MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW - ARMIDALE NSW

JANUARY 2013

January 2013 was a very warm to hot month with heavy falls of rain.

It was Armidale’s wettest January since 2006 with 162.0 millimetres falling on 10 days. The rain was concentrated into four events on the 12th & 13th, 19th & 20th, 22nd & 23rd, and 27th & 28th. The highest daily fall was 47.8 mm on the 19th.

Temperatures were well above normal. The average maximum of 27.9C was the highest for January since 2003. It was very warm to hot for the first three weeks until the 20th when conditions became milder for the remainder of the month. Temperatures reached 30.0C or higher on 10 days.
Thunderstorm activity was close to normal although some storms produced intense rainfall. There was no hail with any of the storms.

Winds were mostly moderate easterlies.

Noteworthy events:
1st to 19th - Temperatures were mostly well above average caused by a series of troughs directing hot winds into New South Wales from central and northern Australia. The hottest temperatures of 34.7C on the 12th and 34.9C on the 13th were the highest for any month since 9th February 2009 (35.0C).

18th/19th - After a maximum of 33.9C on the 18th an unusually warm night followed with the minimum of 20.0C recorded early on the 19th at 12.30am. This was the warmest night, for any month, since 4th February 2006 (20.1C). Armidale airport recorded a minimum 20.6C at 5.52am.

19th - A huge thunderstorm swept over Armidale in the afternoon dumping 47.8 mm of rain on the city with most of it falling between 4 and 5pm. The sudden downpour caused flash flooding in Dumaresq Creek, and strong wind gusts blew large branches off trees. There were also a number of lightning strikes resulting in power blackouts.

27th/28th - A low pressure system (ex-Tropical Cyclone Oswald) moved south along the Queensland coast into northern New South Wales generating heavy rain and flooding in south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales. Armidale received good soaking rain from this system with 70.4 mm recorded over the three days up to 9am on the 29th. Minor flooding occurred in Dumaresq Creek on the 28th.

JANUARY 2013 STATISTICS (long term averages in brackets)

Rainfall: 162.0 mm (101.5 mm)

Rain days: 10 (10)

Average maximum temp: 27.9 deg (26.3 deg)

Average minimum temp: 14.8 deg (12.6 deg)

Highest maximum temp: 34.9 deg on the 13th

Lowest maximum temp: 19.4 deg on the 27th

Highest minimum temp: 20.0 deg on the 19th

Lowest minimum temp: 9.4 deg on the 8th

Fine sunny days: 15 (16)

Ideal weather days: 0 (1)

Days with thunderstorms: 5 (6.5)

Days with frosts: 0 (0)

Days with fogs: 1 (1)

Wind direction at 3pm & number of days: E: 12, W: 7, SE: 6, SW: 4, NW: 1, S: 1

Average daily pan evaporation: 5.5 mm (5.2 mm)

Thunderstorm details:

12th: 2.50-5.45pm - thunder heard in east, no rain
5.45-7.30pm - moderate storm from south-west
8.30-10.15pm - slight storm from south-west - 3.2 mm rain from both storms
13th: 6.45-7.30pm - thunder heard, no rain
7.30-9.00pm - moderate & heavy storms from the south-west
9.00-10.30pm - slight storms from south-west - 10.4 mm rain from these storms
19th: 2.45-4.00pm - thunder heard, no rain, 4.00-6.00pm - heavy & moderate storms with heavy rain - 47.8 mm
22nd: 8.40-10.00pm - thunder heard in south-west, no rain, 10.00-10.20pm - slight storm from south-west
23rd: 1.45-4.00pm - thunder heard, no rain, 4.00-6.00pm - slight storm with heavy rain - 24.2 mm