Giles Weather Station

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Coordinates: 25°02′0″S 128°18′0″E / 25.03333°S 128.30000°E / -25.03333; 128.30000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Giles
Federal division(s)
O'Connor
Mean max temp[2] Mean min temp[2] Annual rainfall[2]
29.5 °C
85 °F		 15.9 °C
61 °F		 290.9 mm
11.5 in
FootnotesTime zone[3]

Giles Weather Station (also referred to as Giles Meteorological Station or Giles) is located in

Rawlinson Ranges
.

A staff of three operates the remote station on four-monthly tours.[7][8] Giles Airport, a 1,600-metre (5,200 ft) airstrip services the station and the Warakurna community.

Tourists are invited to watch the daily release of the weather balloon at 8:45am Australian Central Time. Additionally there is a museum that visitors can browse, a remnant of the Blue Streak Rocket and Len Beadell's grader on display.[7]

History

Giles is named after English explorer Ernest Giles, the first European to travel through the area in 1874.[9]

Surveyor and roadbuilder

Emu Field and Maralinga.[4] The location was strongly opposed by Walter MacDougall since it lay on tribal land.[10] Beadell surveyed and built Giles Airport, and chose the name Giles during construction of the Gunbarrel Highway which links Carnegie Station and Giles. Beadell's grader, which is estimated to have travelled over 30,000 kilometres (19,000 miles) in the course of making the roads, was retired in 1963 and is preserved on display at Giles.[11]

Later, the weather station provided support for rocket testing programs at

Woomera, as Giles was close to the centre-line of fire from the launch site. Wreckage from the first Blue Streak missile
, launched from Woomera on 5 June 1964, is on display at the station.

Docker River, 100 kilometres (62 miles) north-east and just across the state border in the Northern Territory, was established by the government as an aboriginal settlement for local people in the 1960s. Overcrowding there and at Warburton created a need for a new community which became Warakurna
in the mid-1970s.

In 1972, control of the station was transferred from the Department of Defence to the Bureau of Meteorology.[4]

A Landline story in 2018 stated that Giles would soon become the last mainland regional weather station to be permanently staffed, with all the others being automated.[1]

Climate

Giles Weather Station has a hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh) with very hot summers with irregular rainfall and mild, dry winters. Giles has high insolation, with 194.3 clear days and 3491.4 sunshine hours annually.[2][12] Rainfall is highly variable; recorded annual values have ranged from 38.0 millimetres (1.50 in) in 1961 to 843.4 millimetres (33.20 in) in 2001.[12] The periodic southward movement of the monsoon trough and ex-tropical cyclones cause heavy rain events in the wetter months from November to March.[12] Dry spells often occur, particularly in winter; the longest period without rain was 156 days from 18 April to 20 September 1961.[12][13][14]

Climate data for Giles Meteorological Office (25º02'S, 123º18'E, 598 m AMSL) (1956-2024 and extremes)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 45.7
(114.3) 		44.4
(111.9) 		44.6
(112.3) 		38.9
(102.0) 		33.9
(93.0) 		29.9
(85.8) 		30.8
(87.4) 		36.1
(97.0) 		38.2
(100.8) 		41.6
(106.9) 		43.9
(111.0) 		46.8
(116.2) 		46.8
(116.2)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 37.3
(99.1) 		36.2
(97.2) 		34.0
(93.2) 		29.5
(85.1) 		23.8
(74.8) 		20.3
(68.5) 		20.3
(68.5) 		23.0
(73.4) 		27.7
(81.9) 		32.0
(89.6) 		34.4
(93.9) 		36.0
(96.8) 		29.5
(85.2)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 23.6
(74.5) 		22.8
(73.0) 		20.7
(69.3) 		16.4
(61.5) 		11.3
(52.3) 		8.0
(46.4) 		6.9
(44.4) 		8.8
(47.8) 		13.1
(55.6) 		17.3
(63.1) 		20.0
(68.0) 		22.0
(71.6) 		15.9
(60.6)
Record low °C (°F) 11.7
(53.1) 		9.8
(49.6) 		8.9
(48.0) 		5.4
(41.7) 		1.8
(35.2) 		−1.6
(29.1) 		−2.5
(27.5) 		−1.4
(29.5) 		2.0
(35.6) 		4.2
(39.6) 		7.0
(44.6) 		9.5
(49.1) 		−2.5
(27.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 34.8
(1.37) 		43.2
(1.70) 		34.6
(1.36) 		17.4
(0.69) 		19.9
(0.78) 		18.4
(0.72) 		10.0
(0.39) 		9.5
(0.37) 		11.0
(0.43) 		15.9
(0.63) 		29.3
(1.15) 		46.8
(1.84) 		290.9
(11.45)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 4.1 3.8 3.1 1.9 2.3 2.0 1.4 1.2 1.6 2.2 3.4 4.7 31.8
Average afternoon
relative humidity
(%) 		21 25 24 24 30 31 29 22 17 16 18 23 23
Average dew point °C (°F) 7.0
(44.6) 		8.3
(46.9) 		6.1
(43.0) 		3.8
(38.8) 		2.4
(36.3) 		0.8
(33.4) 		−1.3
(29.7) 		−2.8
(27.0) 		−2.7
(27.1) 		−1.2
(29.8) 		2.3
(36.1) 		5.9
(42.6) 		2.4
(36.3)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 313.1 271.2 288.3 273.0 263.5 249.0 279.0 306.9 306.0 325.5 309.0 306.9 3,491.4
Mean daily sunshine hours 10.1 9.6 9.3 9.1 8.5 8.3 9.0 9.9 10.2 10.5 10.3 9.9 9.6
Source: Bureau of Meteorology[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Hose, Nick (24 November 2018). "Welcome to Giles, the loneliest weather station in mainland Australia". Landline. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Climate statistics: Giles". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
  3. ^ "Latest Weather Observations Giles*". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "History of Giles Weather Station". Bureau of Meteorology. Archived from the original on 20 March 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  5. ^ "Giles Weather Station – WA". ExplorOz. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  6. ^ "Storm Boys". Landline. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 15 June 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  7. ^ a b Smith, Emily JB; Chounding, Andrew (9 July 2023). "WA's Giles Weather Station remains staffed, while almost all others switch to automation". ABC News. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Giles Weather Station". Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  9. ISBN 0-85179-112-3. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help
    )
  10. ISBN 978-1-862-87406-0
    .
  11. ISBN 1876247053
    .
  12. ^ a b c d "Climate of Giles". Bureau of Meteorology. Archived from the original on 20 March 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  13. ^ "Monthly rainfall for Giles". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  14. ^ "Daily rainfall for Giles in 1961". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
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