2012/2013 Australia's Hottest Summer on Record Dr

2012/2013 Australia's hottest summer on record Dr. Susanne Haeseler, updated: 01 March 2013

Summer temperatures of 2012/2013

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the national weather service of Australia, the summer of 2012/2013 (December 2012 to February 2013) has been Australia's hottest summer on record going back to 1910. The average temperature across the country was 28.6 °C, 1.1 °C above the long-term average (BoM; Fig. 1 and 2).

Fig. 1: Summer mean temperature anomaly for Australia (in °C; with respect to the reference period 1961-1990) from summers 1910/1911 to 2012/2013. The summer includes the months December to February. [Source: Bureau of Meteorology]

Fig. 2: Mean temperature of the summer months December 2012 to February 2013 for Australia. Left: absolute values in °C. Right: anomaly with respect to the reference period 1961-1990 in °C. [Source: Bureau of Meteorology]

Australia's maximum temperature of the summer 2012/2013 was 35.7 °C, exceeding the 1961-1990 mean by 1.4 °C and breaking the record of the summer 1982/1983 when the maximum temperature was 1.2 °C above average (BoM; Fig. 3 and 4).

Fig. 3: Summer maximum temperature anomaly for Australia (in °C; with respect to the reference period 1961-1990) from summers 1910/1911 to 2012/2013. The summer includes the months December to February. [Source: Bureau of Meteorology]

Fig. 4: Maximum temperature of the summer months December 2012 to February 2013 for Australia. Left: absolute values in °C. Right: anomaly with respect to the reference period 1961-1990 in °C. [Source: Bureau of Meteorology]

The widespread and prolonged heat wave from December 2012 to January 2013 contributed much to this (BoM; DWD). On 7 consecutive days, from 2 to 8 January 2013, the average maximum daily temperature for Australia exceeded 39 °C, almost doubling the previous record of 4 consecutive days in 1973.

Summer precipitation of 2012/2013

Besides the heat, large parts of Australia experienced dry conditions during the summer of 2012/2013 (BoM; Fig. 5). In the central south, the summer precipitation total was less than 50 mm. The precipitation along the east coast was mainly triggered by the tropical low OSWALD in the last decade of January 2013 (BoM; DWD)

Fig. 5: Precipitation total of the summer months December 2012 to February 2013 for Australia. Left: absolute values in millimetre. Right: in percentage of the 1961-1990 mean. [Source: Bureau of Meteorology]

Sources . Australian Government, Bureau of Meteorology (BoM): Bureau of Meteorology confirms it's been hottest summer on record. Media Release (1 March 2013). http://www.bom.gov.au/announcements/media_releases/ho/20130301.shtml . Australian Government, Bureau of Meteorology (BoM): Maps – Rainfall. http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/awap/rain/index.jsp . Australian Government, Bureau of Meteorology (BoM): Maps – Temperature. http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/awap/temp/index.jsp . Australian Government, Bureau of Meteorology (BoM): Time series graphs. http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/change/timeseries.cgi

3 . Australian Government, Bureau of Meteorology (BoM): Special Climate Statement 43 - extreme heat in January 2013. (Updated 1 February 2013) http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/statements/scs43e.pdf . Australian Government, Bureau of Meteorology (BoM): Special Climate Statement 44 – extreme rainfall and flooding in coastal Queensland and New South Wales. (5 February 2013) . DWD: Heat in Australia in December 2012 / January 2013. . DWD: Floods at the Australian east coast in January 2013.