1 Executive Summary:

This executive summary provides an overview of the climate data analysis conducted for 7 towns in Queensland, namely Burketown, Julia Creek, Cloncurry, Mt Isa, Richmond, Hughenden, and McKinlay. The analysis focused on several parameters, including Rainfall (Rain), Maximum Temperature (Tmax), Minimum Temperature (Tmin), Evaporation (Evap), Evapotranspiration for short crops (ETsc), and Evapotranspiration for tall crops (ETtc). The analysis encompassed annual, seasonal and monthly timeseries focused on a historical 60-year period 1963-2022 inclusively. The objectives were to 1. graph the selected climate parameters 2. overlay a linear trend line 3. compute a 95% confidence interval for the linear trend

A block bootstrap method was employed to compute the 95% confidence interval for the linear trend. 10,000 iterations of the block bootstrap analysis were conducted for each item.

For trend classification, there are three options: (i) the lower and upper bound of the confidence interval contains only positive values (ii) the lower and upper bound of the confidence interval contains only negative values (iii) zero lies between the lower and upper bound of the confidence interval

Options (i), (ii) and (iii) suggest that the population value for the slope increasing, decreasing or neither increasing or decreasing, respectively. The results of the trend analysis were presented in heatmaps, with specific focus on the annual time periods, as shown in Table 1. Additionally, for each parameter and location (town), slope analysis was performed, and the data was presented in separate tables for all 17 time periods, including annual, 4 seasons, and 12 months.

The comprehensive analysis provides valuable insights into the climate trends for the 7 towns in Queensland, aiding in the understanding of rainfall patterns, temperature variations, evaporation rates, and crop-specific evapotranspiration. These findings can assist stakeholders in making informed decisions and developing appropriate strategies based on the observed climate trends.

An exploration of heatwaves was conducted with the aim of investigating the impact of elevated temperatures above specific thresholds on cattle, particularly during the calving period. The analysis focused on determining the number of days where the maximum daily temperature exceeded various thresholds (35, 37, 40, and 42 degrees Celsius). The analysis encompassed both annual and monthly time periods, and the findings were presented through visual graphs and informative tables. Additionally, the calculation of instances where the temperature remained above the threshold for more than three consecutive days was performed.

2 Data:

This document examined daily climate data for selected parameters, including Temperature, Rainfall, Evaporation, and Evapotranspiration for both short and tall crops for Burketown, Julia Creek, Cloncurry, Mt Isa, Richmond, Hughenden, and McKinlay from the Southern Gulf NRM region.

The climate datasets used for each town were obtained from the Queensland Government Longpaddock point datasets available at (https://www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au/silo/point-data/). For each town, the weather station closest to the location with the longest duration of datasets within selected time period (1963-2022) datasets was selected for the analysis. The Patched Point Data system is constructed using observational data sourced from the Bureau of Meteorology and other suppliers. Certain graphs and information were directly generated and downloaded from Climate Services for Agriculture (https://climateservicesforag.indraweb.io/), which utilizes the same SILO datasets from the Bureau of Meteorology’s Australian Gridded Climate Data (AGCD) dataset. Figure 1 presents the locations of each town in Queensland, along with the available weather stations and their corresponding data availability.

3 Burketown

Station Used (metadata by BOM): name=BURKETOWN POST OFFICE latitude= -17.7425 longitude= 139.5475 elevation= 5.5 m reference=rxnvdescljhgftapwm extracted=20230329 dataset=BoM Only Please read our web site for information about the meanings of the codes, and other information .

In this figure, ‘vp’ stands for Vapour Pressure, ‘tmin’ is minimum daily temperature, ‘tmax’ is maximum daily temperature,‘rain’ is rainfall, and ‘evap’ is pan evaporation.

3.1 Rain

3.1.1 Annual Rain

Burketown annual Rain statistics summary for 1963-2022:

Burketown average annual Rain = 844.45 (mm)

Burketown max annual Rain = 2026.6 (mm)

Burketown min annual Rain = 308.5 (mm)

Burketown sd annual Rain = 403.74 (mm)

3.1.2 Seasonal Rain

3.1.2.1 Summer Rain

3.1.2.2 Autumn Rain

3.1.2.3 Winter Rain

3.1.2.4 Spring Rain

3.1.3 Monthly Rain

3.1.3.1 Jan Rain

3.1.3.2 Feb Rain

3.1.3.3 Mar Rain

3.1.3.4 Apr Rain

3.1.3.5 May Rain

3.1.3.6 Jun Rain

3.1.3.7 Jul Rain

3.1.3.8 Aug Rain

3.1.3.9 Sep Rain

3.1.3.10 Oct Rain

3.1.3.11 Nov Rain

3.1.3.12 Dec Rain

3.2 Tmax

3.2.1 Annual Tmax

Burketown annual Tmax statistics summary for 1963-2022:

Burketown average annual Tmax = 32.76 (degree)

Burketown max annual Tmax = 33.96 (degree)

Burketown min annual Tmax = 31.32 (degree)

Burketown sd annual Tmax = 0.67 (degree)

3.2.2 Seasonal Tmax

3.2.2.1 Summer Tmax

3.2.2.2 Autumn Tmax

3.2.2.3 Winter Tmax

3.2.2.4 Spring Tmax

3.2.3 Monthly Tmax

3.2.3.1 Jan Tmax

3.2.3.2 Feb Tmax

3.2.3.3 Mar Tmax

3.2.3.4 Apr Tmax

3.2.3.5 May Tmax

3.2.3.6 Jun Tmax

3.2.3.7 Jul Tmax

3.2.3.8 Aug Tmax

3.2.3.9 Sep Tmax

3.2.3.10 Oct Tmax

3.2.3.11 Nov Tmax

3.2.3.12 Dec Tmax

3.3 Tmin

3.3.1 Annual Tmin

Burketown annual Tmin statistics summary for 1963-2022:

Burketown average annual Tmin = 20.75 (degree)

Burketown max annual Tmin = 22.01 (degree)

Burketown min annual Tmin = 19.48 (degree)

Burketown sd annual Tmin = 0.63 (degree)

3.3.2 Seasonal Tmin

3.3.2.1 Summer Tmin

3.3.2.2 Autumn Tmin

3.3.2.3 Winter Tmin

3.3.2.4 Spring Tmin

3.3.3 Monthly Tmin

3.3.3.1 Jan Tmin

3.3.3.2 Feb Tmin

3.3.3.3 Mar Tmin

3.3.3.4 Apr Tmin

3.3.3.5 May Tmin

3.3.3.6 Jun Tmin

3.3.3.7 Jul Tmin

3.3.3.8 Aug Tmin

3.3.3.9 Sep Tmin

3.3.3.10 Oct Tmin

3.3.3.11 Nov Tmin

3.3.3.12 Dec Tmin

3.4 Evap

3.4.1 Annual Evap

Burketown annual Evap statistics summary for 1963-2022:

Burketown average annual Evap = 2470.73 (mm)

Burketown max annual Evap = 3317.7 (mm)

Burketown min annual Evap = 1955 (mm)

Burketown sd annual Evap = 259.83 (mm)

3.4.2 Seasonal Evap

3.4.2.1 Summer Evap

3.4.2.2 Autumn Evap

3.4.2.3 Winter Evap

3.4.2.4 Spring Evap

3.4.3 Monthly Evap

3.4.3.1 Jan Evap

3.4.3.2 Feb Evap

3.4.3.3 Mar Evap

3.4.3.4 Apr Evap

3.4.3.5 May Evap

3.4.3.6 Jun Evap

3.4.3.7 Jul Evap

3.4.3.8 Aug Evap

3.4.3.9 Sep Evap

3.4.3.10 Oct Evap

3.4.3.11 Nov Evap

3.4.3.12 Dec Evap

3.5 ETsc

3.5.1 Annual ETsc

Burketown annual ETsc statistics summary for 1963-2022:

Burketown average annual ETsc = 1936.88 (mm)

Burketown max annual ETsc = 2138.9 (mm)

Burketown min annual ETsc = 1728.8 (mm)

Burketown sd annual ETsc = 80.05 (mm)

3.5.2 Seasonal ETsc

3.5.2.1 Summer ETsc

3.5.2.2 Autumn ETsc

3.5.2.3 Winter ETsc

3.5.2.4 Spring ETsc

3.5.3 Monthly ETsc

3.5.3.1 Jan ETsc

3.5.3.2 Feb ETsc

3.5.3.3 Mar ETsc

3.5.3.4 Apr ETsc

3.5.3.5 May ETsc

3.5.3.6 Jun ETsc

3.5.3.7 Jul ETsc

3.5.3.8 Aug ETsc

3.5.3.9 Sep ETsc

3.5.3.10 Oct ETsc

3.5.3.11 Nov ETsc

3.5.3.12 Dec ETsc

3.6 ETtc

3.6.1 Annual ETtc

Burketown annual ETtc statistics summary for 1963-2022:

Burketown average annual ETtc = 2547.29 (mm)

Burketown max annual ETtc = 2869.4 (mm)

Burketown min annual ETtc = 2220.8 (mm)

Burketown sd annual ETtc = 127.23 (mm)

3.6.2 Seasonal ETtc

3.6.2.1 Summer ETtc

3.6.2.2 Autumn ETtc

3.6.2.3 Winter ETtc

3.6.2.4 Spring ETtc

3.6.3 Monthly ETtc

3.6.3.1 Jan ETtc

3.6.3.2 Feb ETtc

3.6.3.3 Mar ETtc

3.6.3.4 Apr ETtc

3.6.3.5 May ETtc

3.6.3.6 Jun ETtc

3.6.3.7 Jul ETtc

3.6.3.8 Aug ETtc

3.6.3.9 Sep ETtc

3.6.3.10 Oct ETtc

3.6.3.11 Nov ETtc

3.6.3.12 Dec ETtc

4 Julia Creek

Station Used (metadata by BOM): name=JULIA CREEK POST OFFICE latitude= -20.6569 longitude= 141.7458 elevation= 122.6 m reference=rxnvdescljhgftapwm extracted=20230329 dataset=BoM Only Please read our web site for information about the meanings of the codes, and other information .

In this figure, ‘vp’ stands for Vapour Pressure, ‘tmin’ is minimum daily temperature, ‘tmax’ is maximum daily temperature,‘rain’ is rainfall, and ‘evap’ is pan evaporation.

4.1 Rain

4.1.1 Annual Rain

Julia Creek annual Rain statistics summary for 1963-2022:

Julia Creek average annual Rain = 478.95 (mm)

Julia Creek max annual Rain = 1083.9 (mm)

Julia Creek min annual Rain = 184.2 (mm)

Julia Creek sd annual Rain = 188.6 (mm)

4.1.2 Seasonal Rain

4.1.2.1 Summer Rain

4.1.2.2 Autumn Rain

4.1.2.3 Winter Rain

4.1.2.4 Spring Rain

4.1.3 Monthly Rain

4.1.3.1 Jan Rain

4.1.3.2 Feb Rain

4.1.3.3 Mar Rain

4.1.3.4 Apr Rain

4.1.3.5 May Rain

4.1.3.6 Jun Rain

4.1.3.7 Jul Rain

4.1.3.8 Aug Rain

4.1.3.9 Sep Rain

4.1.3.10 Oct Rain

4.1.3.11 Nov Rain

4.1.3.12 Dec Rain

4.2 Tmax

4.2.1 Annual Tmax

Julia Creek annual Tmax statistics summary for 1963-2022:

Julia Creek average annual Tmax = 33.63 (degree)

Julia Creek max annual Tmax = 35.8 (degree)

Julia Creek min annual Tmax = 32.13 (degree)

Julia Creek sd annual Tmax = 0.84 (degree)

Climate Data Analysis for Southern Gulf NRM by James Cook University

Dr Ben Jarihani & Professor Yvette Everingham

2023-06-20