Australian Weather

[Dan the Man]

Supposedly the temperature got up to 43C at the WACA, Perth today.

 

I bet those Barmies were thankful for the Doctor in the afternoon.

[Styx]

This event is currently underway as I post this so if anyone is interested in following a massive storm line on its approach to Brisbane (AEST Saturday evening ), here are some links. 30-50mins to impact.

 

 

Severe thunderstorm warning for damaging winds, large hail across southeast Queensland including Logan, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Ipswich

ANOTHER round of severe thunderstorms is set to pummel the southeast.

The weather bureau issued a severe thunderstorm warning after storms were detected over the Scenic Rim region near Mount Barney, Laravale and Kooralbyn.

The southeast Queensland warning said damaging winds and large hailstones are likely.

Forecasters from the Bureau of Meteorology said the thunderstorms were moving in a northerly direction, with Brisbane, Ipswich and the Gold Coast put on alert.

The storms are predicted to hit Beaudesert about 5.30pm.

More to come. 

 

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services advises that people should:* Move your car under cover or away from trees.* Secure loose outdoor items.* Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.* Avoid using the telephone during a thunderstorm.* Beware of fallen trees and powerlines.* For emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500. 

 

 

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/severe-thunderstorm-warning-for-damaging-winds-large-hail-across-southeast-queensland-including-logan-brisbane-gold-coast-and-ipswich/story-fnihsrf2-1226783138722

 

The BOM radar shows rain rate highest intensity rate possible (black and expanding)

http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR663.loop.shtml

 

Brisbane webcams.

http://www.brisbaneliveweather.com/cam.php

Edited December 14, 2013 by Styx

[NorthNSW]

A few severe storms about the Mid North & North Coast region and far southeast Queensland today, with reports of up to tennis ball sized hail. As expected for today's storm setup, the coastal fringe (areas within approx 10kms of the coastline) got quite limited and isolated storm activity (some places just getting a shower or two and others staying completely dry), it just wasn't quite the right setup for the coastal fringe to benefit today.
One in particular was a long-lived severe storm, lasting around nine hours, which formed on the ranges southwest of here very late in the morning, moving past here during the early afternoon, and then continued northwards through the rest of the afternoon and into early evening along the remainder of the Mid North & North Coasts, crossing into far southeastern QLD by mid evening where it finally weakened inland of the Gold Coast. The storm was consistently fed by warm, humid NE'ly winds. Thankfully the storm took a path that avoided the major towns (narrowly missing the major towns of Grafton and Casino), and saw it only hit a couple of small towns and a few villages, but largely moved over sparsely populated or forested land. Limited reports from that storm due to its path, but the Bureau mentioned it in the Severe Storm Warning for a number of hours as being 'particularly dangerous' with giant hail (5cm+) likely.
As the storm continued its northward movement, passing to the west of here and strengthened:

 

Radar scan of storm on Grafton Radar (non-doppler radar) west of here at the time of the last two photos above, and the significant storm that affected areas near Ipswich bringing hail up to tennis ball sized (Brisbane Radar - doppler):

 

Links to pictures of large hail / storm on Facebook:

Storm near Macksville (probably nearer to Bowraville, imo): https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=659180587460010&set=a.538517709526299.1073741829.537063843005019&type=1&relevant_count=1

Hail at Bowraville (west of Nambucca Heads) falling about 30 minutes after the final two pics of the storm I posted): https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152028879138444&set=o.345013738895697&type=1&ref=nf

The storm near Bowraville: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202725751333821&set=o.345013738895697&type=1&ref=nf

North Dorrigo (near Bellingen, west of Coffs Harbour): https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=718491774830739&set=o.345013738895697&type=1&ref=nf

Dorrigo: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202184920041935&set=o.139175562844906&type=1&ref=nf

Near Grafton: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=665992440113152&set=a.482423851803346.106579.259476624098071&type=1&relevant_count=1

Near Grafton: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152806041950752&set=o.345013738895697&type=1&ref=nf

Near Casino: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=382292248572951&set=o.345013738895697&type=1&ref=nf

 

Storm that affected parts of Ipswich and areas to the south of there:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=543163472446111&set=a.149759021786560.31736.139175562844906&type=1&relevant_count=1

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202821190400829&set=o.139175562844906&type=1&ref=nf

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202821163840165&set=o.139175562844906&type=1&ref=nf

Edited December 14, 2013 by NorthNSW

[NorthNSW]

The Bureau were definitely right in calling that long-lived storm on the afternoon/evening of Dec 14th 'particularly dangerous' with giant hail likely. Check out these stones from it at a property west of Grafton!!:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=607121192658343&set=o.345013738895697&type=1&ref=nf

 

Impressive stones at Dorrigo (about 70kms NNW) and Comboyne (about 90kms SSW) from severe storms on Dec 14th too:

 

More hailstorms today although almost exclusively on the northern ranges (a murky day on the coast with isolated showers here and there). Not overly large stones in the hailstorms today, but there were some impressive accumulations under the strongest storms.

Emmaville, between Glen Innes and Tenterfield, probably getting the storm of the day (81mm there since 9am, 60mm of that coming from the storm). Video from the village of Emmaville:

I lol'd at how many times he said "Look at this".

Decent accumulations just south of Armidale too:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202654900511529&set=o.139175562844906&type=1&ref=nf

And also at Bendemeer (between Armidale and Tamworth):

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202414514865753&set=o.139175562844906&type=1&ref=nf

 

Fine conditions expected for about the next week (mild at first, becoming increasingly warm later). It may possibly turn unsettled again around Christmas.

[Styx]

Senior BOM spokesman on breakfast television this morning hinting of a severe and widespread heatwave to affect much of the continent beginning after Christmas. One to watch.

 

Meantime WA's heat moves eastward and south east tomorrow: 40C in Adelaide ( 13 above ), 40 in Melbourne (+17) and 36C for Hobart (+16).  Then heat retracting inland as cooler air flushes thru from the south, before the end of the year/start of the new year becomes very interesting.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Styx

[Styx]

 

Posted Yesterday, 06:40

 

Senior BOM spokesman on breakfast television this morning hinting of a severe and widespread heatwave to affect much of the continent beginning after Christmas. One to watch.

 

Meantime WA's heat moves eastward and south east tomorrow: 40C in Adelaide ( 13 above ), 40 in Melbourne (+17) and 36C for Hobart (+16).  Then heat retracting inland as cooler air flushes thru from the south, before the end of the year/start of the new year becomes very interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

4pm AEST Thursday and this is how the heat measured up today.

The hottest day of the summer so far in these places.

 

Adelaide reached 43.4C ( 16 above average )

Second hottest December day on record behind 1931's 44.0.

 

Melbourne reached 39.9C ( 17 above average ).

December record is 43.7 in 1876

 

Hobart reached 35.5C ( 15 above average )

December record is 40.6 in 1897.

 

* This is Hobart's first year on record to have four separate months exceed 35+ in the same calender year. Today's peak of 35.5C happened to be the lowest of the 4 months. The only other year which comes even close for an excessive heat peak in many months over a year is 4 months of at least 33.7....in 2012! It is one of many statistical anomalies one could find over the last 2 years, indicative of how prolonged the heat has been here. Not just for Hobart mind you but across Australia.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Styx

[Kiwi]

4pm AEST Thursday and this is how the heat measured up today.

The hottest day of the summer so far in these places.

 

Adelaide reached 43.4C ( 16 above average )

Second hottest December day on record behind 1931's 44.0.

 

Melbourne reached 39.9C ( 17 above average ).

December record is 43.7 in 1876

 

Hobart reached 35.5C ( 15 above average )

December record is 40.6 in 1897.

 

* This is Hobart's first year on record to have four separate months exceed 35+ in the same calender year. Today's peak of 35.5C happened to be the lowest of the 4 months. The only other year which comes even close for an excessive heat peak in many months over a year is 4 months of at least 33.7....in 2012! It is one of many statistical anomalies one could find over the last 2 years, indicative of how prolonged the heat has been here. Not just for Hobart mind you but across Australia.

 

Yes ...Australia looking hot for Christmas

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/18/christmas-day-weather-its-beginning-to-look-a-lot-like-a-heatwave

 

Meanwhile, looks like most of NZ will be dodging the showers. 

New Zealanders should prepare for the weather to be a mixed bag for Christmas, MetService says.

MetService's Dan Corbett says the weather is looking good into this weekend, but said a "weakish weather system" is coming across the Tasman Sea ahead of Christmas Day.

"It looks like Christmas Eve it could unfortunately bring a bit of damp weather to the West Coast, which then Christmas Day could spell out some showers, not widespread rain where we are sitting inside for three days with our board games, but just if people plan for a little bit of damp weather over that Christmas period I think we'll probably be ok."

He said it is an open system so it is moving quickly, and said it will still be warm for Christmas.

"I wouldn't be surprised if many places once you get into some sunnier skies you'll be well into the twenties.

"You can probably take a picture of Santa he'll come with his board shorts but more than likely in the back of his sleigh there might be a raincoat just in case."

[NorthNSW]

Looking like a mild(ish) Christmas Day here (I usually call 'warm' above about 26ºC), with possibly a couple of showers about. The Bureau's forecast for Xmas Eve, Xmas Day and Boxing Day for Coffs Harbour (which is usually a good indication of expected temps/conditions here for most of the year):

 

Min/Max Temps and Rain for Christmas here since 2000:

2000: 24.1/31.3 - Nil

2001: 23.0/34.4 - Nil

2002: 18.2/29.1 - 22.6mm

2003: 21.4/27.0 - Nil

2004: 16.0/26.4 - 1.2mm

2005: 21.7/29.4 - Nil

2006: 20.4/26.2 - Nil

2007: 18.5/28.0 - 4.2mm

2008: 18.7/27.6 - Nil

2009: 21.2/26.8 - Nil

2010: N.A./24.1 - 20.0mm

2011: 18.5/28.5 - 0.4mm

2012: 20.8/30.4 - 7.2mm

 

Almost guaranteed to get good Christmas Day temps here, pretty rare to get maxs below about 22ºC on Xmas Day.

Just remembered to change my theme to the Christmas setting on the forum.

Edited December 20, 2013 by NorthNSW

[Styx]

Hi North. Always fun to compare lists with you.

 

---------

 

Hobart has had a few cool Christmases over the past decade!  Snow has settled on upper reaches of Hobart's Mount Wellington ( 1270m ) at least twice - in 2000 and 2006.  In 2006, half of Hobart appeared to spend most of their Christmas day in a traffic jam on the pinnacle road to the summit to have a snowball fight. 

 

Hobart and Mt.Wellington.

 

Christmas 2013 is forecast 25C - warmest for many years.

Hobart December average 11.1-20.4.

 

Min/Max Temps and Rain for Christmas here since 2000:

 

2000...8.5/16.6.......4.2mm

2001...9.6/17.6.......1.4mm

2002...10.6/17.3.....0.6mm

2003...13.5/23.0.....

2004...10.3/20.1.....

2005...9.1/21.2.......6.2mm

2006...7.5/13.5.......9.4mm

2007...9.4/19.5.......0.4mm

2008...12.1/20.4.....

2009...11.6/19.6.....3.2mm

2010...11.2/20.8.....

2011...15.8/20.6.....4.6mm

2012...11.7/20.7.....

[Styx]

 

Records melt in our hottest year December 21, 2013 Peter Hannam

 

2013 will go down as the year that registered Australia's hottest day, month, season, 12-month period - and, by December 31, the hottest calendar year.

 

Weather geeks have watched records tumble. These tallies include obscure ones, such as the latest autumn day above 45C (Western Australia's Onslow Airport at 45.6C on March 21), the hottest winter's day nationally (29.92C , August 31), and even Wednesday this week, with the hottest-ever 9am reading (44.6C, at Eyre weather station near the WA-South Australian border). 

We're not tinkering away at (records) - they're being absolutely blitzed.

 

''We're smashing the records,'' says Professor Andy Pitman, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science at the University of NSW.

''We're not tinkering away at them - they're being absolutely blitzed.''

 

Global interest in Australia's extraordinary year of heat flared early on. In January, when models started predicting heat that was literally off the charts, the Bureau of Meteorology added new colours to the heat maps - deep purple and pink - to accommodate maximum temperatures of 50-54 degrees. Moomba fell a shade short, reaching 49.6C on January 12.

 

But for Dr David Jones, head of climate analysis at the bureau, the year's stand-out event was a whole month largely overlooked by a media diverted by the football finals and federal elections. ''From a climate point of view, what happened in September was probably the most remarkable,'' he says.

September's mean temperature soared to be 2.75 degrees above the 1961-90 average, eclipsing the previous record monthly deviation set in April 2005 by 0.09 degrees. Maximums were a stark 3.41 degrees over the norm, with South Australia's top raised by 5.39 degrees and NSW's by 4.68.

The heat swept away the previous September mean record by 1.1 degrees.

''To have 103-104 years of observations, you don't expect to break the record for a continent for a month by a degree,'' Jones says. ''We're very fortunate we haven't had a month that anomalous in the middle of summer.''

 

This is the first half of the article - the full article is here below. It also includes an interactive map of Australia 2013 weather.

http://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/records-melt-in-our-hottest-year-20131220-2zqrt.html

Edited December 21, 2013 by Styx

[Cleeve Hill]

Was expecting some v hot weather in melbourne for the Boxing Day test match, but this has now changed to mid 20's. Is this right ? What's the forecast through to New Year's Day ? Many thanks.

[Styx]

^ Successive downgrades I'm afraid...but no rain, just chance of passing shower for the test!  Greatest chance of interruption in my view is second session of first day, but change doesn't carry much punch. Fourth day could be the dodgiest.

 

The forecast below is latest from the Bureau of Meteorology, the most authoritative source.

http://www.bom.gov.au/vic/forecasts/melbourne.shtml

Updated by 6am and 5pm AEST, ( 7pm and 6am GMT ) 

 

 

Thursday 26 December

  Min 18 Max 29

Partly cloudy. Isolated showers and the chance of a thunderstorm, late morning as light winds become southerly 20 to 30 km/h.

Friday 27 December

  Min 16 Max 24

Partly cloudy. Winds southerly 15 to 20 km/h increasing to 15 to 25 km/h during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening.

Saturday 28 December

Min 15 Max 27

Mostly sunny. The chance of showers later in the day. Light winds becoming south to southwesterly 25 to 35 km/h during the day.

Sunday 29 December

  Min 14 Max 21

Partly cloudy. Isolated showers, increasing over southern and eastern suburbs. Winds southwesterly 20 to 30 km/h turning southerly during the day.

Monday 30 December

  Min 11 Max 25

Mostly sunny. Light winds becoming west to southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the day.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Styx

[NorthNSW]

I noticed Christmas Day in Hobart has been upgraded to 27ºC, looking at your recent Christmas temp list for Hobart Styx, seems like a warm one was overdue down there.

 

The Bureau now have 24ºC for Christmas Day at nearby Coffs. Potentially the coldest Xmas day here in 18 years (Xmas 1995) at Coffs and here, the max will need to stay under 24.4ºC at Coffs and under 24.1ºC at Smoky.

Similar story away from the coastal fringe at nearby Kempsey too. A forecast top of 25ºC for Xmas. Will be the coldest in 18 years if the max temp stays under 25.7ºC.

[NorthNSW]

Got to 25.5ºC at the house today, thanks to the cloud thinning for a short period around morning tea, but for the most part stayed in-between 22.5-24ºC under overcast skies.

Mild, overcast with near calm to light winds would sum up today. No rain locally yet, but a little light rain may fall overnight. Most of today's rain has been centred over central parts of the state, with Dubbo picking up 39mm so far.

Evidently stayed overcast all day with no cloud thinning in nearby Coffs Harbour, maxing out at 23.8ºC. The 'coldest' Christmas Day there in 18 years.

 

Today's Christmas Day timelapse at Bonny Hills near Port Macquarie between 6:30am and 8:30pm AEDT (note the times shown on the images are in AEST [standard time] and not AEDT [Daylight saving time]): http://webcams.bsch.au.com/timelapse.html?date=12252013&s1h=6&s1m=30&s1p=am&s2h=8&s2m=30&s2p=pm&cam=bonny_hills_ne

 

 

Merry Christmas everybody, I hope Santa has been generous and your stomach is filled with Christmas goodness.

Edited December 25, 2013 by NorthNSW

[Styx]

27.8 in Hobart ( 7 above ) making it the warmest Christmas day since 1989. I remember that Christmas well; an outdoor BBQ Christmas dinner/lunch for the first time, near the beach. Back to tradition after that.

 

Warmest in Australia on Christmas day

42.2C at Marble Bar ( NW Western Australia )

 

Coolest in Australia on Christmas day

12.9C at Thredbo ( 1950m ), Snowy Mountains, New South Wales

[knocker]

2013 Australia's hottest year on record

 

2013 is the year Australia marked its hottest day, month, season, 12-month period and, by December 31, hottest calendar year.

 

"We're smashing the records," said Andy Pitman, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science at the University of NSW. "We're not tinkering away at them, they're being absolutely blitzed."

 

Global interest in Australia's weather flared early. In January, when models predicted heat that was literally off the charts, the Bureau of Meteorology added colours to maps - a deep purple and pink - to indicate maximum temperatures of 50-54 degrees.

 

But for David Jones, head of climate analysis at the bureau, 2013's stand-out event was a month largely overlooked by a media diverted by football finals and federal elections: "From a climate point of view, what happened in September was probably the most remarkable." September's mean temperature soared to be 2.75 degrees above the 1961-90 average, eclipsing the previous record monthly deviation set in April 2005 by 0.09 degrees.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/2013-australias-hottest-year-on-record-20131220-2zqpf.html#ixzz2osSOCtOy

[Styx]

 

An exceptional heatwave in inland Australia which has been running for several days is expected to climax today.

Forecast maximum of 49C at the outback towns of Marree and Moomba, 48C at Oodnadatta. ( South Australia )

 

Australia's record temperature is 50.7C at Oodnadatta in 1960.

It needs to reach 49.8C ( somewhere ) to rank in the top 5 highest temperatures ever recorded in Australia.

During last year's nationwide heatwave which produced Australia's hottest summer, the peak temperature was 49.6C at Moomba.

Yesterday, Tarcoola ( South Australia ) reached 48.9C.

 

Unlike last year, the heat will not be moving toward the coastal capital cities. Cooler air will be moving in to replace it but not before extreme heat moves into inland New South Wales and Queensland more extensively. Many long standing heat records have fallen, more to come.

 

Real time South Australia weather observations

http://www.bom.gov.au/sa/observations/saall.shtml

Heat peak likely to occur between 3-5pm CST ( 4-6am GMT Thursday )

[Upgrade]

Yes, the inland heatwave is reaching incredibly hot temperatures. 

 

Fortunately this isnt affecting the major cities at the moment.  

 

I wonder whether it may be reinforced during January and may come to affect the cities though? 

 

Melbourne has been reasonably mild (cool) this spring and early summer. Other than the 39 degree day just before Christmas there's been little in the way of heat compared with last year.  However last year was my first year in Oz so perhaps this year is more normal for around these parts. 

 

I had  a great road trip over Christmas , drove all the way fro Melbourne to  Sydney inland, and then up right up the NSW coast (to South West Rocks as it turned out!)  and back again.  it was fascinating to see the changes in climate and flora along the way.   North and West of the dividing range is a different world climatically  - it was so hot compared to the coast. And amazing as one drives north of sydney how sub tropical it quickly becomes. 

 

A happy new year to all.  

Edited January 2, 2014 by Upgrade

[NorthNSW]

Yer, northward of around Newcastle/Hexham you notice the change to the subtropical climate, particularly north of about Bulahdelah.

From Newcastle and southwards along the coast, you're more prone to cold snaps, very hot days, humidity not quite as persistent as the north coast either (especially south of Wollongong). Also, south of about Newcastle, the rain tends to be more uniform with a no distinct dry season (particularly on the south coast). There's less reliance on tropical systems/influences for rainfall down there too. Rainfall a difference too, on average during the year, largely 1300-1800mm on the north coast, generally dropping to 800-1300mm on the central coast, then 600-900mm on the south coast.

 

~~~~~

 

Very hot temps across the northern inland, northern slopes/plains, and northern ranges of NSW today (Most of these sites listed below broke their all-time record, however there are varying lengths of records from site to site, with some records more significant than others. For the couple that didn't break a record, it was still quite significant heat). The 'rounded off' (R/O) temps are figures reported from the manual BOM stations for the 6hrs to 3pm at those sites (the final figure for the 24hr period isn't released until the next day).

 

Walgett (133m ASL) - 49.1ºCLightning Ridge (154m ASL) - 49ºC (R/O)Mungindi (160m ASL) - 48ºC (R/O)Narrabri (229m ASL) - 47.8ºCCoonamble (181m ASL) - 47.6ºCMoree (213m ASL) - 47.3ºCBourke (107m ASL) - 47.3ºCBrewarrina (115m ASL) - 47ºC (R/O)Gunnedah Airport (263m ASL) - 46.9ºCTamworth Airport (395m ASL) - 45.1ºCCoonabarabran Airport (645m ASL) - 44.0ºCCoonabarabran (505m ASL) - 44ºC (R/O)Barraba (500m ASL) - 43ºC (R/O)Inverell RS (664m ASL) - 41.1ºCArmidale Airport (1079m ASL) - 37.0ºCGlen Innes Airport (1044m ASL) - 37.0ºCWoolbrook (910m ASL) - 37ºC (R/O)Guyra (1329m ASL) - 34ºC (R/O)

 

~~~~~

 

Around the local region today, it was a warm day with high humidity. The humidity was pretty disgusting today, probably one of the most uncomfortable sub-30ºC days I've experienced here (here and elsewhere in the region, the dewpoints largely stayed between 21-25ºC). The Kempsey (Wide Street) site gets 1st prize in the region for yuckiness with a temp/dewpoint combination of 31.8/25.9 at 3pm! Trough with milder air behind it is expected to move through by about breakfast here.

 

Very hot temps expected for the southeast coast of Queensland tomorrow (well 'today' I suppose, as it's past midnight here) ahead of that trough, including 41 for Brisbane City, 43 for Ipswich and 44 for Beaudesert.

Edited January 3, 2014 by NorthNSW

[knocker]

Annual climate statement 2013

Data collected and analysed by the Bureau of Meteorology show that 2013 was Australia's warmest year on record while rainfall was slightly below average nationally.

 

 

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/aus/

Edited January 4, 2014 by knocker

[Upgrade]

Very high temperatures reported inland over the last few days. 

 

However it has been very mild - cool alonht the south coast.  

 

Its 4pm on a summer's afternoon in Melbourne and it's currently 16 degrees, blustery and rainy.  Lots of southerly and westerly influences so far this summer.  A real lack of sustained heat so far.

[Styx]

Tropical Darwin is the latest place to break a heat record - reaching 36.0C yesterday ( breaking the January record by 0.4C ), then beating that today to reach 36.1C. January average maximum is 31.8C. Records since 1942.

 

A lull in the monsoon - which typically brings afternoon showers or storms to the top end - clear skies and heat off the land, and a later than normal seabreese, contributing factors.

 

Darwin is the 5th Australian state and territory capital ( of 8 ) that have broken a monthly heat record in the last 12 months:

-Canberra reached a January high of 42.0 in 2013

-Sydney reached an all-time high of 45.8 in 2013

-Hobart reached an all-time high of 41.8 in 2013

-Melbourne reached a July high of 23.3 in 2013

 

That just leaves Perth and Brisbane aside, but I'm sure there time will soon come..

Edited January 7, 2014 by Styx

[NorthNSW]

The yearly rainfall chart here last year. The year could be basically divided right in half. The first six months (Jan-Jun) were predominately wet, and the last six months (Jul-Dec) were generally dry. Despite a dry second-half of the year, it was still a wet year overall though.

Raindays (0.2mm or more) were below average, with 122 raindays compared to the yearly average of 137.7 raindays. However, the number of 'wet' days (25mm or more) was above normal, and a factor in recording above average rain for the year:

 

Rainfall over the past 15 years (versus long-term average/median):

 

Overdue for a dry year here. I wonder if 2014 could see a return of drier weather? Given there's been six years in a row of (more-or-less) average or better rainfall, you'd expect that a dry year could happen.

[Styx]

 

WA swelters with forecasts for 50C day

January 08, 2014 6:31PM

 

THE town of Onslow in Western Australia's Pilbara has roasted through one of its hottest days on record, with temperatures soaring to an almost unbearable 48.7C.

And forecasters are warning of an even hotter day to come on Thursday, with the national heat record of 50.7C likely to come under threat.

 

The weather station at Onslow Airport, nearly 1400 kilometres north of Perth, was in danger of frying as it recorded temperatures of more than 40C at 9am local time on Wednesday.

It peaked at 48.7C at 2.12pm (WST).

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts the Pilbara region around Emu Creek will potentially reach more than 50C on Thursday afternoon.

Temperature higher than 50C has been documented three times in Australia since records began over a century ago.

Mardie, also in the Pilbara, was the most recent to reach the level, in 1998, failing to beat the record set in the South Australian outback town of Oodnadatta on January 2, 1960, which reached 50.7C.

 

Soaring temperatures in the west follow an unprecedented new-year heatwave in which 34 locations - mostly in Queensland and NSW and with at least 40 years of data - recording their hottest-ever days between December 30 and January 4.

Queensland recorded its hottest day on January 2, with a statewide average maximum of 41.82C.

 

Narrabri in NSW broke the record high temperature by 3.6 degrees - the largest margin by which a long-term record has been topped.

 

And cities and towns including Tamworth, Gunnedah, Moree, Glen Innes and Inverell in NSW, and Toowoomba, Roma, Blackall, St George and Gympie in Queensland all experienced their hottest-ever days.

 

The heat in the Pilbara is caused by the super-heated air mass that hit the east coast earlier in the month, and which has circled the continent since forming over the Nullarbor in late December.

 

The bureau's Annual Climate Statement from 2013 confirmed last year was Australia's hottest on record.

 

That's the full story.

http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/wa-swelters-with-forecasts-for-50c-day/story-e6frfku9-1226797592454

Edited January 8, 2014 by Styx

[Styx]

Perth forecast maximum of 44C on Saturday. That will be the third highest January temperature since records began in 1876 if achieved. Highest for this month is 45.8C in 1991. Average 30C.

 

( Intro then body of the story starts at 2:00 with Met interview ).

 

Another *exceptional* heatwave then looks set to unfold for South Australia as the heat drags east next week, with successive days of 40C+ for Adelaide.