mm)
Mean daily sunshine	7.8 hours/day (av 7.5 hours/day)
Mean daily pressure	1016.7 hPa (av 1016.8 hPa)
Mean daily wind run (at two metres)	192.2 km (av 183.9 km)