Rainy Cool March 2013

The daily weather logWeather log March 2013.

Days and nights were cooler than normal until late in the month. The first day was the coldest: 22.2°. March began with 31 mm of rain on the 1st, and 45.4 mm on the 2nd, but little fell later.

 Comparing March monthsClimate March 2013.

In most ways, the month was like March last year: a bit cool, particularly in the day-time, but warm in the subsoil, and rather cloudy, but not humid. However, there was much more rain.

The total rainfall (84.6 mm) was in the 80th percentile, far above the mean of 53.3 mm. Rainfall totals for groups of months (2 months up to 360 months) are now all above their median values. The 36-month total of 2328 mm is extremely high, near the 36-month record of 2662 mm set in October 1998.


Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Temperatures, including subsoil at 750 mm, and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

 

Cool February 2013

The daily weather logWeather log February 2013.

Hardly any days or nights in February were warmer than normal. The daily maximum temperature of 23.6° on the 2nd was 10.1° below normal. (But one day in February 2009 reached only 17.8°!) The weekly mean temperature remained below normal by between one degree and five degrees.
Sunny days with low humidity came mainly early in the month. There were seven rain days (normal), but the highest reading was only 16.4 mm, on the 24th.

 Comparing February monthsClimate February 2013.

Mean maximum, minimum, and mean temperatures were low, like last February, but not quite as low as February 2008. As a rule, February in Manilla is practically as hot as January, but this time it was 6 degrees cooler.Record low morning dew points show the air was very dry, which is strange when there was more than usual cloud and rain.

The total rainfall (58.0 mm) was in the 56th percentile, just below the mean of 66.8 mm. Among rainfall totals for groups of months, only that for 12 months (490 mm) is below the median value.


Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Temperatures, including subsoil at 750 mm, and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

 

January 2013 very hot, then wet

The daily weather logWeather log January 2013.

Days were sunny and extremely hot in the first three weeks. Saturday the 12th had the highest temperature on this record: 43.2°. Later, days were cloudy, and the maximum temperature on the 28th was only 21.3°. That was 12.6° below normal, and the second coldest January day. Most nights were warmer than normal, helping to make the weekly average of 30.3° on the 10th the second hottest, after a week in November 2009.
Only a few showers had fallen until the 27th, when ex-tropical cyclone Oswald brought 89 mm in three days of steady rain.

 Comparing January monthsClimate January 2013.

Unlike recent arid months, March was near normal in day-time temperature, humidity and cloudiness. Nights were very warm, however .

The total rainfall of 101.6 mm is almost twice the March average of 53 mm, and in the 85th percentile. March has been wetter in nineteen years, including 2001 (103 mm) and 2007 (114 mm). Taking rainfall totals for more than one month, the greatest shortages are not serious (i.e. not below the 10th percentile). The twelve-month total (469 mm) is in the 14th percentile. Other totals have higher percentile values, and most totals for 30 months or more are above normal.


Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Temperatures, including subsoil at 750 mm, and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

 

December 2012 Hot, with Rain

The daily weather logWeather log December 2012.

As in November, most days this month were warmer than normal. The 1st, at 40.6°, was the equal hottest December day on this record, with 30/12/05.
Afternoon values of Relative Humidity fell to 7 percent on the 15th and 16th.
Rain was recorded on nine days, totalling 97.4 mm, with the highest reading 29.8 mm on the 26th.

 Comparing December monthsClimate December 2012.

Days this month, at 33.3°, were not quite as hot as those of December 2005 (33.7°). Nights this month were warm (17.5°), but not nearly as warm as those of December 2009 (18.6°). In stark contrast, December 2011 was several degrees cooler.
The mean early morning Dew Point of 11.7° shows the air is almost as dry as it was a year ago. Since then, the air has been even drier, with an extremely low morning Dew Point of 1.7° in October.
The sky was less cloudy than in any of the last five Decembers.
The rainfall of 97.4 mm is high, in the 72nd percentile for December. This defers all concerns about rainfall shortages: even the five-month total of 190 mm is in the 25th percentile.

The Year 2012

In 2012, rainfall was extremely high in February, April, and July, but extremely low in August and October. The total for the year (669 mm) was a little higher than the long-term mean of 652 mm, but a lot lower than last year’s 837 mm.
By other measures, Manilla’s climate drifted during the three years 2010, 2011 and 2012, from a humid coastal type to an arid inland type. In 2010 day temperatures had been very low (24.6 degrees), and night temperatures high (11.2 degrees), as would happen on the coast. By 2012, day temperatures had risen to normal (25.5 degrees), and night temperatures had fallen very low (9.6 degrees). A typical day in 2010 had the very narrow temperature range of 13.4 degrees, while a day in 2012 had a range of 15.9 degrees.
In the same way, 2010 had been extremely cloudy and humid, while 2012 had normal cloud and extremely low humidity. Subsoil temperature (750 mm) rose from a low value of 19.6° in 2010 to a record annual high of 21.6° in 2012.


Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Temperatures, including subsoil at 750 mm, and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

 

Very Wet July 2012

The daily weather logWeather log July 2012.

As in June, most weather features in July were normal, except for very warm nights with the heavy rain in the second week. Sixteen mornings were frosty, one down to minus three degrees. There were several early fogs in the valley.
Of seven rain readings, most were heavy. But the 29.6 mm value included three days.

 Comparing July monthsClimate July 2012.

Other than rainfall, there is only one variable that is not on the July average: the subsoil temperature at 750 mm is again extraordinarily warm, at 16.9°, 3.2° above normal.
The rainfall total of 91.4 mm is in the 94th percentile. Only eight July months have ever been wetter. However, July 1984, at 171 mm, was nearly twice as wet. The 12-month total to the end of July (1020 mm) is extreme. In the last 50 years, only three 12-month totals have been higher: September and October 1998 and February 1984.


Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Temperatures, including subsoil at 750 mm, and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.