1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2009–10
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 04/06/2010
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AUSTRALIA'S CLIMATE One area where topography does have a major influence on rainfall is in Tasmania. Westerly winds are intercepted by the island’s mountains, causing heavy rainfall on the western (windward) side, and leaving eastern and central Tasmania in a much drier so-called ‘rain-shadow’. The interaction of topography with westerly winds in winter also plays a role in locally enhancing rainfall in regions such as the Australian Alps and the Adelaide Hills. The Great Dividing Range and associated ranges in eastern Australia enhance rainfall over the east coast hinterland during periods of easterly flow, and partially block moisture from penetrating further inland. Episodic weather events Tropical cyclones are the most dramatic episodic weather events to affect Australia. Tropical cyclones are strong, well-organised low pressure systems that form poleward of about 5° of the Equator, over water that is warmer than approximately 26°C. (The weak Coriolis force near the Equator, which is important in inducing the rotation required for the development of a tropical cyclone, accounts for the lack of cyclones in that region.) Tropical cyclones can vary significantly in size, and once formed are classified as category 1 (weakest) to 5 (strongest) according to their intensity at any given time. Category 4 and 5 cyclones have wind gusts exceeding 225 kilometres/hour (km/h) and can be exceptionally damaging, as in the near-total destruction of Darwin by Tropical Cyclone Tracy on 25 December 1974. The strongest wind gust instrumentally measured in a tropical cyclone on the Australian mainland is 267 km/h, at Learmonth (Western Australia) during Tropical Cyclone Vance on 22 March 1999, but it is believed that gusts in excess of 320 km/h have occurred away from instruments. The zone of most destructive winds associated with tropical cyclones is normally quite narrow, only about 50 km wide in the case of Tracy, and rarely more than 300 km. Tropical cyclones bring heavy rain as well as strong winds, and are the cause of most of Australia’s highest-recorded daily rainfalls (table 1.8). Warm water acts as the cyclone’s energy source, and hence is required to maintain the strength of the winds. As a result, tropical cyclones rapidly lose their intensity on moving over land, although the rainfall with former cyclones often persists well after the destructive winds have eased, occasionally bringing heavy rains deep into the inland and causing widespread flooding. (Such flooding can also occur from tropical depressions that never reach sufficient intensity to be classified as cyclones.) Parts of inland Western Australia receive 30-40% of their average annual rainfall from these systems, and it is not unheard of for places to receive their average annual rainfall within a one or two-day period as a tropical cyclone (or ex-cyclone) passes by. On average, about three tropical cyclones directly approach the Queensland coast during the season between November and May, and three affect the north and north-west coasts, but the number and location of cyclones vary greatly from year to year. The most susceptible areas are north of Carnarvon on the west coast and north of Rockhampton on the east, but on occasions tropical cyclones have reached as far south as Perth and northern New South Wales. The most intense cyclones (categories 4 and 5) are most common off the north-west coast, but can also occur off the northern and eastern coasts. Tropical Cyclone Monica (category 5), in April 2006, was the most intense cyclone ever recorded off the Northern Territory coast, while Larry (category 4 at landfall), in March 2006, was the most intense cyclone to make landfall in Queensland since 1918. Away from the tropics, 'heatwaves' can occur over many parts of Australia. In southern Australia, they are normally associated with slow-moving anticyclones. A large anti-cyclone remaining stationary ('blocking') over the Tasman Sea will result in northerly or north-westerly flow on its western flank, bringing hot air from the centre of the continent over the south-east coastal regions (and sometimes to Tasmania). In south-western Australia, summer heatwaves are more commonly associated with the characteristic north-south trough of low pressure along the west coast moving offshore, suppressing sea breezes and causing hot north-easterly winds to blow from the interior to the coast. 'Cold outbreaks' can occur over southern Australia when intense south to south-west flow associated with strong cold fronts or large depressions directs cold air from the Southern Ocean over the continent. These outbreaks are most common in the south-east of the country and can result in low temperatures and snow falling to low elevations. While principally a winter and early spring phenomenon, cold outbreaks can occur at other times of year, and the fact that the air originates over the Southern Ocean (where there is only about a 4°C change in temperature from winter to summer) means that they can also bring cold air and 'unseasonable' snowfalls at high elevations at any other time of year. Intense low pressure systems can also form outside the tropics, most commonly off the east coast where they are known as 'east coast lows'. These systems can bring very strong winds and heavy rain, particularly where they direct moist easterly winds on their southern flank onto the coastal ranges of southern Queensland, New South Wales, eastern Victoria and north-eastern Tasmania. Examples of systems of this type include two, a fortnight apart, in June 1967 off southern Queensland which caused major flooding and severe beach erosion in the Gold Coast region, an intense low in Bass Strait that sank or damaged many yachts in the 1998 Sydney-Hobart race, and a June 2007 system which brought flooding to the Hunter Valley in New South Wales and drove a large ship aground at Newcastle. Interannual and interdecadal variability The major driver of interannual climate variability in Australia, particularly eastern Australia, is the El Niño-Southern Oscillation phenomenon. El Niño is an anomalous large warming of the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, while La Niña, the reverse phase of the system, is an anomalous cooling. The Southern Oscillation refers to a see-sawing of atmospheric pressure between the northern Australian-Indonesian region and the central Pacific Ocean. El Niño events are strongly associated with abnormally high pressures in the northern Australian-Indonesian region and abnormally low pressures over the central Pacific, while the reverse is true during La Niña events. The Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) is an index of the pressure differences between Darwin and Tahiti and has traditionally been used as an indicator of El Niño events (which are very often, but not always, associated with a strongly negative SOI). However, with modern satellite and floating buoy observations developed over the last 30 years, ocean temperature anomalies, both at and below the surface, can be monitored directly and hence proxy measurements, such as the SOI, are less important than they once were. El Niño events characteristically develop during the southern autumn, and continue for about 9-12 months until the following autumn. The 2002-03 El Niño followed this pattern, developing in May-June 2002 and dissipating in February-March 2003. In contrast, the 2006-07 event developed unusually late in August-September 2006 (although dry conditions were well established in many areas by then), before breaking down in February-March 2007. On occasions El Niño events are followed immediately by La Niña events (or vice versa), but it is more common for them to be followed by near-normal (neutral) ocean conditions. Events lasting for more than one year are rare, but not unknown. There are typically two to three El Niño events per decade, but there is large variation from decade to decade in their frequency and the balance of El Niño and La Niña events; since 1980, El Niño events have been predominant, whereas La Niña events were frequent in the 1950’s and 1970’s. The most significant La Niña event, in terms of ocean temperatures, since 1988 occurred in late 2007 and early 2008, with some redevelopment over the summer of 2008-09, although its effect on rainfall in many parts of Australia was modest. El Niño events are generally associated with a reduction in winter and spring rainfall across much of eastern, northern and southern Australia. This can lead to widespread and severe drought, particularly in eastern Australia, as well as increased daytime temperatures and bushfire risk. Conversely, La Niña events are generally associated with wetter-than-normal conditions and have contributed to many of Australia’s most notable floods. There is considerable variation, however, in the way each El Niño and La Niña event affects rainfall patterns from the time of onset through its developmental stages to eventual decay. Temperatures in the tropical Indian Ocean also have an influence on Australia’s climate, particularly in the south-west of Western Australia, where the influences of El Niño and La Nina events are more limited. Indian Ocean conditions also have a bearing on winter rainfall in south-eastern Australia through their effects on the frequency of northwest cloud bands (see earlier section). Many parts of Australia also have a high level of rainfall variability on decadal timescales. The drivers for this are unclear, although at least some of the variability is linked with variations on decadal timescales in the relative frequency of El Niño and La Nina events. Interdecadal variability is particularly high in the more arid areas of Australia. As an example, the 11-year average annual rainfall at Marree (South Australia) has fluctuated from around 100 mm in the 1960s to 250 mm in the 1970s. The wide range of rainfall variability in Australia has had many consequences. Perhaps the most famous occurred on the southern fringe of the South Australian desert, in the Flinders Ranges region, in the 1870s. In 1865, a boundary (‘Goyder’s Line’), based on surveys of native vegetation, had been defined by the Surveyor-General, G.W. Goyder, as the northern limit of the region where cropping was feasible. The years immediately following were particularly wet and many farms were established north of Goyder’s Line. They prospered for a few years, but when rainfall returned to more normal levels, the farms became unviable and were largely abandoned. Many of the ruined homesteads are still visible today. The article Climate variability and El Niño in the Geography and climate chapter of Year Book Australia 1998 provides further details. Climate change Temperatures in Australia were relatively stable from 1910 until 1950, and since then have followed an increasing trend, with an overall increase during 1910 to 2009 of approximately 0.8°C. Overnight minimum temperatures have warmed more quickly than daytime maximum temperatures, but both have increased over almost the entire continent, with the largest increases occurring in north-eastern Australia. In conjunction with this trend, the frequencies of frosts and other extreme low temperatures have decreased, while the frequency of extreme high temperatures has increased, although at a slower rate. Over Australia the observed warming has accelerated in recent years, and the warming from the late-20th century has been largely attributed to the enhanced greenhouse effect. Over the continent as a whole, rainfall has increased over the 1900-2009 period, with the largest increases occurring over northern and north-western Australia. Since 1960, however, there have been substantial decreases in rainfall over three relatively small, but economically and agriculturally important, regions: south-western Western Australia; Victoria (particularly southern Victoria), and the eastern coastal fringe (particularly south-eastern Queensland). Table 1.5 shows temperatures and rainfall averaged over Australia since the commencement of comprehensive national records. The article A hundred years of science and service - Australian meteorology through the twentieth century in Year Book Australia 2001 provides further details, including maps of temperature and rainfall trends to 1999. While some temperature and rainfall data exist prior to the starting dates used in table 1.5, they have not been used in analyses of climate change. This is because large parts of the Australian continent had no observations before that time. In the case of temperatures, most pre-1910 data is also not comparable with post-1910 data, because the louvred, white-painted screen (the ‘Stevenson screen’) which is used for sheltering thermometers from direct solar radiation was only introduced as a national standard around that time. Many pre-1910 temperatures were measured in locations such as underneath tin verandahs or even indoors, and cannot be validly compared with more recent data (see the article Temperature measurement and the Stevenson screen in Year Book Australia 2005 for further details).
Rainfall and other precipitation Annual Map 1.6 shows average annual rainfall over the Australian continent. The driest section of Australia, with an average of less than 200 mm per year, extends over a large area from the west coast near Shark Bay, across the interior of Western Australia and northern South Australia into south-western Queensland and north-western New South Wales. The driest part of this region is in the vicinity of Lake Eyre in South Australia, where average annual rainfall is below 150 mm. This region is not normally exposed to moist air masses and rainfall is irregular, averaging rain on only around 20 days per year. Very occasionally, favourable synoptic situations (usually, but not always, disturbances of tropical origin) can bring heavy rains to many parts of this normally arid to semi-arid region, with falls of up to 400 mm over a few days being recorded in the most extreme cases. Such heavy rainfalls often lead to widespread flooding and a subsequent short-lived ‘blooming’ of the desert regions. Whilst such rain events are uncommon, the environment in Australia (both the lack of topographic barriers to moist air moving southwards from the tropics, and the presence of warm, rather than cold, waters as a potential source of moist air off the west coast) is more favourable to their occurrence than it is in some other arid zones. Rainfall in Australia’s deserts is consequently higher than in some other deserts; the Atacama Desert on the west coast of South America has locations where no rain has fallen for centuries, whilst large parts of the Sahara and Arabian deserts, and parts of central Asia, have average annual rainfall of 25 mm or lower. There is only one recorded instance, at Mulyie (about 100 kilometres east of Port Hedland, WA) in 1924, of an Australian station being rainless for a complete calendar year. The region with the highest average annual rainfall is the east coast of Queensland between Cairns and Cardwell, where mountains are very close to the tropical coast. The summit of Bellenden Ker has an average of 8,012 mm over 36 years of records, while at lower elevations, Topaz has an average of 4,405 mm over 29 years, and Babinda 4,243 mm over 98 years. The mountainous region of western Tasmania also has a high annual rainfall, with Lake Margaret having an average of 2,949 mm over 64 years, and short-term records suggest that other parts of the region have an average near 3,500 mm. The Snowy Mountains area in New South Wales also has a particularly high rainfall. While there are no official rain gauges in the wettest areas on the western slopes above 1,800 metres elevation, runoff data suggests that the average annual rainfall in parts of this region exceeds 3,000 mm. Small pockets with averages exceeding 2,500 mm also occur in the north-east Victorian highlands and some parts of the east coastal slopes. 1.6 Mean Annual Rainfall for Australia (a) Seasonal Australia’s rainfall pattern is strongly seasonal in character, with a winter rainfall regime in parts of the south, a summer regime in the north and generally more uniform or erratic throughout the year elsewhere. Major rainfall zones include:
The frequency of rain days (defined as days when 0.2 mm or more of rainfall is recorded in a 24-hour period) is greatest near the southern Australian coast, exceeding 150 per year in much of Tasmania, southern Victoria and the far south-west of Western Australia, peaking at over 250 per year in western Tasmania. Values exceeding 150 per year also occur along parts of the north Queensland coast. At the other extreme, a large part of inland western and central Australia has fewer than 25 rain days per year, and most of the continent away from the coasts has fewer than 50 per year. In the high rainfall areas of northern Australia away from the east coast the number of rain days is typically about 80 to 120 per year, but rainfall events are typically heavier in this region than in southern Australia. The highest daily rainfalls have occurred in the northern half of Australia and along the east coast, most of them arising from tropical cyclones, or further south east coast lows, near the coast in mountainous areas. Daily falls in excess of 500 mm have occurred at scattered locations near the east coast as far south as the Illawarra, south of Sydney, and falls exceeding 300 mm have occurred in north-eastern Tasmania, and the Otway Ranges and parts of Gippsland in southern Victoria. Most locations in temperate Australia away from the east coast have highest recorded daily rainfalls in the 75-150 mm range, although some locations have exceeded 200 mm. In these regions, extreme daily rainfalls are often associated with thunderstorms, for which rainfall recordings can vary dramatically over short distances. The highest daily and annual rainfalls for each state and territory are listed in tables 1.8 and 1.9.
Floods Heavy rainfall conducive to widespread flooding can occur anywhere in Australia, but is most common in the north and in the eastern coastal areas. There are three main flood types:
Droughts Drought, in general terms, refers to an acute deficit of water supply to meet a specified demand. The best single measure of water availability in Australia is rainfall, although factors such as evaporation and soil moisture are also significant and can be dominant in some situations. Demands for water are very diverse, and droughts therefore can be considered on a variety of timescales. Rainfall in a single year is important for unirrigated crop and pasture growth, while for large water storages and irrigation variations on a multi-year timescale are more important, and a succession of relatively dry years that are not exceptional individually can cause severe water storages when aggregated over an extended period. While droughts can occur in all parts of Australia, they are most economically damaging in south-eastern Australia (southern Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the settled parts of South Australia), an area encompassing about 75% of Australia’s population and much of its agriculture. In south-western Western Australia, another economically and agriculturally significant area, interannual variability of rainfall is smaller than it is in the south-east and severe widespread droughts in individual years are a less important issue, although, in recent decades, this area has experienced a general decline in rainfall (see Climate change). In terms of rainfall deficits over a 1-2 year period, the most severe droughts on record for eastern Australia have been those of 1901-02, 1982-83, 1994-95, 2002-03 and 2006-07, all of which were associated with El Niño. Occasionally, severe droughts are embedded within more extensive dry periods; the 1901-02 drought was contained within a persistently dry period from 1895-1903 (the so-called 'Federation Drought'). Droughts can have a severe economic impact; for example. the direct effect of the 2002-03 drought on agricultural production is that it had a downward impact on gross domestic product growth of almost one percentage point between 2001-02 and 2002-03 (see the article in the National Accounts chapter in Year Book Australia 2005), while the 2006-07 drought had a downward impact of 0.6%. Other notable droughts on the 1-2 year timescale include those of 1888, 1914, 1919-20, 1940-41, 1944, 1946, 1965, 1967 and 1972. Longer-term periods of persistent below-average rainfall are also often loosely referred to as 'droughts', and apart from that of 1895-1903, have generally been more regional in nature. A typical example of such a long-term drought has occurred over large parts of eastern Australia since 2001, and in some areas, such as southern Victoria (including Melbourne), since 1997. The Sydney region and eastern Queensland have been affected since 1999-2000, although with some moderation from mid-2007 onwards. The south-west of Western Australia has also experienced a marked downturn in rainfall since 1970. Other extended dry periods of this type affected much of inland Australia between 1958 and 1968, the south-east from 1937-45, and Queensland from 1991-95. Typically, these multi-year dry episodes are not ones of continuous below-normal rainfall, but rather periods of near-normal rainfall over several months, alternating with drier periods, and few, if any, times of sustained above-normal rainfall to offset the dry periods. Large water storages are particularly susceptible to such events, as they typically rely on a relatively small number of wet years to offset losses during drier periods. The Sydney water supply catchments provide an example of this, with about 40% of the total inflows into the Warragamba catchment since 1910 occurring in the wettest 10% of years. The period since 2001 has been the driest on record over parts of eastern Australia, meaning that many large water storages did not fully recover from the 2002-03 drought prior to the onset of the 2006-07 drought. While rainfall returned to near-normal levels in the second half of 2003 following the severe drought of 2002-03, there have been no periods of sustained above-average rainfall in most of the region since early 2001. For eastern Australia as a whole (defined as the combined areas of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania), the four-year period from June 2001 to May 2005 was the driest June to May four-year period on record, whilst the six-year period from June 2001 to May 2007 ranks second behind 1900-06; heavy rains in the summers of 2007-08 and 2008-09 eased the situation somewhat in tropical Queensland and on parts of the east coast. For Australia’s cropping regions the eight-year period from June 2000 to May 2008 was the driest on record, and for southeastern Australia a similar record was set by the period from June 2001 to May 2009. Conditions in the period 2001-09 are generally comparable to those of the lengthy drought of the 1940s. 1.10 Australian Rainfall Deciles - 1 June 2001 to 31 May 2009 Adding to the impact of recent dry conditions has been the accompanying increase in temperature. The period from July 2001 to June 2009 was clearly the warmest such period on record for eastern Australia. Maximum temperatures averaged over Australia were 0.86°C above the 1961-90 normal. In contrast, temperatures averaged through the driest periods of the 1940s were near the 1961-90 normal. Drought definitions, and the area of coverage and length of droughts to that time, together with related information, may be obtained from the article Drought in Australia in Year Book Australia 1988. Thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes Thunderstorms are most frequent over northern Australia. Thunder is heard at least once on 80 days or more per year near Darwin, largely as a result of convectional processes during the summer wet season. High frequencies (30 to 50 per year) also occur over the eastern uplands of New South Wales as a result of orographic uplift of moist air streams. Some parts of southern Australia receive fewer than ten thunderstorms per year, with eastern Tasmania receiving fewer than five. Through most of Australia thunderstorms are more common during the warmer half of the year, but along the southern fringe they also occur in winter as a result of low-level instability in cold air masses of Southern Ocean origin. Thunderstorms are also relatively common over many parts of inland Australia, with most of the arid zone having at least 15 thunder days per year, and parts of interior Western Australia having 40 or more. These storms are often ‘dry’ with most or all rain evaporating before it reaches the ground - indeed, in a few locations there are more days of thunder per year than there are days of rain. Some thunderstorms can become severe, with flash flooding, large hail and damaging winds. These storms can be very destructive. The Sydney hailstorm of 14 April 1999, in which hailstones up to nine centimetres (cm) in diameter were observed, was Australia’s most costly natural disaster, with losses estimated at $1.7b. Flash flooding associated with severe thunderstorms has caused loss of life, notably when seven deaths occurred in Canberra on 26 January 1971, and thunderstorms have also been implicated in numerous air crashes, such as when a plane crashed into Botany Bay on 30 November 1961 with the loss of 15 lives. Wind gusts exceeding 170 km/h have been measured during severe thunderstorms, with one notable reading being 185 km/h at Brisbane Airport on 18 January 1985. While thunderstorms in general are most common in northern Australia, the most damaging thunderstorms, in terms of hail and wind gusts, occur in the eastern halves of New South Wales and southern Queensland. Smaller hail (less than 1 cm in diameter) commonly occurs in southern coastal Australia in cold unstable air in the wake of cold frontal passages. Tornadoes are also associated with severe thunderstorms, although they do not occur with the same frequency or severity as can occur in the United States of America. As tornado paths are narrow it is rare, but not unknown, for them to strike major population centres, with notable examples occurring in Brighton (Melbourne) in February 1918, the southern suburbs of Brisbane in November 1973, and several Perth suburbs in May 2005. Snow During most years, snow covers much of the Australian Alps above 1,500 metres for varying periods from late autumn to early spring. Similarly, in Tasmania, the mountains are covered fairly frequently above 1,000 metres in those seasons. The area, depth and duration of snow cover are highly variable from year to year. These areas can experience light snowfalls at any time of year. Small patches of snow can occasionally persist through summer in sheltered areas near the highest peaks, but there are no permanent snowfields. Snowfalls at lower elevations are more irregular, although areas above 600 metres in Victoria and Tasmania, and above 1,000 metres in the New South Wales highlands, receive snow at least once in most winters, as do the highest peaks of Western Australia’s Stirling Ranges. In most cases snow cover is light and short-lived. In extreme cases, snow has fallen to sea level in Tasmania and parts of Victoria, most recently in August 2005, and to 200 metres in other parts of southern Australia, but this is very rare. The only major Australian cities to have received a significant snow cover at any time in the last century are Canberra and Hobart, although Melbourne experienced a heavy snowfall in 1849, and there are anecdotal reports of snowflakes in Sydney in 1836. The heaviest snowfall in Australian history outside the alpine areas was that of 4-5 July 1900, when 50-100 cm fell around Bathurst and in the Blue Mountains, and 25 cm as far west as Forbes (only 240 metres above sea level). Other major widespread low-elevation snow events include those of July 1901, July 1949 and July 1984. Temperature Average Temperatures Average annual air temperatures range from 28°C along the Kimberley coast in the extreme north of Western Australia to 4°C in the alpine areas of south-eastern Australia. Although annual temperatures can be used for broad comparisons, monthly temperatures are required for detailed analyses. July is the month with the lowest average temperature in all parts of the continent. In the south, the months with the highest average temperature are January or February. Due to the increase in cloudiness during the wet season, the month of highest average temperature in the north of the continent is December or, in the extreme north and north-west, November. Temperature differences between winter and summer are least in tropical Australia. They are greatest in the southern inland, with seasonal differences along the coast being moderated by the ocean's proximity. Maps 1.11 to 1.14 show average monthly maximum and minimum temperatures for January and July. Average monthly maxima In January, average maximum temperatures exceed 35°C over a vast area of the interior and exceed 40°C over parts of the north-west. The highest summer maxima occur in the Pilbara and Gascoyne regions of north-western Western Australia, where average January maxima are around 41°C; in some years daily maxima exceed 40°C for several weeks at a time. Marble Bar experienced 160 consecutive days above 37.8°C (100° Fahrenheit) in 1923-24, and had an average monthly maximum of 44.9°C in February 2007, an Australian record. At the other extreme, average January maxima are near 15°C on the highest peaks of the south-east ranges and near 20°C in much of Tasmania. In July, a more regular latitudinal distribution of average maxima is evident, ranging from 30°C near the north coast to below 3°C in the alpine areas of the south-east. 1.11 AVERAGE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE (a) - January 1.12 AVERAGE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE (a) - July Average monthly minima Average minimum temperatures in all seasons are highest in northern Australia and near the coasts, and are lowest in the mountainous areas of the south-east. The highest average January minimum temperatures (near 27°C) are found near the north-west coast, while in winter they exceed 20°C at some coastal locations in northern Australia and on the Torres Strait and Tiwi Islands. Low minimum temperatures are highly sensitive to local topography, with the lowest minimum temperatures occurring in high-elevation valleys, as cold air drains from hills to valleys overnight, making hilltops and ridges warmer overnight, even in areas with local relief of only a few tens of metres. In the most favoured locations in the mountains of New South Wales average minimum temperatures are below 5°C in January and -5°C in July, while most inland areas south of the tropics have average July minima between 0° and 6°C. 1.13 AVERAGE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE (a) - January 1.14 AVERAGE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE (a) - July Extreme maxima The highest extreme maxima in Australia are recorded in two regions; the Pilbara and Gascoyne regions of north-western Western Australia, and a broad belt extending from south-western Queensland across South Australia into south-eastern Western Australia. Many locations in this region have recorded temperatures exceeding 48°C. Extreme temperatures in this southern belt are higher than those further north, due to the long trajectory over land of hot north-west winds from northern Australia, the lower moisture levels in summer compared with northern Australia, and the generally lower elevation (when compared with areas such as the southern Northern Territory and east-central Western Australia, both of which are largely more than 500 metres above sea level). Most other locations in mainland Australia, except those near parts of the Queensland and Northern Territory coasts or above 500 metres elevation, have extreme maxima between 43° and 48°C. Most Tasmanian sites away from the north coast have extreme maxima between 35° and 42°C. The lowest extreme maxima are found along the north coast of Tasmania (e.g. 29.5°C at Low Head) and at high elevations (e.g. 27.8°C at Thredbo (Top Station)). While extreme high temperatures are more common inland than they are near the coast, the highest temperatures recorded differ little between the two, except in Queensland, the Northern Territory and northern Tasmania. Notable extreme maxima observed near the coast include 50.5°C at Mardie and 49.1°C at Roebourne in Western Australia, 49.4°C at Whyalla and 47.9°C at Ceduna in South Australia, and 47.9°C at Avalon Airport in Victoria.. Extreme maximum temperatures recorded at selected locations, including the highest recorded in each state/territory, are shown in table 1.15. Prolonged heat waves, with a number of successive days over 40°C, are relatively common in summer over much of inland Australia, as well as parts of the north-west coast. Many inland locations have recorded ten or more successive days of such conditions, increasing to 20 or more days in parts of western Queensland and northern South Australia, and 50 or more days in north-western Western Australia. These heat waves can be accompanied by oppressively warm nights, with Oodnadatta (South Australia) recording an Australian record nine successive nights above 30°C in February 2004. Such prolonged heatwaves are rare in coastal regions, except in Western Australia. The record number of consecutive days in Melbourne over 40°C, for example, is five, with Brisbane and Sydney each registering two. The coastal areas, though, can be affected by extreme heat over a period of one or two days. The then most extreme heatwave in the recorded history of south-eastern Australia occurred in January 1939. Adelaide (46.1°C on the 12th), Melbourne (45.6°C on the 13th) and Sydney (45.3°C on the 14th) all set record high temperatures during this period, as did many other centres in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. This extreme heat contributed to the 'Black Friday' bushfires, in which almost two million hectares were burnt and 71 lives lost (see the Bushfires section in the Environment chapter in Year Book Australia 2004). More recently, extreme heat affected south-eastern Australia in late January and early February 2009, with state records broken in Victoria and Tasmania (see table below and box) and a record high of 46.4°C in Melbourne on 7 February. The peak of this heatwave also coincided with the 'Black Saturday' bushfires.
The lowest recorded temperatures in Australia have been in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, where Charlotte Pass recorded -23.0°C on 28 June 1994 (table 1.16), with a number of other locations recording temperatures below -15°C. It is likely that comparably low temperatures occur in similarly sheltered locations in the Victorian highlands, but no observing stations away from the exposed peaks exist in this area. Away from the Snowy Mountains, the lowest extreme minima in Australia are found above 500 metres elevation on the tablelands and ranges of New South Wales, eastern Victoria and southern Queensland, as well as in central Tasmania. Many locations in this region have recorded -10°C or lower, including Gudgenby, Australian Capital Territory (-14.6°C) and Woolbrook, New South Wales (-14.5°C). At lower elevations, most inland places south of the tropics have extreme minima between -3°C and -7°C, and such low temperatures have also occurred in favoured locations within a few kilometres of southern and eastern coasts, such as Sale, Victoria (-5.6°C), Bega, New South Wales (-8.1°C), Grove, Tasmania (-7.5°C), Eyre, Western Australia (-7.2°C) and Taree, New South Wales (-5.0°C). In the tropics, extreme minima near or below 0°C have occurred at many places away from the coast, as far north as Herberton, Queensland (-5.0°C). Some locations near tropical coasts, such as Mackay (-0.8°C), Townsville (0.1°C) and Kalumburu, Western Australia (0.3°C) have also recorded temperatures near 0°C. In contrast, some exposed near-coastal locations, such as Darwin, have never fallen below 10°C, and Thursday Island, in the Torres Strait, has an extreme minimum of 16.1°C. The parts of Australia with the lowest extreme minimum temperatures are also the most subject to frost. The eastern uplands from southern Queensland to eastern Victoria experience ten or more frosts per month in each month from May to September, as do Tasmania's Central Plateau and a few susceptible locations in south-western Western Australia and the Flinders Ranges region of South Australia. At lower elevations frost is less frequent and the season is shorter, although only the immediate coastal margins and the far north can be considered totally frost-free. Frosts can occur at any time of year over most of Tasmania, much of inland Victoria and south-eastern South Australia, and the higher parts of the tablelands of New South Wales. In these regions the median frost period generally exceeds 200 days, extending out to 300 days in central Tasmania.
Other aspects of climate Humidity In terms of the average water vapour content or humidity of the air, Australia is a dry continent. The amount of moisture in the atmosphere can be expressed in several ways, the most common being relative humidity. This measure can be thought of as the relative evaporating power of the air. When humidity is low, moisture on an exposed wet surface, like our skin, can evaporate freely. When it is high, evaporation is retarded. If the temperature is also high, people will feel discomfort or even stress as the body's ability to cool through the evaporation of perspiration is diminished. The combination of high temperature and high humidity is potentially dangerous for people who are not adapted or acclimatised to such conditions. The main features of the relative humidity pattern are:
By way of a historical note, it is interesting that, as late as 1927, Griffith Taylor, from the Department of Physical Geography, University of Sydney, was asserting that tropical Australia was an unhealthy place to live, at least for women, because of its climate. However in recent decades the introduction of air conditioning, more appropriate building design, and improved health measures such as proper sanitation, have greatly increased the comfort levels of those living in the tropics. Global radiation Incoming global radiation includes radiant energy reaching the ground directly from the sun and radiation received indirectly from the sky that is reflected and scattered downwards by clouds, dust and other airborne particles. While there is a high correlation between daily global radiation and daily hours of sunshine, the latter is more dependent on variations in cloud coverage. Daily global radiation is at its strongest, all other things being equal, when the sun is closest to overhead south of the tropics (21-22 December), or directly overhead in the tropics. On the north-west coast around Port Hedland, Western Australia, where average daily global radiation is the highest for Australia (22-24 megajoules per square metre), average daily sunshine is also highest, being approximately ten hours. By way of contrast, in Darwin the global radiation values for the dry month of July and cloudy month of January are comparable, yet the number of sunshine hours for July approaches twice that for January. Sunshine Sunshine here refers to bright or direct sunshine. Australia receives relatively large amounts of sunshine although seasonal cloud formations affect spatial and temporal distribution. Cloud cover reduces both incoming solar radiation and outgoing radiation from the earth's surface, and thus affects sunshine, air temperature and other measures of climate. Most of the continent receives more than 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, or nearly 70% of the total possible. In central Australia and the mid-west coast of Western Australia, totals slightly in excess of 3,500 hours occur. Totals of less than 1,750 hours occur on the west coast and highlands of Tasmania, which is the equivalent of only 40% of the total possible per year. In southern Australia, the duration of sunshine is greatest about December when the sun is at its highest elevation, and lowest in June when the sun is lowest. In northern Australia, sunshine is generally greatest over the period August to October prior to the wet season, and least over the period January to March during the wet season. Evaporation Average annual pan evaporation exceeds rainfall over most of Australia. It is highest in the northern interior of Western Australia, reaching over 4,000 mm near Telfer, and exceeds 3,000 mm over most of tropical Western Australia, northern South Australia, the central Northern Territory and western Queensland. It is lower in tropical areas with higher rainfall and cloud cover, such as the Top End of the Northern Territory, and eastern Queensland. At the other end of the scale, Australia's lowest pan evaporation occurs in Tasmania, ranging from well under 1000 mm per year in the west to close to 1,200 mm in the east. Over the mainland it is below 1,200 mm in the far south-west of Western Australia and in most of southern Victoria from Melbourne eastwards, and less than 1,400 mm over southern Victoria and adjacent parts of South Australia and New South Wales.. Over most of Australia evaporation is greatest in summer and least in winter, due to higher temperatures and solar radiation. In the far north, in contrast, the seasonal cycle is dominated by the effect of increased cloud cover during the tropical wet season. In this region evaporation peaks in spring, with a secondary peak in autumn in some places, and is lowest in late summer. Cloud Seasonal distribution of cloudiness varies predominantly in line with seasonal variations in rainfall. In the southern parts of the continent, particularly in the coastal and low-lying areas, the winter months are generally cloudier than the summer months. This is due to the formation of extensive areas of stratiform cloud and fog during the colder months, when the structure of the lower layers of the atmosphere and higher levels of humidity favour the formation of this type of cloud. Particularly strong seasonal variability of cloud cover exists in northern Australia where skies are cloudy during the summer wet season and mainly cloudless during the winter dry season. Cloud cover is greater near coasts and on the windward slopes of the eastern uplands of Australia and less over the dry interior. Fog The formation of radiation fogs, in which air near the ground is cooled by overnight radiation from the ground, is determined by the occurrence of a favourable blend of temperature, humidity, wind and overlying cloud cover. The nature of the local terrain can also be important for the development of fog, and there is a tendency for it to be particularly prevalent and persistent in valleys and hollows. The incidence of such fogs can vary significantly over short distances. Other types of fogs occur when low cloud covers high ground ('hill fog'), particularly where highlands are close to the coast, and more rarely, near some coastlines when warm moist air moves over relatively cool waters near the shore ('sea fog'). Fog in Australia tends to be more common in the south than the north, although parts of the east coastal areas are relatively fog-prone even in the tropics. Fog is more likely to occur in the colder months, particularly in the eastern uplands. Radiation fogs normally develop overnight and dissipate during the morning or early afternoon, although on rare occasions they persist through the day, particularly in inland Tasmania. The highest fog incidence at a capital city is at Canberra which has an average of 47 days per year on which fog occurs, 29 of which are between May and August. Brisbane averages 20 days of fog per year. Darwin averages only two days per year, mostly in July and August.Winds The mid-latitude anticyclone belt is the chief determinant of Australia's two main prevailing wind streams. These streams tend to be easterly to the north of this belt and westerly to the south. The cycles of development, motion and decay of low-pressure systems that form to the north and south of the anticyclone belt and also intersperse between individual anticyclones result in a great diversity of wind flow patterns. Wind variations are greatest around the coasts where diurnal land and sea-breeze effects also come into play. Sea breezes play a prominent role in modifying coastal climates in many parts of Australia, particularly along the west coast of Western Australia where they are a major feature of the summer climate. In Perth the sea breeze is known as the 'Fremantle Doctor'. Orography affects the prevailing wind pattern in various ways, such as the channelling of winds through valleys, deflection by mountains and cold air drainage from highland areas. The high frequency of north-west winds at Hobart, for example, is caused by the north-west to south-east orientation of the Derwent River valley, while wave effects on the lee side of the Adelaide Hills can lead to very strong local winds ('gully winds') in the eastern suburbs of Adelaide during periods of general easterly flow. Perth is the windiest capital with an average wind speed of 15.6 km/h; Canberra is the least windy with an average wind speed of 5.4 km/h. The highest wind speeds and wind gusts measured in Australia have been associated with tropical cyclones. The highest recorded gust was 267 km/h at Learmonth (Western Australia) on 22 March 1999 (with Tropical Cyclone Vance), while gusts reaching 200 km/h have been recorded on several occasions in northern Australia with cyclone visitations. The highest gusts recorded at Australian capitals have been 217 km/h at Darwin (during Tropical Cyclone Tracy), 185 km/h at Brisbane Airport and 156 km/h at Perth. Dust Storms Dust storms are a regular occurrence on windy days in many of the arid zones of Australia. During drought years, they can extend to the more densely settled areas of the south-east, particularly when strong north- to north-westerly winds occur in advance of an approaching cold front. Well-known examples include those of February 1983, which plunged central Melbourne into darkness, and September 2009, which covered a vast area of eastern Queensland and New South Wales, including Brisbane and Sydney. The first of these occurred in the later part of the severe El Niño-related drought of 1982-83, while the second has accompanied the prolonged dry conditions of the post-2001 period. Fire weather While bushfires are not strictly a climatic phenomenon, both weather and climate are strong determinants in their occurrence and intensity. Provided vegetation is sufficiently abundant and dry, the spread of bushfires is most rapid in windy conditions with low humidity. In southern Australia such conditions are also normally associated with high temperatures. A Fire Danger Index, which combines expected wind speed, humidity, temperature and a measure of vegetation dryness, is frequently used to assess the risk of rapid fire spread on any given day. The most favoured season for bushfires varies in different parts of Australia. In south-eastern Australia (including Tasmania) the most favoured season is summer and early autumn; in coastal New South Wales and southern Queensland it is spring and early summer; and in much of northern Australia it is winter and spring (or the later part of the 'dry' season). In the arid zones of Australia large fires most commonly occur in the months following an abnormally wet season, when there is enough vegetation to provide fuel. The southeast Australian bushfires which occurred at the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003 were among the most protracted and extensive of the last century. The 2002-03 bushfire season and its impact was discussed in the Environment chapter in Year Book Australia 2004. There were also protracted and extensive fires, particularly in Victoria, in 2006-07, while more recently the 'Black Saturday' fires caused major loss of life and destruction of property in Victoria in February 2009.
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