Seasonal climate summary southern hemisphere (summer 2014-15): Very warm summer with above average rainfall

Abstract

Southern hemisphere circulation patterns and associated anomalies for austral summer 2014-15 are reviewed, with an emphasis on Pacific Basin climate indicators and Australian rainfall and temperature. The tropical Pacific ocean temperature in summer 2014-15 was just below El Niño threshold. The summer saw above average temperature in most of Australia, with the nation-wide mean temperature ranked the 6th highest on record. Summer rainfall was above average nation-wide, though it was very dry in northern Queensland due to an overall weak monsoon in the tropical western Pacific. Two tropical lows impacted the Kimberley region in Western Australia in January, and two tropical cyclones, Lam and Marcia, made landfall in Northern Territory’s Arnhem Land and Queensland’s Capricorn Coast in February.