Australian Weather

[SAB]

With the recent extreme heat in inland Australia, thought it would be a good time to start a thread. Temps reached 48.5C in Roxby Downs, SA on the 25th, while Oodnadatta recorded a min of 34.2C last night. See oodnadata's heat here http://www.weatherzo...oral/oodnadatta

Eucla in WA is gogn for 48C tomorrow with talks of a 50C possible as 850hpa temps reach 34C.

-------------------------

Summer FINALLY coming to Melbourne aswell, after a cool, lacklusture season with virtually no heat to speak of. So far this summer, the highest temp is only 34.5C with only 9 exceeding 30C since Dec 1.

Melbourne forecast:

Sat ........... 13 / 31 , mostly sunny

Sun .......... 22 / 40 , mostly sunny

Mon ......... 23 / 39 , mostly sunny

Tue .......... 25 / 33 , partly cloudy

Wed ......... 17 / 27 , partly cloudy

Thu .......... 19 / 34 , sunny

Fri ............ 21 / 31 , showers

Edited January 28, 2011 by SAB

[BoilingisBetter]

Sounds good mate. I know Melbourne's summer can get the occasional burst of heat, hopefully you'll be getting it a bit more frequently than that from now on! I wish Manchester could reach 40 degrees one day! http://nwstatic.co.uk/forum/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif

[conor123]

Very relieved to see the Cyclone which was on the charts to slam into Queensland next week has dissapeared today.

That is one massive area of heat Inland though, and glad to know its finally extending southwards to Melbourne to, the East Coast (Syndey, Brisbane, Gold Coast) looks very grey at the moment though, but certainly for Adelaide and Melbourne it will be interesting on Monday to see how high the temperatures get with those incredibly bright 26-28 850hPa temps over such a large area.

[knocker]

Out of interest the plots for Australia for midday with the Adelaide sounding.

[SAB]

Very relieved to see the Cyclone which was on the charts to slam into Queensland next week has dissapeared today.

That is one massive area of heat Inland though, and glad to know its finally extending southwards to Melbourne to, the East Coast (Syndey, Brisbane, Gold Coast) looks very grey at the moment though, but certainly for Adelaide and Melbourne it will be interesting on Monday to see how high the temperatures get with those incredibly bright 26-28 850hPa temps over such a large area.

Hopefully it does get hot, but this summer has been constant dissapointment. Alot of days get nowhere near the forecast temps, with nearly constant southerlies day in day out. There is already mention of a "weak change" saturday night which will yet again kill the heat and bring cloud and even some rain

So far very unimpressive this morning, only 18C at 10am and it's supposed to get to 31. I suspect 25-26C at best, with seabreezes likely

Edited January 28, 2011 by SAB

[CroatianWeather]

Hey SAB, I am very interested in your Australian weather...for years I am studying and predicting it....and I can tell you that I succesfully predicted a washout and very cool summer 2011 for you ,back in July of 2010!!!Believe me or not but I did it!!

I am not very good for seasonal predicting in other parts of world but I also predicted your cold and wet summer of 2007/2008,and hot summer 2009/2010 if you remember......

And I can tell you that this actual warming up will last maybe 5-7 days,and then again rain and cooler weather is coming...I'm very sorry but I don't see February being hot and dry.... Maximum temperatures will not get very often above 30°C :nea:

And for this poor summer you can blame negative IOD in combination with strong La nina.....

[Timmytour]

i remember this time last year there were dire warnings about the drought in Australia and how it was caused by Global Warming. It was suggested it would take years if not decades to replenish stocks.

what's the situation like now? Obviously areas like Queensland have had more than their fair share of water over the past few months but what about the rest of the country?

[Upgrade]

it has been quite wet across australia in the 9 months, even inland in the vast deserts. the huge lakes which sometimes occur when rain falls in the interior have made an appearance again.

australia has a very interesting climate straddling semi temperate , tropical and desert zones. it has long been noted that the climate runs in wet/dry cycles, sometimes lasting hundreds of years. The start of European settlement coincided with a wet period. more recently, it has been dry. perhaps it is turning again.

[Angelici Magiovinium]

A series of powerful waterspouts have been captured on film off Australia's New South Wales coast.

http://www.channel4.com/news/waterspouts-filmed-off-australias-nsw-coast

The swirling wind columns are said to have reached heights of nearly two thousand feet.

The waterspouts, which dissipated before they reached land, do not actually suck up water – what can be seen is water droplets formed by condensation.

"It looked pretty impressive," one local resident told Australian broadcaster Channel Seven. "I wouldn't have liked to have been in a boat out there."

The natural wonders came as strong winds and heavy rain also lashed other parts of the state, causing flash flooding and traffic chaos in Sydney.

Several cars were submerged and the downpour caused road closures, local media reported.

A State Emergency Services official said five people were rescued after they were trapped by the flooding in Sydney's metropolitan area.

The bureau of meteorology said the city had already received around 20 millimetres of rain by late on Monday.

[Angelici Magiovinium]

[Ja23]

2012 is on it's way.

[Angelici Magiovinium]

2012 is on it's way.

so it is .... closely followed by 2013 I expect - I've got tins of food in my grocery cupboard that have 'use by 2012' on them...

...... but it doesn't mean the world is going to end then (anyway we already have a 2012 thread)

Meanwhile in WA.....Perth's hot start to the year has continued, with the city recording the warmest autumn in 23 years. The Weather Channel meteorologist Tom Saunders said that based only on maximum temperatures it was the warmest autumn on record. "We averaged over 27C, around 1.5C above the norm," he said. Perth also had the joint-hottest summer on record with an average maximum temperature of 32C from December to February. Last summer was unmatched in the number of hot days, with 60 days above 30C.

http-~~-//www.perthnow.com.au/news/record-dry-in-autumn/story-e6frg1rc-1226066746917

[lao]

A series of powerful waterspouts have been captured on film off Australia's New South Wales coast.

http-~~-//www.channel4.com/news/waterspouts-filmed-off-australias-nsw-coast

The swirling wind columns are said to have reached heights of nearly two thousand feet.

The waterspouts, which dissipated before they reached land, do not actually suck up water – what can be seen is water droplets formed by condensation.

"It looked pretty impressive," one local resident told Australian broadcaster Channel Seven. "I wouldn't have liked to have been in a boat out there."

The natural wonders came as strong winds and heavy rain also lashed other parts of the state, causing flash flooding and traffic chaos in Sydney.

Several cars were submerged and the downpour caused road closures, local media reported.

A State Emergency Services official said five people were rescued after they were trapped by the flooding in Sydney's metropolitan area.

The bureau of meteorology said the city had already received around 20 millimetres of rain by late on Monday.

It's certainly been very wet here (in the eastern suburbs of Sydney) from the 25th with around 150mm falling with lots of pea-sized hail, thunder, lightning and S-SE winds squalling as high as 98km/hr. A shop near my place had its awnings blown down by the gales and a lot of vegetation suffered significant damage. The park across my place was flooded with water coursing over the sides, in numerous places, like waterfalls. Some areas recorded as much as 125mm in 24 hours.

Also it's been colder than usual, in fact, we had our coldest May nights since 1970 and coldest May days since 1979.

And to top it all off, it's been our wettest autumn in 8 years with 532mm falling in the city and 544 in my area.

City had 191mm during March, 206 April and 135 May. For my area - March 220mm , April 177 and May 147.

Melbourne, in Victoria, had it's cloudiest May in 48 years with just 83.7 hours being recorded - the fourth cloudiest May on record.

Edited June 3, 2011 by lao

[Angelici Magiovinium]

It's certainly been very wet here (in the eastern suburbs of Sydney) from the 25th with around 150mm falling with lots of pea-sized hail, thunder, lightning and S-SE winds squalling as high as 98km/hr. A shop near my place had its awnings blown down by the gales and a lot of vegetation suffered significant damage. The park across my place was flooded with water coursing over the sides, in numerous places, like waterfalls. Some areas recorded as much as 125mm in 24 hours.

Also it's been colder than usual, in fact, we had our coldest May nights since 1970 and coldest May days since 1979.

And to top it all off, it's been our wettest autumn in 8 years with 532mm falling in the city and 544 in my area.

City had 191mm during March, 206 April and 135 May. For my area - March 220mm , April 177 and May 147.

Melbourne, in Victoria, had it's cloudiest May in 48 years with just 83.7 hours being recorded - the fourth cloudiest May on record.

Thanks for giving us an on the spot insight Iao - it's certainly sounds as if you have had some interesting weather down under !

(From what I remember of the Eastern suburbs there are some lovely houses and stunning beaches - your very lucky to live there)

[lao]

Thanks for giving us an on the spot insight Iao - it's certainly sounds as if you have had some interesting weather down under !

(From what I remember of the Eastern suburbs there are some lovely houses and stunning beaches - your very lucky to live there)

I live about 10 minutes walk from the beach and love it here. I take it you've been here before?

Sunny here today, albeit some high cloud in the afternoon, but the strong westerly wind made it feel quite cold. High of just 17.

It's looking like we're in for a quite cold week with windy and dry westerlies prevailing until Tuesday then changing to possibly showery S-SSW conditions over Wednesday/Thursday.

[Angelici Magiovinium]

I live about 10 minutes walk from the beach and love it here. I take it you've been here before?

Sunny here today, albeit some high cloud in the afternoon, but the strong westerly wind made it feel quite cold. High of just 17.

It's looking like we're in for a quite cold week with windy and dry westerlies prevailing until Tuesday then changing to possibly showery S-SSW conditions over Wednesday/Thursday.

You are so lucky to live there it's a wonderful country - yes, I have been there, it was a long time ago now and not for long enough sadly... but I managed to see and do quite a bit from Melbourne to Cairns, Canberra (I will never forget the wonderful drive up the Princes Highway and Batemans Bay) Sydney and Brisbane, and also flew out to Alice Springs and Uluru.

It was hot and sunny here yesterday, but today it's much cooler and has turned out wet !!

I see there is a severe weather warning out in the ACT for damaging winds..

http-~~-//www.bom.gov.au/nsw/warnings/severe.shtml

[Konstantinos]

Hello all. My question is this: Does Perth have hurricanes? How often? I saw in a map that Perth is facing the Indian Ocean and this is the reason why I am wondering.

[NorthNSW]

Hi, I'm and new member from South West Rocks in Australia (I have made an intro in the Lounge thread for introductions).

I'm 21 years old, and currently live in South West Rocks, a coastal town on the North Coast of New South Wales with a population of around 5000. It is pretty much halfway between Sydney and Brisbane, and about 25-30 minutes drive from Kempsey. I grew up in this area, originally living in Kempsey and moved to South West Rocks in 2001. After graduating high school at the end of 2008, I moved to Armidale (about 3-3½hrs away) to study the Bachelor of Urban & Regional Planning as an on-campus student at the University of New England. In the last month, I moved back home to South West Rocks to my parents and will continue my degree but as an external (off-campus) student.

South West Rocks has a wet subtropical climate, with warm humid summers and mild winters. The wettest time of year is around Feb-Apr and the driest time of the yeat is Jul-Sept. Here are the averages/statistics for South West Rocks (from Smoky Cape Lighthouse): http://www.bom.gov.a...59030_All.shtml

Here's the local weather radar for here (South West Rocks is about 4kms WNW of Smoky Cape): http://www.bom.gov.a...loop.shtml#skip

And also the local district's forecast: http://www.bom.gov.a.../midnorth.shtml

After a warm and wet November in NSW, it has been an unseasonably cool start to December/Summer along the New South Wales coast and also the SE corner of Queensland. In-fact, Sydney has had its coldest start to summer in 51 years (http://www.dailytele...9-1226216562769), and Brisbane recently had its coldest December day in 48 years, barely missing out on its coldest day in 123 years (http://www.smh.com.a...1208-1okmy.html).

Summary here for the past week (Date/Min/Max/24hrRainfall):

Dec 1st - 17.2ºC/18.2ºC - 3.2mm

Dec 2nd - 14.0ºC/23.2ºC - Nil

Dec 3rd - 13.7ºC/24.1ºC - Nil

Dec 4th - 16.8ºC/25.8ºC - 7.0mm

Dec 5th - 13.4ºC/22.0ºC - Nil

Dec 6th - 12.8ºC/20.3ºC - 0.4mm

Dec 7th - 14.6ºC/21.0ºC - 31.0mm

It has been a fairly gloomy start to December at South West Rocks, with average max and min temps this week both around 3.5ºC below the December average (Long-term Dec max avg. 25.9ºC, and long-term Dec min avg. 18.4ºC). Weak thunderstorms and some passing showers accompanied a cold front which moved through on the afternoon of the 4th. A weak low developed off the southern Queensland coast on the 7th, and combined with onshore winds helped to bring some steady to occasionally moderate rain that day. A trough and weak low will move into and through New South Wales over the next few days, with showers likely and the risk of storm for here this weekend.

BTW, feel free to ask me any questions you may have about my area.

Edited December 8, 2011 by NthNSW

[Coast]

It has been a fairly gloomy start to December at South West Rocks.

It's not been special this side of the planet!!! http://hw.nwstatic.co.uk/forum/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.png I think I'd rather have your kind of gloom than Sussex's current offering.

[Isolated Frost]

But in northern england it's a bit different NthNSW; cool and very wet, very windy and stormy is how i'd summarise my first week of December... very interesting weather north of Birmingham and I look forward to your reports

[NorthNSW]

Good afternoon, I hope everyone's had a good week. Not too cold I hope? lol :-P

Summary here for the past week (Date/Min/Max/24hrRainfall):

Dec 8th - 14.3ºC/25.3ºC - 0.6mm

Dec 9th - 16.0ºC/25.3ºC - 1.0mm

Dec 10th - 15.9ºC/24.0ºC - 0.4mm

Dec 11th - 15.6ºC/26.6ºC - 7.0mm

Dec 12th - 17.2ºC/23.9ºC - 1.2mm

Dec 13th - 16.0ºC/23.4ºC - 0.2mm

Dec 14th - 15.8ºC/24.3ºC - Nil

Overall, it was warmer than last week although still a bit cooler than it should be at this time of year, especially at night. Usually, you need a fan on to sleep at night by this time of year but at the moment it is comfortable enough to sleep without one.

This week, a low pressure trough moved across New South Wales during 9th/10th/11th bringing areas of rain and patchy storms to much of the state. There were some severe storms across the state but little damage has been reported despite some amazing pictures emerging from the event:

Near Wagga Wagga:

Off the coast of Sydney:

In the Tamworth/Gunnedah region:

Locally, there was just some patchy rain and isolated thunderstorms. There were some locally heavy falls from storms along western and far northern parts of the Mid North Coast, with 50 to 90mm 24 hour totals recorded. A low pressure system developed off the far north coast, quickly moving away toward New Zealand and deepened during the 12/13th. S/SW winds established themselves during the 12th, and the surge of wind did help fuel an isolated severe thunderstorm that brought 3-4cm hail to a town on the far north coast.

Over the coming week, a low pressure trough will sit over the eastern interior of the continent, where storms could have the potential to deliver 50mm+ to some locations there. A ridge of high pressure will keep it dry and mild here until either late Sunday or Monday, when that low pressure trough will finally move into eastern part of the state and should bring some patchy rain and storms.

[Weather-history]

Hello all. My question is this: Does Perth have hurricanes? How often? I saw in a map that Perth is facing the Indian Ocean and this is the reason why I am wondering.

They are called cyclones in the Indian Ocean. I use to live in Perth and it has been hit in the past by the reminants of cyclones. Cyclones heading towards SW Australia have to cross over the West Australian Current which is relatively cool which will weaken any such storm.

[NorthNSW]

Good afternoon again.

Summary here for the past week (Date/Min/Max/24hrRainfall):

Dec 15th - 15.5ºC/23.0ºC - Nil

Dec 16th - 16.0ºC/24.7ºC - Nil

Dec 17th - 15.6ºC/24.5ºC - Nil

Dec 18th - 15.0ºC/26.5ºC - Nil

Dec 19th - 19.2ºC/24.3ºC - Nil

Dec 20th - 19.5ºC/28.5ºC - 3.0mm

Dec 21st - 18.0ºC/27.7ºC - 0.2mm

A ridge of high pressure meant that most of the week was dry and mild (west of the NSW ranges have enjoyed storms though). A trough moved through during the early afternoon of the 20th bringing some passing showers and local thunderstorms to the region. The 20th was a very warm and humid day, it actually felt like it was summer!

Overall, the nights here generally continue to be below average for December. Daytime temperatures did become more December-like here later this week though.

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Fina should deliver some showers (mainly light) onto the coast here as winds moisten and tend onshore. It is also expected to bring a heavy swell to SE Queensland and NSW North Coast. A trough later in the week could bring patchy rain and storms at this stage.

The forecast for Christmas day is currently 'A few showers, clearing', with a min of 18 and a max of 25.

I will be going on holidays in New Zealand between Dec 28th and Jan 11th. So I'll do another post on a day or two earlier than normal before I leave.

Merry Christmas to all. Hope Santa's gets you what you want!

[Styx]

Lowest temperature ever recorded in Canberra for January:

1.6 degrees, close to 12 degrees below average

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/weather/keeping-it-cool-canberras-record-low/2417510.aspx

[Aaron]

I bet most places in the UK cannot manage 1.6 degrees in July..