Hidden Dragon

Hot weather in this month came in the first and last weeks which, on average, were 4.8° and 3.6° warmer than normal. On the 5th, both day and night were nine degrees above normal. There was just one 40° day, on the 30th. In December months from 1999, there have now been five with one 40° day, but none with more than one. The two hottest, at 40.6°, came in 2005 and 2012.
Rain fell frequently (on 12 days), but it was light (max: 17.8 mm). Plants dried out.
Throughout the month, tiny “flies” swarmed in millions. They are native Rutherglen Bugs (Nysius vinitor), a sap-sucking pest of crops such as sunflower.

Comparing December months

This was the hottest December of the new century. December 2009 had been the hottest, but this month had a higher mean daily maximum (33.8° vs. 33.1°) and a slightly higher average (26.0° vs. 25.9°). December 2009 still had the warmest nights: the daily minimum was 18.6° then versus 18.2° now. As this month’s days and nights were both so warm, the daily temperature range was quite normal (15.6°).
Contradicting the high air temperatures, the subsoil temperature was well below the normal value of 24.3°. At 22.7°, it was the coolest December value since 1999, when it had been 22.5°.
The month was rather cloudy, which does not match well with the rather low dew point and rainfall. The monthly rainfall total of 48.8 mm is in the 34th percentile, well below the average of 74 mm.

The Year 2016

As in 2015, the average temperatures for the year 2016 were close to normal by day, and half a degree above normal by night. The subsoil temperature, which had been normal in 2015, fell to half a degree low. Air temperatures had been warmer in 2014 and 2009, and cooler in 2008.
Rainfall, at 775 mm, was in the 76th percentile, well above the 125-year average of 652 mm. The mid-year months of June, August, and September were very wet, while November as well as February, March and April were dry. High rainfall is rare in mid-year months, but 1998 had a similar pattern.
Temperatures also were far from normal in some months. They were about 2° higher than normal through the autumn and 2° lower than normal through the spring.

Data. Rainfall figures are usually from the automatic rain gauge at Manilla, published on the internet by the Bureau of Meteorology as Station 55031. However, the gauge ceased recording on the 8th of October, and later readings are from my non-standard gauge. All other data, including subsoil at 750 mm, are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.