Press Release

Warmest June in Sydney for 17 years

30/06/2008: Sydney has just experienced its warmest June in 17 years, according to weatherzone.com.au.

The city had an average maximum of 19 degrees, above the long-term normal of 17. This made it the warmest June in terms of daytime temperatures since 2005. In fact, on the 12th, the temperature soared to 22 degrees, making it the warmest June day in three years.

Nights were also warm. Sydney’s average minimum temperature came in at 12 degrees, well above the long-term normal of nine. This made it the warmest June in terms of overnight temperatures since 1967. On the morning of the 4th, the temperature did not fall below 15 degrees, the warmest June night in six years.

When both daytime and overnight temperatures were combined, Sydney’s average temperature came in at 15 degrees, above the long-term normal of 13. This made it the warmest June since 1991.

"Sydney’s very warm June can be primarily put down to a spell of particularly mild nights through the first half of the month. Fairly humid and cloudy conditions during the first couple of weeks kept night-time temperatures up on normal," weatherzone.com.au meteorologist Matt Pearce said.

It was a similar story right across New South Wales with temperatures well above average throughout the state. For example, Glen Innes, on the Northern Tablelands, had an average maximum of 16 degrees; it’s highest for June in 93 years of records.

"Cold fronts did not really start having an impact on New South Wales until the last few days of the month. The rest of the month was dominated by higher temperatures and also higher levels of humidity than we would normally see at this time of year," Pearce said.

Rainfall during June was a mixed-bag across the state. Sydney picked up 127mm throughout the month, almost right on the long-term normal of 128mm.

However, there were some isolated pockets of very heavy rain. For example, Broken Hill received 77mm, most of that during a severe storm on the night of the 5th. This made it the wettest June in 48 years for the outback town.

In contrast, the Snowy Mountains have had one of the slowest starts to a ski season in recent years. Perisher Valley recorded just 45mm of precipitation during the month, its lowest for June in 32 years of records.

"We are expecting rainfall to remain fairly close to normal over the next few months across New South Wales. The exception could be in the northeast corner of the state, where wetter than normal weather is likely," Pearce said.

Media Inquiries:

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

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