WINTER WEATHER REVIEW - ARMIDALE NSW
2014

Winter 2014 was cool to cold and dry.
June was cool and dry, July was cold and dry, and August was cool and wet.
June and July recorded only light falls of rain, June 35.8 mm, July 20.8 mm, and August was a much wetter month with two rain events in the second half of the month totaling 63.2 mm. The total for the three months was 119.8 mm on 28 days.
The colder winter weather started on 9th June and lasted, with the occasional mild day, for 13 weeks until 9th September when warmer conditions arrived.
Overall temperatures were a little higher than normal.
Maximum temperatures were lower than 10 degrees on 5 days, and there were light snowfalls on 18th July with snow settling on the ground in South Armidale and at the university.
There was a shower of soft hail on 22nd July.
Winds were light to moderate in all three months.
There were 54 frosts, with July being both the frostiest and sunniest month.

Noteworthy events:

27th June - After the passage of a cold front on the 24th, very cold air, clear skies and calm conditions overnight on the 26th/27th allowed the temperature to drop to -7.3C. The maximum on the 27th was 18.1C resulting in a rather large temperature range for the day of 25.4 degrees.
30th June - An upper level cold pool which combined with moist surface westerly winds generated snow showers over the higher parts of the Northern Tablelands including Guyra and Black Mountain. There was no snow in Armidale but it was very cold with light afternoon showers and a maximum of just 8.3C.
8th & 9th July - Very cold air over New England in the wake of a cold front on the 5th produced very low temperatures and severe frosts on the 8th and 9th. The minimum on the 8th was -7.5C followed by an even colder morning on the 9th dropping to -8.2C. These were the lowest temperatures since 25th June 2012 (-9.0C).
18th July - An intense cold front moved through the region early in the morning with snow showers falling in Armidale between 7am and 9am. The snow did not settle on the ground in the middle of the city, but there was a settling fall at the University of New England on the north-west edge of the city, and also in south Armidale. Snow also fell in other towns on the Northern Tablelands including Hanging Rock, Walcha, Uralla, Ebor, Guyra and Ben Lomond.
The maximum temperature of 5.5C on the 18th was the lowest for six years since 9th July 2008 (5.0C).
1st August - A fast moving dry cold front passed through the region with strong westerly winds gusting in excess of 50 kms per hour in the city in the early afternoon. Armidale airport recorded a maximum wind gust of 80 kms per hour at 1pm.
16th-19th August - After months of well below average rainfall, a trough which moved through the region on 16th August, delivered 30.4 mm of rain over the four days.
25th-27th August - A low pressure system off the far north coast of New South Wales fed moist winds into an inland trough producing heavy falls of rain along the coast and moderate falls on the Northern Tablelands. Armidale recorded 30.0 mm over the three days which provided a valuable follow up to the moderate rainfalls a week earlier.

WINTER 2014 STATISTICS (long term averages in brackets)
Rainfall: 119.8 mm (151.0 mm)
Rain days: 28 (28)
Average maximum temp: 13.9 deg (13.2 deg)
Average minimum temp: 0.5 deg (0.1 deg)
Highest maximum temp: 19.9 deg on 1st June
Lowest maximum temp: 5.5 deg on 18th July
Highest minimum: 10.4 deg on 2nd June
Lowest minimum temp: -8.2 deg on 9th July
Fine sunny days: 41 (47)
Days with thunderstorms: 2 (1.3)
Days with frosts: 54 (56)