Prosper in a dynamic world
Search

An extremely dry season, even by Darwin standards

 

We all know that Darwin experiences an extended dry season through the middle months of the year, but the 2023 dry season was a lot drier than most.

  • Indeed, Darwin received a grand total of no rainfall in this year’s dry season, which officially runs from May through September according to the BoM.
  • Darwin also saw a run of 161 rainless days from April 28 through October 5, 2023 – the longest dry spell in 15 years since the 167-day rainless streak in 2008

Take a look at the 2023 dry season rainfall in the Top End in the graphic below.

Darwin dry season

Source: BoM.

The area in white translates to a region roughly half the size of Victoria which saw absolutely no rain, and while it’s not the first time this has been recorded, it is nonetheless quite rare.

Even when Top End rain taps turn off during the southern winter, there are usually a few drips, with the odd shower or two always a possibility in the dry months.

For example, Darwin’s average monthly rainfall from May to September is:

  • May 20.2 mm
  • June 1.8 mm
  • July 1.1 mm
  • August 4.6 mm
  • September 16.3 mm

The worrying news for Top Enders in need of a good soaking is that there’s no strong indication of an imminent end to the dry weather in sight.

Even though Darwin’s October average monthly rainfall is 71.2 mm, just one day of rain has been recorded in October 2023 to date. That was 1.6 mm back on October 6 and there’s nothing significant in the forecast for the next week.

We know that a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) tends to mean a later-than-usual onset of the wet season, while an El Niño (as we have now) is also a contributor to a later onset.

If there’s a faint pointer to an outbreak of afternoon showers and thunderstorms in coming weeks, it’s that the latest IOD index published on October 22 saw a tiny drop after its recent steep, dramatic climb – though not by much.

Darwin dry season

Source: BoM.

READ MORE: WHAT IS THE IOD?

For more information on our wet season and tropical cyclone forecasts and presentations, please contact us at apac.sales@dtn.com.

Latest news

Satisfy your weather obsession with these news headlines from around the nation, and the world.

South Korea’s largest wildfires on satellite

Deadly wildfires have burnt across South Korea’s southeast since last weekend, claiming the lives of at least 28 people and displacing nearly 40,000. At least 28 people have lost their lives to the fire and more than 35,000 hectares of forest have burnt, displacing nearly 40,000 people from their homes. Officials on the ground are […]

How DTN’s Flood Risk System helps businesses across Queensland

A deep feed of moisture streaming from a monsoonal burst has brought widespread flooding to much of Queensland this week. Moisture started streaming over the north of Queensland last week. With a 301mm rain day last week, Townsville has now set monthly station records with: 1198mm in February (nearly four times the monthly average of […]

Tropical Cyclone Courtney has developed northwest of WA

Tropical Cyclone Courtney, currently a Category 1 system, developed in the early morning of Wednesday, March 26, marking the eighth tropical cyclone of the Australian season. Tropical Cyclone Courtney was slow to develop from a tropical low located south of Bali over the weekend, gradually tracking west-southwest over the past few days. Early on Wednesday, […]

Long period swell impacts NSW ports

A series of very long period swells will bring deceptively powerful waves to NSW ports. Image: Satellite loop of powerful lows well to the south of Australia on Monday, March 17. A very active period with powerful low pressure systems crossing well to the south of Australia over the past weekend and early week have […]