The Weather at Armidale NSW
Right: It was 25 years ago this month
that Armidale experienced its heaviest
snowfalls for 50 years. This image shows snow at the former College of
Advanced Education Library, now the UNE Heritage Centre on July 3rd 1984.
Details of this event here.
LATEST NEWS
JUNE RAINFALL TOTAL: 50.2 mm on 15 days. Although this was
slightly below the average of 55 mm, it was a cloudy damp month with numerous
light falls of rain. There was only one heavy fall when 23.8 mm fell overnight
and during the early morning of the 21st/22nd. Day temperatures were close to
normal, but cloudy nights kept overnight minimums much higher than normal and
reduced the number and severity of frosts. Sunny conditions prevailed on just 9
days, and there were 12 frosts.
JUNE RAIN EVENT - 17th to 22nd - A trough over north-eastern NSW combined
with easterly onshore winds from a high pressure system in the Tasman Sea kept
skies cloudy with showers and drizzle from the 17th to 22nd. Armidale recorded 28.2
mm of rain during the six day period.
COLD SNAP - June 9th & 10th - The first major cold change for the year
arrived on Tuesday the 9th with showers and strong winds. The maximums of 9.4C
on Tuesday and 8.4C on Wednesday were the lowest since August last year. The
change was not quite cold enough to produce snow, with 2.4 mm of rain recorded
for the 48 hours to 9am on Wednesday the 10th. Cold dry air following the
change resulted in severe frosts on Thursday the 11th and Friday the 12th with
minimums of -5.3C and -7.0C respectively.
EARLY MORNING STORMS - In the morning of Sunday June 7th a line of
thunderstorms moved rapidly through north-east NSW into south-east Queensland.
The storms passed through Armidale between 6 and 7am with loud thunder, strong
wind gusts and 6 mm of rain. This was an unusual event for this time of year,
more commonly occurring in spring or summer, and also just prior to the storms
arriving the temperature had dropped to -1.3C at 4.30am with frost on the
ground. A thunderstorm with frost is a most unusual occurrence for Armidale.
MAY RAINFALL TOTAL was 87.6 mm, over double the average of 43 mm.
The month was also slightly cooler than normal. Full details in the May 2009
Weather Review here.
MAY RAIN EVENT - 19th to 24th - A trough which moved across northern New
South Wales and the resulting development of a low pressure cell off the
southern Queensland Coast produced heavy flooding rains along the northern NSW
coast. Armidale was on the western edge of this system, but received moderate
to heavy falls on Friday the 22nd with moderate flooding in Dumaresq Creek in
the afternoon and evening.
Total rain for the 24 hours to 9am on Sat 23rd:
55.8 mm - highest daily fall since January 17th 2004 (63.0 mm)
Total rain from 9am Tues 19th to 9am Mon 25th:
87.4 mm
FROST SEASON - Armidale’s frost season is now underway with the most severe
frosts usually occurring during June, July and August. The Armidale valley is
very prone to severe frosts under calm clear night skies which prevail during
much of the winter season.
How cold does it get? Overnight minimums drop below -5.0C on average of 17 days
per year, and below -8.0C on 2 days per year. Last year the lowest was -9.0C on
July 12th.
ARMIDALE’S COLDEST TEMPERATURES ON RECORD: -11.0C on 25/6/86, -10.8C on 10/7/06, -10.5C on 13/7/02 & 28/7/03, -10.3C on 2/7/02, -10.2C on 4/8/94 & 26/7/02, -10.1C
on 26/6/86, 15/8/94 & 9/7/06.
(Records from East Armidale site 1981 - 2008.)
2008 RAINFALL TOTAL was 766.8 mm which was just 20 mm
short of the long term average. Armidale 2008 Annual Weather Review here.
LATEST WEATHER FORECAST FOR ARMIDALE
Click HERE
for the most recent four day forecast from the Bureau of Meteorology.
FORECAST RAINFALL
Where will it fall, when will it fall, and how much is likely to
fall?
Click HERE
to access the Bureau of Meteorology's four day rainfall predictions.
JULY IN ARMIDALE - What can we expect?
July is normally the
coldest month of the year. Rain is light and intermittent, winds are mostly
westerlies, day temperatures are cold, rarely reaching higher than 16 degrees,
and nights are usually very cold with moderate and severe frosts. It is a mostly
sunny month, but cold changes from the south can bring windy and icy conditions
with possible snow and sleet. Armidale averages 6 days in July with maximum
temperatures below 10 degrees.
Average max temp: 12.4
deg
Average min temp: -0.4 deg
Average rainfall: 48.2 mm on 9
days Average fine sunny days: 16
Average days with thunderstorms:
0.3 Average
frosts: 19
Average hours of sunshine per day: 5.4
Hottest: 20.0 deg on July 24th
1990 Coldest: -10.8 deg on July
10th
National Climate Centre prediction for July 2009: Rainfall close
to average, temperatures higher than normal.
THIS MONTH - JULY 2009
TOTAL RAINFALL up to
9am on the 3rd:
3.4 mm (Long term average: 48 mm)
THIS YEAR - 2009 up to
July 3rd:
TOTAL RAINFALL: 436.2
mm (Jan to Jul average: 448 mm, annual
average: 787 mm)
HIGHEST DAILY RAINFALL: 55.8 mm
on May 23rd
HIGHEST TEMPERATURE: 35.0C
on Feb 9th
LOWEST TEMPERATURE: -7.0C
on Jun 12th
COLD DAYS - MAXIMUM BELOW 10C: 3
(Annual average: 15)
COLD MORNINGS WITH FROSTS: 31
(Annual average: 98)
ARMIDALE'S WEATHER
WEATHER AT OTHER LOCATIONS ON THE NORTHERN TABLELANDS
DO YOU HAVE ANY PHOTOGRAPHS OF ARMIDALE'S WEATHER? I'm
always on the lookout for a good photo for the top of this page. If you have
any which you think look good (interesting clouds, sunsets, hail, frosts, snow,
floods etc) in or around Armidale, please email me here.
Information
and statistics in these pages referring to Armidale originate from the Bureau
of Meteorology weather station in East Armidale.
Feedback or queries: here.