Seasonal climate summary southern hemisphere (winter 2014): Warm and dry in the southwest

Abstract

Southern hemisphere circulation patterns and associated anomalies for the austral winter 2014 are reviewed, with emphasis given to the Pacific Basin climate indicators and Australian rainfall and temperature patterns. Winter began with the Pacific in a neutral state but the Southern Oscillation exceeded El Niño thresholds in August. Previously, the Southern Oscillation had been mixed with a strong swing in the Southern Oscillation Index from –13.3 in March to 8.6 in April but by May had eased back to more neutral values (4.4). While there was anomalous warmth in the equatorial Pacific, Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) in parts of the central Pacific, including the NINO3.4 region, remained close to average during winter, as they had been in autumn and would remain heading into spring. There was a moderately strong negative Indian Ocean Dipole event over winter with an annual minimum weekly value of the Dipole Mode Index during August (–0.79 °C), however, it wasn’t sustained for long. The Southern Annular Mode was in a positive phase at the beginning of the season, but returned to neutral values by July. Winter rainfall was lower than average over the southern half of the continent and especially so over Western Australia’s Gascoyne District. The southern half of the continent observed above-average maximum temperatures. Minimum temperatures were also higher than average along parts of the coast and across all of Tasmania but below average over large parts of central and northern Australia.