Australian Weather

[NorthNSW]

Booooooo, two failed storm days in a row. Yesterday, too much high cloud spoilt the party. And then today, the storms formed just a little bit too far north (storms were as near as 40kms away). Have had to put up with summery heat and humidity in past three days, but with no reward.

Summary here over the past fortnight (Date/Min/Max/MaxWindGustDirectionSpeed&Time/24hrRainfall):

Mar 10th - 18.1ºC/26.2ºC - SW 33km/h @ 8:52am - 4.6mm

Mar 11th - 18.8ºC/26.4ºC - ESE 28km/h @ 3:12pm - 3.4mm

Mar 12th - 18.0ºC/25.3ºC - ESE 31km/h @ 11:47am - 3.4mm

Mar 13th - 18.7ºC/25.9ºC - SW 30km/h @ 8:21am - 0.4mm

Mar 14th - 16.0ºC/26.6ºC - S 39km/h @ 6:30pm - Nil

Mar 15th - 20.1ºC/27.7ºC - SSW 43km/h @ 8:34am - 4.0mm

Mar 16th - 18.6ºC/26.6ºC - N 28km/h @ 9:08pm - Nil

Mar 17th - 18.9ºC/27.3ºC - S 65km/h @ 2:31pm - Nil

Mar 18th - 17.4ºC/23.4ºC - SSW 43km/h @ 9:06am - 0.6mm

Mar 19th - 16.7ºC/24.0ºC - ESE 31km/h @ 2:19pm - 6.8mm

Mar 20th - 15.5ºC/23.9ºC - ENE 33km/h @ 10:33am - 3.8mm

Mar 21st - 15.8ºC/25.2ºC - NNE 39km/h @ 12:47pm - Nil

Mar 22nd - 19.9ºC/29.5ºC - NNE 52km/h @ 2:18pm - Nil

Mar 23rd - 21.7ºC/31.9ºC - NW 31km/h @ 7:37am - Nil

This week (Mar 24th to Mar 30th):

Another very warm and humid day today. As described above, storms fired near here, but we were just a little too far south. A trough currently sits across the northeast of the state. It should weaken through tomorrow and dissipate on Tuesday. There is the possibility of an afternoon shower tomorrow in the lingering, weak instability. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday should be fine thanks to a ridge of high pressure. On Good Friday, a trough is expected to approach the north of the state. At this stage, it looks like it could bring the possibility of an afternoon/evening shower or storm on Good Friday and Easter Saturday. Warm and humid, summer-like conditions are expected to persist all week.

Bureau's forecast max temps for the next 6 days (Tomorrow to Saturday): 29 / 28 / 28 / 28 / 28 / 26

A couple of pictures from my short holiday out to the Tamworth region last weekend:

Upper Ebor Falls -

Lower Ebor Falls -

East Tamworth in the foreground, looking towards Calala and over the Peel Valley. The large white building in the centre middle part of the picture is the Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre, the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere -

Central and South Tamworth -

West Tamworth, Westdale, and looking out towards the Airport -

The Big Golden Guitar in Tamworth. It is the 'Country Music Capital of Australia'. The Australian Country Music Awards are held annually in January at the nearby Entertainment Centre at the end of the Tamworth Country Music Festival (which runs for about 10 days) -

The Upper Peel Valley from Hanging Rock Lookout -

Edited March 24, 2013 by NorthNSW

[Styx]

Closing in on the hottest March on record for Australia - this on the heels of the hottest summer. Intriguing to see negative anomolies of similar magnitude in Europe at the moment!

Yesterday, bushfires destroyed up to a dozen homes in Western Victoria and injured 4 firefighters- temperatures in the mid 30 degrees, and winds gusting to 100kmhr/62mihr. In Tasmania, temperatures reached the low 30s with similar peak wind gusts, and in South Australia, the high 30s a day before that. This is extremely unseasonable but a cool down is now underway. We may have seen the last of the heat until the spring.

Bring on the snow!

[matt_in_dudley]

Would you like to swap the heat for some snow? I have plenty left over from the tonnes i had last weekend.

On a more somber note, God bless those firefighters. It happens every year in Australia, each year gets worse and worse. I'm lucky to live in one of the more stable countries in the world (geologically and meteorologically speaking).

Australia is such a beautiful country with amazing people...planning a 3 week trip next year to Sydney, Melbourne and Ayers Rock! Can't wait!

[NorthNSW]

A bit tardy with this update because of Easter. Hope everyone had a good holiday/rest.

Summary here over the past eight days (Date/Min/Max/MaxWindGustDirectionSpeed&Time/24hrRainfall):

Mar 24th - 21.8ºC/30.2ºC - WNW 33km/h @ 3:52pm - Nil

Mar 25th - 21.5ºC/30.4ºC - SSE 26km/h @ 1:24pm - Nil

Mar 26th - 21.4ºC/29.7ºC - ENE 30km/h @ 3:43pm - Nil

Mar 27th - 21.7ºC/28.2ºC - NNE 37km/h @ 12:27pm - Nil

Mar 28th - 22.0ºC/27.5ºC - NNE 48km/h @ 2:37pm - Nil

Mar 29th - 20.0ºC/26.3ºC - S 43km/h @ 3:22pm - Nil

Mar 30th - 17.0ºC/25.5ºC - SW 31km/h @ 2:07am - Nil

Mar 31st - 19.4ºC/26.7ºC - NNW 35km/h @ 9:53am - Nil

Past eight days:

Summery heat and humidity persisted for the bulk of the time. The 24th to 28th felt like January, a sweat-a-thon. A couple of days there was a little tiny bit of rainfall, but not even enough to record 0.2mm. We have bad timing with the troughs during these days and so they didn't bring any recordable rain, different story less than an hour to the north though.

This week (Apr 1st to Apr 7th):

During this week, a high pressure system should move eastwards into the Tasman Sea. The high is expected to direct an onshore airstream onto the coast all-week. An evening shower or two is possible today. Chance light shower tomorrow, otherwise fine. The flow should strengthen later on Wednesday, which should see shower activity increase. Occasional showers look likely for Thursday. A shower or two should persist into Friday, and possibly lingering into Saturday and Sunday too.

Bureau's forecast max temps for the next 6 days (Tomorrow to Sunday): 27 / 26 / 25 / 25 / 24 / 24

Daylight Saving will come to an end at 3am on Sunday. On Saturday, sunrise will be at 7:01am and sunset at 6:38pm. However on Sunday this will change to sunrise at 6:02am and sunset at 5:36pm.

Edited April 1, 2013 by NorthNSW

[Styx]

Australia is such a beautiful country with amazing people...planning a 3 week trip next year to Sydney, Melbourne and Ayers Rock! Can't wait!

Hey Matt...hope you manage to fit in a few days in Tasmania - the 'natural isle'. Then again, 3 weeks all together may make that a bit tough!

[Styx]

Climate change making extreme events worse in Australia – report

The extreme heatwaves, flooding and bush fires striking Australia have already been intensified by climate change and are set to get even worse in future, according to a new report. Only fast and deep cuts to carbon emissions can start to reverse the trend, say scientists from the Climate Commission, an independent advisory group set up by the Australian government.

.....

The Climate Commission based its report on the latest research and observations from Australian bodies including the CSIRO, the Bureau of Meteorology and leading universities and their international counterparts.

http://www.guardian....sions-australia

How climate change is affecting Australia, especially in reference to unprecedented weather events in recent years

http://climatecommission.gov.au/

With a federal election to be held in Australia in September, and the Conservatives tipped to win, the Commission has been slated for abolition by the Opposition, together with a number of environmental programs, including the market based carbon price. Australia's Opposition leader has described climate change science as "crap"

Edited April 4, 2013 by Styx

[NorthNSW]

Summary here over the past week (Date/Min/Max/MaxWindGustDirectionSpeed&Time/24hrRainfall):

Apr 1st - 17.8ºC/23.9ºC - SSW 48km/h @ 10:05am - 1.4mm

Apr 2nd - 18.7ºC/27.5ºC - WSW 28km/h @ 11:05pm - Nil

Apr 3rd - 18.0ºC/27.2ºC - S 70km/h @ 5:38pm - 3.6mm

Apr 4th - 15.4ºC/24.0ºC - SSE 43km/h @ 7:59pm - 0.6mm

Apr 5th - 15.7ºC/23.6ºC - SSE 37km/h @ 11:28pm - 3.6mm

Apr 6th - 15.0ºC/22.7ºC - WSW 33km/h @ 3:40am - 36.2mm

Apr 7th - 15.2ºC/25.0ºC - E 33km/h @ 11:12am - 0.2mm

Past week:

An onshore airstream persisted all week. Two upper troughs during the week helped to destablise conditions, giving the showers more "oomph", we didn't have much luck with the first upper trough though, missing the heavy falls associated with the isolated storms. Although, there were isolated heavy falls of up to 106mm from those localised storms not overly far away from here. We did better with the second upper trough, scoring a good load of showers on the 6th.

This week (Apr 8th to Apr 14th):

The onshore airstream will continue into part of this week, a shower or two is possible tonight. An upper trough should wander through tomorrow, with a few showers likely and the slight chance of a thunderstorm. This should ease to a light shower or two on Wednesday. Thursday could bring the chance of a shower, otherwise be fine. Later in the week, a low may form off the southern Queensland coast on the weekend, but it looks like it will make a beeline for New Zealand. At this stage, fine weather (courtesy of a ridge of high pressure) looks like being the most likely outcome for here on Friday and over the weekend.

Bureau's forecast max temps for the next 6 days (Tomorrow to Sunday): 25 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 26 / 26

Edited April 8, 2013 by NorthNSW

[NorthNSW]

Received quite a downpour in a thunderstorm last night, with 63.2mm falling, largely coming from that storm.

Btw, it is starting to look like the low forecast to develop this weekend could hug a bit closer to coast than first thought before heading to NZ. This closer track could produce some showery weather.

[NorthNSW]

Summary here over the past week (Date/Min/Max/MaxWindGustDirectionSpeed&Time/24hrRainfall):
Apr 8th - 16.1ºC/25.8ºC - SSE 30km/h @ 12:50pm - 1.6mm
Apr 9th - 16.2ºC/25.6ºC - ENE 35km/h @ 12:01pm - 63.2mm
Apr 10th - 15.0ºC/24.0ºC - ESE 31km/h @ 10:41am - Nil
Apr 11th - 16.0ºC/26.1ºC - SSW 26km/h @ 7:33am - 3.4mm
Apr 12th - 16.5ºC/26.1ºC - ESE 37km/h @ 2:42pm - 3.0mm
Apr 13th - 16.0ºC/20.6ºC - WSW 31km/h @ 2:37am - Nil
Apr 14th - 17.5ºC/26.1ºC - SW 26km/h @ 11:22am - Nil

 

Past week:
A thunderstorm on the 9th delivered a decent part of the rain that fell on that date. A low came down the Queensland coast on the weekend but stayed far enough offshore to only produce a couple of light showers. Persistent cloudcover on the 13th saw a maximum of just 20.6ºC, although winds were generally light and humidity was very high so it didn't feel particularly cool.

Webcam images for the week at midday, and a image of a heavy shower of rain moving in on the 9th with a little rainbow visible. The cam has had a fair amount of downtime since mid February:

 

This week (Apr 15th to Apr 21st):
This week will see the influence of the tropics wane, and the beginning of the shift toward being more influenced by mid-latitude systems here.
A trough moved into eastern New South Wales today, though it remains fine here. Tomorrow, the trough will move into the northeast of the state, and bring an afternoon/evening shower and possibly a thunderstorm. On Wednesday, there is the chance of an afternoon shower in lingering instability as the trough moves to the north and into far southern Queensland where it is expected to weaken. A southerly airstream should be directed up the coast on Friday as a high moves into the Tasman Sea, which should bring the chance of a light shower or drizzle on Friday and Saturday. A weak trough may near the region later on Sunday.
Bureau's forecast max temps for the next 6 days (Tomorrow to Sunday): 27 / 25 / 26 / 24 / 24 / 24

Edited April 15, 2013 by NorthNSW

[Styx]

First cold outbreak for southern Australia for the season today. Snow in the forecast to 800m for Tasmania, and 1400m for Victoria. At 2pm it is a chilly 8.7C in Hobart having peaked at 13.1C this morning ( 5 below ).

17C in Melbourne.

 

Showers are quite light so any snow that settles will be quite isolated...but still...love this weather

 

[NorthNSW]

Styx, I think I can see settled snow at the top of Mt Wellington on today's midday image (second hump from the right on the 'main mountain' just below the bottom of the cloud base? (Picture below is about 4MB in size):

 

Compare this to yesterday's midday image:

http://www.rosebay.tased.edu.au/webcam/archive/18-04-2013.jpg

 

Could you see any settled snow at top of Mt Wellington? Looks like the showers were a bit heavier than forecast with 11mm in Hobart (third wettest day of the year so far).

 

Snow expected to fall today down to 1200m on the far southern ranges of New South Wales today (more-or-less in the Snowy Mountains). A decent number of locations on the NSW ranges could see their first frost of the year this weekend. Any frost in those places on the weekend should be light though.

Edited April 19, 2013 by NorthNSW

[Styx]

Yep, that was snow - but it certainly didn't last for very long! Perhaps patches remain in sheltered spots and some of the gullys. According to the AWS on the summit there was just over 30mm of snow melt. The moist onshore SE'lies usually produce wet snow at elevation and a low cloud base which annoyingly hides whats going on up there - but from what I saw on this side of the river, and a photograph in the paper, I don't imagine there was more than 10cm on the ground. Not unusual for this time of the year.  Hoping for colder weather obviously and more regular frontal passages with snow to start building up a bit of a snow base up there...been some dreadful years...  hoping 2013 is something more traditional. 

[NorthNSW]

Summary here over the past week (Date/Min/Max/MaxWindGustDirectionSpeed&Time/24hrRainfall):
Apr 15th - 18.8ºC/26.1ºC - NE 31km/h @ 2:14pm - Nil
Apr 16th - 16.8ºC/26.0ºC - S 39km/h @ 1:29pm - 11.6mm
Apr 17th - 16.0ºC/25.0ºC - SW 26km/h @ 6:05am - Nil
Apr 18th - 17.0ºC/27.6ºC - SW 19km/h @ 8:50am - Nil
Apr 19th - 17.8ºC/24.2ºC - S 39km/h @ 3:01pm - Nil
Apr 20th - 14.8ºC/22.5ºC - SW 48km/h @ 10:20pm - 3.0mm
Apr 21st - 13.4ºC/23.0ºC - SW 41km/h @ 9:33am - Nil

 

Past week:
On the 16th, a trough passing through the region triggered a thunderstorm, fairly benign really just a few flashes and steady rain. A surge of showers/wind pushed up the coast later on the 20th, courtesy of a low in the Tasman and a ridge of high pressure moving in. The minimum on the 21st was the coldest night of the year so far.
Midday images from week, and seaspray reducing visibility for a period on the morning of the 15th (Image approx. 700kb):

 

This week (Apr 22nd to Apr 28th):
It should be a mostly fine and dry week overall. A ridge of high pressure will bring fine and dry conditions for the remainder of today and through to Wednesday. A weak trough will influence the region from late Wednesday and into Thursday. The slight chance of a shower on Thursday, with a lack of moisture looking like inhibiting convective development. An area of high pressure is expected to move into western New South Wales on Friday and over northern NSW and into the northern Tasman Sea over the weekend, with a continuation of fine and dry conditions over these three days.
Bureau's forecast max temps for the next 6 days (Tomorrow to Sunday): 27 / 26 / 25 / 26 / 26 / 27

Edited April 22, 2013 by NorthNSW

[NorthNSW]

In the 7-day forecast, the Bureau are currently forecasting maximum temps of 27ºC on the 1st and 2nd of May. Not record-breaking (May record here is 29.5ºC), but still fairly unusual for May.

[Styx]

Terrific wind speeds recorded across southern Tasmania over the weekend - at the upper scale of what you would expect only once or twice a year and almost exclusively confined to the weeks around the spring equinox - as a very intense low prressure system (948hpa/mb !) tracked east well south of Tasmania ( at about 52 degrees latitude - Tasmania's south about 40 degrees ), and an associated cold front approached Tasmania's west coast.

 

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/4521/maatsuykerisland.jpg

Maatsuyker Island - 5km/3miles off Tasmania's south coast: 156kmhr/98mhr

 

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/7506/hobartfrommtwellington.jpg

Mt Wellington summit - 1270m - Hobart - 132kmhr/82mhr

 

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/4451/wild2n.jpg

...and Hobart ( sealevel ) 96kmhr/60mhr. Hope the guy has insurance

 

These wind speeds fall short of annual records. Windiest April event since 2008. But it was windy enough to bring down powerlines and trees, and for grassfires to threaten homes ( possibly one of the latest fire threats so far out from summer )

Edited April 29, 2013 by Styx

[NorthNSW]

It was a pretty gutsy low down there Styx, makes you wonder what the wind speeds were like over the ocean nearer to the low's centre. Would have been the Furious Fifties for sure.

 

Summary here over the past week (Date/Min/Max/MaxWindGustDirectionSpeed&Time/24hrRainfall):
Apr 22nd - 14.5ºC/25.7ºC -  NE 37km/h @ 1:22pm - Nil
Apr 23rd - 14.7ºC/25.4ºC - SE 20km/h @ 12:18pm - Nil
Apr 24th - 14.7ºC/24.8ºC - NE 24km/h @ 3:41pm - Nil
Apr 25th - 14.9ºC/24.0ºC - S 28km/h @ 12:26pm - Nil
Apr 26th - 13.8ºC/24.9ºC - SSE 24km/h @ 11:19am - Nil
Apr 27th - 14.0ºC/25.6ºC - NE 33km/h @ 3:43pm - Nil
Apr 28th - 16.3ºC/26.2ºC - NE 31km/h @ 1:41pm - Nil

 

Past week:
The weather was fine and dry all week. A thunderstorm did develop several kilometres offshore late on the 24th, though it moved further out to sea after forming.
Midday webcam images from week, and dawn on ANZAC Day (Apr 25th) [image approx 700kb]:

 

This week (Apr 29th to May 5th):
A ridge of high pressure is expected to bring fine and dry weather until Thursday. A weak cold front looks like it will produce a shower or two on Thursday. Fine and dry weather should return by Friday morning and persist over the weekend as an area of high pressure starts move towards and over northern New South Wales.
Bureau's forecast max temps for the next 6 days (Tomorrow to Sunday): 26 / 27 / 26 / 23 / 25 / 27

Edited April 29, 2013 by NorthNSW

[NorthNSW]

While visiting the BOM page this afternoon, I noticed how cold it was in Hobart (sitting just below 8ºC) and that it was raining. So I shot over to the Hobart webcam that looks toward Mt Wellington, and there's snow!

 

 

A fair contrast to the 27.7ºC maximum we had up here today. The cold front that affected down there today is expected to just brush us tomorrow morning, with a cooler day around 22ºC forecast. Still awaiting the first sub-20ºC maximum of the year here.

[Styx]

^ It was beanie weather that is for sure! Fresh snow seems to give great definition to all the natural contour lines, makes it appear as if the summit is closer than its height suggests. More snow tonight. Question is, will you have a sub 20 max before Hobart has its first sub 10 maximum for the year? Game on!

 

Sub 10 maximum in Hobart ( Records since 1882 ):

Earliest: 

February 23rd 1964 ( 9.6 ) and March 22nd 1925 ( 8.9 )

A sub 10 has occured 12X in April; most recent 1973

Latest: July 22nd 1988 ( 9.6 )

 

Earliest for these years:

2000...May 28th

2001...May 17th

2002...June 17th

2003...June 22nd

2004...May 4th

2005...May 25th

2006...May 3rd

2007...June 1st

2008...July 20th

2009...June 10th

2010...June 11th

2011...June 8th

2012...June 5th

2013...?

[NorthNSW]

I reckon I'll have a sub-20 before you have a sub-10.

You can get a sub-20 maximum anytime of year here, but between December and March (inclusive), it requires a unseasonably cool airmass that has to be very moist as well bringing heavy cloud, no breaks of sunshine at all, and constant / near-constant rain all day, generally all these factors do not align so you'll end up with a 21-23ºC day on these occasional wet "dreary" days of summer. The vast majority of the first sub-20 maximum of the year occurs in April or May though.

The five latest sub-20 maximums from Jan 1st (since 1957):
1971 - May 17th
1973 - May 17th
1957 - May 20th
2000 - May 21st
1974 - May 23rd

 

Have only failed to have a sub-20 max in May twice (2004 & 2007), however both of these years had a sub-20 max in April instead.

 

In 56 years of records, there's never been a sub-10 max here, the record low max is 11.1ºC (July 23rd 1968). A sub-15 max has failed to occur in 15 of 56 years (about 25% of years). Despite a good handful of years with no sub-15 maxs, there has never been a year on record that has not recorded at least one sub-16 max.

Edited May 5, 2013 by NorthNSW

[NorthNSW]

Summary here over the past week (Date/Min/Max/MaxWindGustDirectionSpeed&Time/24hrRainfall):
Apr 29th - 15.1ºC/26.8ºC - NE 22km/h @ 3:06pm - Nil
Apr 30th - 16.0ºC/26.1ºC - NNE 33km/h @ 3:44pm - Nil
May 1st - 16.5ºC/27.7ºC - NNE 33km/h @ 2:56pm - Nil
May 2nd - 16.3ºC/22.2ºC - S 50km/h @ 1:57pm - Nil
May 3rd - 14.1ºC/22.9ºC - SW 35km/h @ 2:14am - Nil
May 4th - 12.9ºC/25.4ºC - WSW 31km/h @ 10:14pm - Nil
May 5th - 14.3ºC/21.9ºC - WSW 35km/h @ 11:27pm - Nil

 

Past week:
Another fine and dry week, though more cloudy than the week before. Isolated showers associated with a passing cold front on the 2nd stayed offshore. A cold front clipped the region later on the 4th, but once again any precipitation stayed offshore.
Midday images from past week (2:47pm image was closest to midday on the 30th), and near-sunset on the 30th [imagesize approx 700kb]:

 

I'm heading down to Canberra on the 10th and returning on the 15th, so I'll only do a little forecast for the next three days, then on the 9th before I leave, for the week as per normal. Have noticed a wasp eyeing off the solar radiation guard protecting the temp sensor. It's been flying around it for the past two days, hasn't built a nest yet, I'm sending it telepathic messages to not build a nest (lol). Maybe that's working, or maybe it's waiting for me to go away in a few days.

Next three days (May 6th to May 8th):
A high in the southern Tasman Sea will direct an onshore airstream onto the coast producing isolated showers about the region. There is the chance of a shower or two through tonight, tomorrow, and until around Wednesday morning (just had an ever-so-brief shower a moment ago, even though it's night-time, I know it wouldn't have been enough to register in the gauge). A ridge of high pressure is expected to start moving in during Wednesday clearing away any showers that may be wandering about.
Bureau's forecast max temps for tomorrow and Wednesday: 22 / 23

 

[NorthNSW]

First winter storm of the year is about to start affecting Perth and the southwestern corner of Western Australia. A low currently around 999hPa is expected to deepen off the southwest corner of WA to about 975hPa by tomorrow evening.

According to the Severe Weather Warning issued by BOM today, gusts could locally reach in excess of 125km/h:

 

Severe Weather Warning for destructive winds
for people in the Central West, Lower West and South West forecast districts

Issued at 11:12 am WST on Tuesday 7 May 2013.

For people in parts of WA southwest of a line from Geraldton to Northam to Walpole. This includes people in, near or between the following towns: Jurien Bay, Augusta, Busselton, Bunbury, Mandurah and the Perth metropolitan area but not including Northam or the Central Wheat Belt.

Weather Situation

A strong cold front will move over the region Tuesday evening and early Wednesday morning. During Wednesday and Thursday a deep low will pass to the south of the state.

The passage of the strong cold front Tuesday evening and early Wednesday morning may cause LOCALISED DANGEROUS GUSTS in excess of 125 kilometres per hour that could cause SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OR DESTRUCTION TO HOMES AND PROPERTY. Thunderstorms and moderate to heavy falls are also possible.

During Wednesday and Thursday a deep low will pass just to the south of the state. This system may bring widespread damaging winds, locally destructive gusts and abnormally high tides. Large swells may cause beach erosion.

The weather overnight Tuesday and into early Wednesday is typical weather for this time of the year but winds may cause localised damage to property and make road conditions hazardous.

The passage of the deep low on Wednesday and Thursday is likely to produce the kind of weather that is only seen once or twice a year and the worst weather is likely to be south of Bunbury.

(Link: http://www.bom.gov.au/wa/warnings/severe.shtml)

 

Perth has a Mediterranean climate, and receives about 70% of its average annual rainfall in the wintry months (May-Aug, inclusive). It is highly reliant on these frontal systems for rainfall.

Edited May 7, 2013 by NorthNSW

[NorthNSW]

Summary here over the past three days (Date/Min/Max/MaxWindGustDirectionSpeed&Time/24hrRainfall):May 6th - 12.7ºC/21.8ºC - S 39km/h @ 5:33pm - 0.4mmMay 7th - 13.8ºC/20.2ºC - SSW 35km/h @ 9:21am - 5.2mmMay 8th - 12.6ºC/21.3ºC - SSE 32km/h @ 4:00pm - Nil

 

Past three days:A little bit of shower activity about thanks to an onshore airstream directed from a high pressure system in the Tasman. Cool nights and mild days.

 

This week (May 9th to May 15th):Fine weather for the remainder of today and through most of tomorrow. A high will direct an onshore airstream onto the coast with a shower or two possible from late tomorrow until early Sunday morning. Fine weather should return by Sunday morning as a ridge of high pressure moves in, with fine conditions continuing into Monday. On Tuesday, a frontal rainband is expected to approach. It is unclear how much the rainband could bring on Tuesday, quite possibly no rain at all or potentially a little light rain (2-3mm). Wednesday is looking dry at this stage.Bureau's forecast max temps for the next six days here (Tomorrow to Wednesday): 24 / 23 / 23 / 25 / 24 / 24

 

Off to Canberra (600m ASL on the Southern Tablelands) for the next six days, where the Bureau's forecast max temps for the next six days are:

23 / 21 / 21 / 19 / 15 / 15

Edited May 9, 2013 by NorthNSW

[Upgrade]

Some late season warmth here  in Melbourne - perhaps the last proper warmth before winter sets in .    24 yesterday, 25 today, 25 or 26 tomorrow and 23 for Saturday. Not record breaking but great for mid May.  Things then go rapidly downhill from Monday with the first big low of the season barelling in from the west, though how much rain is with it remains to be seen - it dropped an inch in Western Australia yesterday and is quite a strong feature with strong winds.  That system should flush much of the remaining warmth from the south east of the continent and heralds the beginning of our winter with temperatures of 15 and below becoming the norm for the next 3 months.  

Edited May 9, 2013 by Upgrade

[Upgrade]

Top of 13.7 degrees here in Melbourne today, with some heavy showers around.  Forecast is for a cool week ahead, with tops of 14-15 degrees until the weekend as a deep low off Tasmania sweeps a cool and unstable flow across the south coast.  The Australian Alps had their first proper snow of the season this week, the ski resorts are hoping for another bumper year like 2012.  

[NorthNSW]

Summary here over the past week (Date/Min/Max/MaxWindGustDirectionSpeed&Time/24hrRainfall):
May 9th - 13.9ºC / 23.2ºC - SW 26km/h @ 10:15am - Nil
May 10th - 13.5ºC / 23.3ºC - S 37km/h @ 11:20am - 0.4mm
May 11th - 14.7ºC / 21.4ºC - SE 31km/h @ 3:01pm - 3.4mm
May 12th - 14.0ºC / 22.7ºC - WSW 24km/h @ 6:31am - 4.0mm
May 13th - 14.9ºC / 24.6ºC - NNW 35km/h @ 11:49am - Nil
May 14th - 16.1ºC / 22.0ºC - N 24km/h @ 12:22am - 0.2mm
May 15th - 11.8ºC / 20.3ºC - W 20km/h @ 7:14am - Nil

 

Past week:

A bit of light shower activity in the earlier half of the week, and spit of rain on the 14th from a weak and decaying rainband. A mild week overall, though the 15th was cooler.

 

This week (May 16th to May 22nd):
An upper trough moving through this evening is not expected to bring rain. A fairly slow-moving area of high pressure shoudl bring fine weather through to Tuesday. On Wednesday, a trough is forecast to move into the region and may possibly bring a little light rain.
Bureau's forecast max temps for the next six days (Tomorrow to Wednesday): 22 / 21 / 20 / 20 / 20 / 18

 

~~~~~

 

I was in Canberra basically all week. Canberra's temps/wind/rain from the 10th to 15th:
May 10th - 0.5ºC/24.1ºC - ENE 26km/h @ 6:02pm - Nil
May 11th - 1.0ºC/23.1ºC - ENE 33km/h @ 6:52pm - Nil
May 12th - 3.6ºC/21.0ºC - NW 33km/h @ 2:43pm - Nil
May 13th - 7.7ºC/13.8ºC - N 44km/h @ 5:14pm - 2.4mm
May 14th - 0.8ºC/14.1ºC - WNW 48km/h @ 3:13pm - 0.4mm
May 15th - 0.5ºC/13.4ºC - NW 46km/h @ 11:49am - Nil

 

Despite the cold mornings, the first couple of days were nice and it looks like we caught the last bit of autumnal warmth in Canberra. The days turned rather cool from the 13th onwards, with the wind making it feel cold.

 

Some pics from Canberra:

 

Pics from the recently opened Dairy Farmers Lookout at the (also) recently established and opened National Arboretum -

Looking towards the city centre of Canberra and the southern end of Lake Burley Griffin -

 

Looking into the Woden Valley part of Canberra. The largest white building about the centre right is the Lovett Tower, the tallest building in Canberra at 26 storeys. It is full of government departments. -

 

Weston Creek area of Canberra -

 

Autumn colours -

 

Cockington Green. Gardens with miniature displays. An area of British displays and another area dedicated to international displays -

 

A damp and cool day, looking along Anzac Parade from the second floor of the Australian War Memorial -

 

Part of the Australian War Memorial -

 

Part of the Captain James Cook Memorial in Lake Burley Griffin -

 

An unusual town clock in the town centre of Gungahlin (a part of the city of Canberra). Gungahlin is one of the newer parts of Canberra and was established in 1998. In only 15 years, Gungahlin has over 40,000 people -

Map of Canberra - http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=Canberra,+Australian+Capital+Territory&hl=en&ll=-35.313444,149.2939&spn=0.321055,0.676346&sll=-35.28094,149.144897&sspn=0.321184,0.937958&oq=canberr&hnear=Canberra+Australian+Capital+Territory&t=m&z=11

Edited May 16, 2013 by NorthNSW