Daily maximum temperatures were mainly above normal throughout the season, except in the second week of June and in mid-July. The values of 31.8° and 30.5° on the 23rd and 24th of August were the hottest winter days in this 11-year record. Many such records were set at that time in Central Australia, southern Queensland and northern NSW. Similarly, daily minimum temperatures were mainly above normal, except in early August. The night-time minimum of 18.2° on 25/8/09 was 2° warmer than the warmest previous winter minimum of 30/8/04.
Early morning Dew Points remained a degree or two below the daily minimum temperature through June and July. In August, they remained low while the temperature soared, so that the air became uncomfortably dry.
There were 20 rain days (usually 18). Most rain came early in the season, with the maximum daily reading only 13.2 mm.
Cloudy mornings declined sharply during the season: June had 60%, July 45%, and August only 29%
Of the last eleven winters, this was the warmest. The daily mean temperature, 11.8°, was 1.2° above normal. The daily minimum, 4.5°, was also the warmest, but the daily maximum, 19.1°, did not reach the 19.2° of winter 2002.
This winter was one of the least frosty, with 39 frosts rather than the usual 44. There was only one reading below minus two, while other winters had from three to nineteen! The mean Dew Point of 1.7° was normal for winter.
The rainfall total of 65 mm is well below average for winter (125 mm). It is in the 13th percentile, much wetter than winter 2002 which, at 45 mm, was in the 7th percentile.
This was the second cloudiest winter of the decade. Forty-six percent of the mornings had more than 4/8 cloud. Last winter was a little cloudier, at 48%.
Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Dew Point values before August 2005 are from Tamworth Airport 6am data supplied by the Bureau of Meteorology. Temperature and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.