Press Release

Sydney sweats through warmest December nights in nine years

31/12/2009: Sydney has just experienced its warmest December nights in nine years, according to weatherzone.com.au.

The city had an average minimum of 19 degrees, above the long term normal of 17. This made it the warmest December in terms of overnight temperatures since 2000.

However, there was some variability in the temperatures. For example, on the morning of the 2nd, the city dropped down to 13 degrees, the coldest December night in three years. Then, just five days later, on the morning of the 7th, the temperature did not fall below 22 degrees, making it the warmest December night in two years.

The days were closer to average. Sydney’s average maximum of 25 degrees was right on the long term normal.

When both daytime and overnight temperatures were combined, Sydney’s average temperature came in at 22 degrees, slightly above the long term normal of 21. This made it the warmest December since 2005.

2009, as a whole, was a warm year in Sydney. The city had an average maximum of 22.9 degrees, slightly above the long term normal of 21.7, making it the warmest year in terms of daytime temperatures since 2006. The average minimum of 15.2 was also slightly above the long term normal of 13.8 and the highest since 2007. The mean temperature came in at 19.1 degrees, making it the warmest year since 2005.

"It was consistently warm throughout 2009, with no months coming in significantly cooler than average. There were a couple of significant spells of heat, during August and November, which bumped the average up markedly," weatherzone.com.au meteorologist Matt Pearce said.

It was also a dry year. Sydney picked up just 956mm throughout 2009, below the long term annual average of 1214mm. This made it the driest year since 2005.

However, December did not fare too badly in the rainfall stakes. The city received 67mm throughout the month, slightly below the long term normal of 78mm.

"There were no significant rain-bearing systems to affect Sydney during 2009, such as east coast lows, which we normally rely on to bump up the annual total. Significant flooding occurred further up the coast, but this was largely restricted to areas north of the Hunter," Pearce said.

"At this stage, we are expecting rainfall to come in fairly close to average during 2010, although there is potential for a significantly wetter period during autumn and early winter due to the predicted breakdown of the El Nino pattern around this time."

Media Inquiries:

Matt Pearce
media@weatherzone.com.au
02 9965 9236

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