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 indi-cators and Australian rainfall and temperature. The tropical Pacific ocean tem-perature 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 aver-age nation-wide, though it was very dry in northern Queensland due to an over-all weak monsoon in the tropical western Pacific. Two tropical lows impacted the Kimberley region in Western Australia in January, and two tropical cy-clones, Lam and Marcia, made landfall in Northern Territory's Arnhem Land and Queensland's Capricorn Coast in February.