NH Winter/SH Summer 2023-2024

Australia has never seen a January like it
( source: Weatherzone )

Australia just had its third-warmest and ninth-wettest January on record, which is a remarkable combination.

Ordinarily, you would not expect both above-average temperatures and above-average rainfall to go hand in hand. Simply put, that's because clouds block direct sunlight, preventing warming.

For example, Australia's hottest January on record fell in a scorching, sunny summer. That was January 2019, when rainfall was significantly below average in all states and territories.

But in January 2024:

• Australia's national area-averaged mean temperature was 1.54°C above the 1961–1990 average

• Australia's area-averaged rainfall total in January was 47.4% above the 1961–1990 average

It's interesting to note that rainfall and temperatures in January 2024 were not only above average across Australia as a whole, but in all eight states and territories.

That might come as a suprise to residents of Melbourne, where December and January maximum temps were slightly below average as we mentioned in a recent story. www.weatherzone.com.au/news/when-will-melbourne-have-real-summer/1766019

But as you can can see on the chart below, Victoria's mean (overall 24-hour) temps were actually slightly above average due to a combination of extreme heat in the state's northwest and warmer-than-usual minimums across the whole state.



Just as Melburnians might be surprised by the January temperature data, many West Australians will doubtless be taken aback by the fact it was a wet month nationwide.

If you look at the rainfall chart below, you'll see that most of the west coast was parched.


There were also other parts of the country that had a dry January compared to normal, including parts of central Queensland that missed the action from ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily. www.weatherzone.com.au/news/extc-kirrily-just-refuses-to-quit/1771881

But Australia is a large country, and when averaged out as a whole, January 2024 was indeed a remarkable month for both warmth and wetness.

I think you will find they're taking the mean temps for the day AND the 1961-1990 normals as base point ( 24 hours ), not just the max temps.
So using a coupla examples ie Renmark and Mildura ( and using all the available means ):
Renmark mean temp January 2024 - 25.3c ( +0.15c )
Mildura mean temp January 2024 - 26.15c ( +1.45c )

Even Melbourne had a slightly above average January by mean - 20.9c ( +0.65c )
Bairnsdale in east Gippsland mean temp January 2024 - 20.4c ( +0.9c )   

So they average it out over every BoM site in the State and the figures come out a slight + anomaly. they ( the BoM ) say thats how its calculated....how is this 'data manipulation' ?   
I suppose they could list all the - anomalies   ( and there are a few, especially in the mid north of the State that had the flooding rainfall ie Shepparton, Bendigo and even Swan Hill had a - anomaly for Jan.)

I just dont see any 'agenda' or scam' .  I just see raw figures....     

  www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/month/aus/summary.shtml                                                               

Australia at noon 3rd Feb 2024. you can see the remains of ex TC Kirrily swirling around and dumping rain over the NT-QLD border regions.

Warm lows but cool highs in summer, looks like it's presumably a cloudy rainy shitfest

and it's only going to get shitter. I've spent 3/4 of my life there, and I don't think I've ever seen a crummer this shit  


 

Melbourne rainfall the last 12 months

Barring a stat correction, today was by far the wettest February day on record with 1.30” (33 mm) of precipitation. In fact, that is more than the total precipitation of any February since 1923. Also the T-2nd wettest November-February day.

Extremely unusual winter day with steady moderate rain over night and into the morning before changing to very wet snow (1.0” recorded) with above freezing temps. Like an April day was transported to January.

Extremes in the AU States and Territories today

1992 if you were alive/conscious then. Otherwise 2005, 2010/11. This summer was cloudy and wet like the last few but it's also been stable, for example this January is one of a handful which didn't have a max below 20C. It was also quite humid for the vast majority of the month, there were a couple instances of 30C with 20C dewpoints. So no, while it was a mediocre couple of months so far it's not the worst summer I have been through. I really don't know why you are hyper-focusing on this so much.