MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW - ARMIDALE NSW

APRIL 2015

April 2015 was a mild cloudy month with good falls of rain.
The rainfall total of 85.4 millimetres was 40 mm higher than the average and was the wettest April for 12 years. The best falls occurred over the Easter weekend. See below.
Cloudy conditions kept daytime maximum temperatures a little below normal while overnight minimums were slightly higher than normal. There were two notable extremes. See below.
There were only seven sunny days and just one frost.
Winds were mostly light westerlies.

Noteworthy events:
3rd-6th - A trough over inland New South Wales intensified on Good Friday the 3rd delivering good falls of rain over the Easter weekend. Total rain for the weekend was 62.6 mm.
17th - Warm northerly winds over New South Wales ahead of a low pressure trough produced much warmer temperatures than normal for this time of year. Armidale’s maximum of 26.7C was the warmest for the month of April since 19th April 2005 (26.8C).
26th - Very cold south-westerly winds and cloudy conditions following a cold front which passed through the region in the early hours of the morning brought April’s lowest day temperatures for 21 years. The maximum temperature of 10.0C was the lowest for the month of April since 12th April 1994 (8.9C).

APRIL 2015 STATISTICS (long term averages in brackets)

Rainfall: 85.4 mm (45.1 mm)

Rain days: 10 (8)
2015 rainfall total Jan to Apr: 236.2 mm (300.4 mm)

Average maximum temp: 19.3 deg (20.0 deg)

Average minimum temp: 7.3 deg (6.4 deg)

Highest maximum temp: 26.7 deg on the 17th

Lowest maximum temp: 10.0 deg on the 26th

Highest minimum temp: 13.6 deg on the 4th

Lowest minimum temp: -2.0 deg on the 28th

Fine sunny days: 7 (16)

Ideal weather days: 1 (3)

Days with thunderstorms: 2 (1)

Days with frosts: 1 (5)

Days with fogs: 3 (5)

Wind direction at 3pm & number of days: W: 9, E: 8, SW: 6, NW: 2, SE: 2, S: 2, NE: 1

Average daily pan evaporation: 2.2 mm (2.5 mm)

Thunderstorm details:

6th: 7.25-8.40pm - slight storm from west
11.15pm-12.00 midnight slight storm from west
7th: 12.00 midnight-12.30am - slight storm from west - 12.2 mm rain from storms on 6th & 7th