Australia in November 2009

In Brief

November 2009 was an exceptionally warm month in south-eastern Australia. Records were broken throughout the region for both maximum and minimum temperature, and New South Wales and Victoria both broke the previous record for the largest mean temperature anomaly ever recorded for an Australian state, with anomalies of +4.61°C and +4.36°C respectively. While conditions were less extreme elsewhere, it was still Australia’s hottest November on record with a mean temperature anomaly of +1.87°C. Rainfall averaged over the continent was slightly below normal, with a major rain event late in the month in the southern inland offsetting dry conditions elsewhere, especially in the tropics.

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Temperatures

Maximum temperatures averaged over Australia were 2.12°C above normal, ranking second behind the 2006 record of +2.17°C. They were at least 2°C above normal throughout New South Wales and Victoria, South Australia except for the far north, and Tasmania except for the east coast, with similar anomalies also occurring along the south coast of Western Australia east of Albany, and on the west coast near Carnarvon and Broome. In the south-east anomalies were much more extreme, and were mostly in the +5-7°C range in South Australia south of Port Pirie, Victoria away from the coast, and inland New South Wales except the far west. Statewide anomalies set records in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, with the first two (+4.99 and +4.92°C respectively) exceeding the previous largest anomaly recorded for an Australian state. Station records were set over an area covering all of Victoria, inland New South Wales except the far north-west, the east coast south of Sydney, most agricultural areas of South Australia, and north-western Tasmania. Records were also set locally around Broome and east of Darwin.

Only a few areas had below-normal maximum temperatures, the most significant being on the Queensland coast between Mackay and Cooktown, with anomalies locally reaching −1°C around Townsville. They were also locally below normal near the Gulf of Carpentaria, and in the inland Pilbara in Western Australia.
Minimum temperatures averaged over Australia were the highest on record (1.61°C above normal). Again the abnormal warmth was concentrated in the south-east with state anomalies setting records in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia (for the first two states it was a record anomaly for any month). Mean minima were at least 2°C above normal throughout those three states (except for the far north of South Australia) and in Tasmania outside the far south, as well as in southern inland Queensland and locally in the southern Northern Territory and south-eastern Western Australia. Anomalies were in the +4-6°C range in most of inland New South Wales and northern Victoria, and adjacent areas of eastern South Australia. Records were set in most of Victoria except for west Gippsland, as well as in south-western New South Wales and most of the settled areas of South Australia.

Below-normal minimum temperatures, as for maxima, were confined to the tropics, most notably the Queensland coast and adjacent inland north of Rockhampton (except for parts of Cape York Peninsula); anomalies reached −1°C around Charters Towers. Minima were also below normal in the north-eastern Northern Territory, and in parts of the Kimberley.

Areal average temperatures
	Maximum Temperature			Minimum Temperature
	Rank (out of 60)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment	Rank (out of 60)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment
Australia	59	+2.12	2nd highest; record is +2.17 (2006)	60	+1.61	Highest on record; previous record +1.31 (1959)
Queensland	53	+1.28		53	+0.97
New South Wales	60	+4.99	Highest on record; previous record +4.03 (2002)	60	+4.22	Highest on record; previous record +2.73 (1959)
Victoria	60	+4.92	Highest on record; previous record +3.82 (1982)	60	+3.81	Highest on record; previous record +2.69 (2000)
Tasmania	60	+3.18	Highest on record; previous record +2.45 (2007)	59	+1.68	2nd highest; record is +2.42 (2000)
South Australia	59	+3.05	2nd highest; record is +3.10 (1982)	60	+3.36	Highest on record; previous record +2.31 (2000)
Western Australia	57	+1.71		52	+0.85
Northern Territory	52	+0.99		46	+0.60

^*Anomaly is the departure from the long-term (1961-1990) average.

Link:  http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/month/aus/summary.shtml