MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW - ARMIDALE NSW

AUGUST 2014

August 2014 was a cold month with good falls of rain.
The first half of the month was dry, sunny and frosty, and the second half was cloudy and wet.
The rainfall total of 63.2 millimetres was 16 mm higher than the average with most of the rain falling from two separate events - see below.

Day temperatures were close to normal, but overnight minimums were higher than normal due to numerous cloudy nights in the second half of the month. There were no notable temperature extremes.
Winds were mostly east to south easterlies which is unusual for August as westerly winds usual prevail during late winter and spring.

Noteworthy events:
1st - A fast moving dry cold front moved 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 - 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 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.

AUGUST 2014 STATISTICS (long term averages in brackets)

Rainfall: 63.2 mm (47.5 mm)

Rain days: 11 (9)
2014 rainfall total Jan to Aug: 315.0 mm (495.3 mm)

Average maximum temp: 14.1 deg (14.2 deg)

Average minimum temp: 1.1 deg (-0.2 deg)

Highest maximum temp: 18.4C on the 31st

Lowest maximum temp: 7.6 deg on the 18th

Highest minimum temp: 7.2 deg on the 23rd

Lowest minimum temp: -6.0 deg on the 7th

Fine sunny days: (18.5)

Ideal weather days: 4 (3)

Days with thunderstorms: 0 (1)

Days with frosts: 17 (20)

Days with fogs: 0 (2)

Wind direction at 3pm & number of days: SE: 9, E: 8, SW: 7, W: 5, S: 2

Average daily pan evaporation: 1.7 mm (2.1 mm)