Register      Login
Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science SocietyJournal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science Society
A journal for meteorology, climate, oceanography, hydrology and space weather focused on the southern hemisphere
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Seasonal climate summary southern hemisphere (winter 2013): Australia's third warmest winter on record.

L. Martin

Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal 64(1) 67 - 85
Published: 2014

Abstract

Southern hemisphere circulation patterns and associated anomalies for austral winter 2013 are reviewed, with an emphasis on Pacific Basin climate indicators and Australian rainfall and temperatures. El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions remained neutral throughout winter 2013 though some ENSO indicators, such as the SOI, surpassed La Niña thresholds at times during the season. Sea surface temperature patterns across the equatorial Pacific Ocean displayed a weak La Niña-like signal, but did not reach La Niña thresholds. A negative Indian Ocean Dipole event contributed to above average rainfall across southern and northwestern Australia, before weakening in early August, whilst a strongly negative phase of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) contributed to above-average rainfall across southern areas in August. Above average rainfall saw an easing of rainfall deficiencies in the southeast, but a lack of winter rainfall saw a worsening of deficiencies in inland Queensland and northern New South Wales. Averaged across Australia, winter maxima were second warmest on record, and minima were sixth warmest on record. Overall, Australia’s mean winter temperature was 1.29 °C above average: the third highest on record. An unusual period of warmth which started in the last week of winter also saw Australia record its warmest winter day on 31 August.

https://doi.org/10.1071/ES14006

© Commonwealth of Australia represented by the Bureau of Meterology 2014. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).

Committee on Publication Ethics

PDF (9.9 MB) Export Citation

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share via Email