MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW - ARMIDALE NSW

AUGUST 2015

August 2015 was a sunny, frosty and mostly dry month.
The rainfall total of 51.6 mm was slightly above the average, but most of the rain fell in just two days - see below.
It was a very sunny month which meant slightly higher than normal day temperatures, but the numerous clear nights resulted in more frosts than normal. There were no notable temperature extremes.
Winds were mostly moderate westerlies.

Noteworthy events:
12th - A cold front combined with upper level cold air passed through the region causing temperatures to plummet in the late evening with light snow showers in some higher areas of the Northern Tablelands including Topdale and Black Mountain. In Armidale there was no snow apart from a brief shower of sago snow (ice pellets) at about 10pm.

23rd-24th - A trough over New South Wales delivered Armidale’s best falls of rain for four months. Thunderstorms and moderate to heavy showers started at around 9pm on the evening of the 23rd and continued through most of the night and the following day the 24th to give a 48 hour total of 46.2 mm up to 9am on the 25th. Minor flooding occurred in Dumaresq Creek on the 24th.

AUGUST 2015 STATISTICS (long term averages in brackets)

Rainfall: 51.6 mm (47.6 mm)

Rain days: 5 (9)
2015 rainfall total Jan to Aug: 400.0 mm (494.1 mm)

Average maximum temp: 15.1deg (14.2 deg)

Average minimum temp: -0.5 deg (-0.2 deg)

Highest maximum temp: 20.4 deg on the 23rd

Lowest maximum temp: 8.6 deg on the 5th

Highest minimum temp: 10.6 deg on the 24th

Lowest minimum temp: -6.4 deg on the 7th

Fine sunny days: 24 (18)

Ideal weather days: 4 (3)

Days with thunderstorms: 2 (0.6)

Days with frosts: 23 (20) light: 4, medium: 9, severe: 10

Days with fogs: 0 (2)

Wind direction at 3pm & number of days: W: 19, NW: 6, SW: 2, SE: 2, N: 1, S: 1

Average daily pan evaporation: 2.2 mm (2.1 mm)

Thunderstorm details:

23rd: 9.10-11.40pm - slight from west
24th: 3.50am approx - slight storm from west - 32.0 mm from both these storms
9.40am-12.20pm - moderate and slight storms from west
4.30-5.00pm - slight storm from west