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This Australian climate menu has over 300 sites, in alphabetical lists,
state by state. The tables give averages (means) of maximum and minimum
temperatures and rainfall, for each calendar month. Daily maximum
temperature, daily minimum temperature and rainfall are recorded for the
24 hours from 9 am. A "rainday" is one with a daily rainfall of at least
0.2 mm.
The sites have a minimum of 10 years of temperature data, but no such
criterion is applied to rainfall. Some rainfall statistics are derived from
a short record, much less than 30 years, and may not necessarily be a
reliable indicator of the longer term averages. They should be used with
caution. All statistics were calculated from data extracted from the
computer data bank of the National Climate Centre, Bureau of Meteorology.
The official Bureau site number (eg 014015) identifies each station, but the
names have been simplified so that you can find each place easily. Please
use the site number, as well as the name, if requesting further data - the
name, as given here, may not be unique in our records.
The median rainfall for, say, January is the value which exceeds half the
falls of rain for January over the period of record; that is, there is a 50%
chance of a January total being below the median value. The median for the
year is calculated independently, being for all occurrences rather than the
sum of the twelve monthly median values. The median values for rainfall are
usually taken as giving a better description of the nature of rainfall than
the mean, but both are included here.
The percentiles are used to show variation in temperature throughout a month
and give the probability of the temperature remaining below a certain value.
For example, on 86 percent of days the maximum temperature remains below the
86 percentile of maximum temperature, and on the remaining 14 percent it is
equal or above. Fourteen percent of days is about one in seven. Thus we
can interpret the values as, on average, one day per week the temperature
remains below the 14 percentile and on average one day per week it rises to
or above the 86 percentile.
The Australian climate computer archive has a great deal more information
available from some 18,000 rainfall sites and over 1000 sites with other
climate data, such as temperatures at specific times of day. We can supply
data in a number of ways, such as ftp and on floppy disc. For further
details or to discuss your needs, please contact the Bureau of Meteorology
Regional Office in your state:
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Western Australian Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
PO Box 1370
WEST PERTH WA 6872
Telephone: (09) 263 2222 Facsimile: (09) 263 2233
Northern Territory Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
PO Box 735
DARWIN NT 0801
Telephone: (089) 82 4711 Facsimile: (089) 82 4729
South Australian Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
PO Box 421
NORWOOD SA 5067
Telephone: (08) 366 2222 (switchboard) Facsimile: (08) 366 2283
Queensland Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
PO Box 413
BRISBANE QLD 4001
Telephone: (07) 864 8750 Facsimile: (07) 864 8758
New South Wales Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
PO Box A737
SYDNEY SOUTH NSW 2000
Telephone: (02) 269 8555 (switchboard) Facsimile: (02) 269 8567
Victorian Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
PO Box 1636M
MELBOURNE VIC 3001
Telephone: (03) 669 4915 Facsimile: (03) 669 4977
Tasmanian/Antarctica Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
GPO Box 727G
HOBART TAS 7001
Telephone: (002) 20 6666 (switchboard) Facsimile: (002) 23 5454
or the National Climate Centre at:
Data Services Section
National Climate Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
PO Box 1289K
MELBOURNE VIC 3001 AUSTRALIA
Telephone: (03) 669 4082 (international +61 3 669 4082) between
9 am and 4 pm, with a 24 hour answering service.
Facsimile: (03) 669 4515 (international +61 3 669 4515) for climate
information and enquiries only.
It is better not to use this number for urgent messages
about general Bureau business, the Research Centre etc,
as it may be a day or two before they are delivered.
email: dstran@bom.gov.au
Note that email messages may be unread while people are
on leave, due to the security passwords. Fax is
preferable for urgent requests.