Autumn(Fall) in the south, Spring in the north

[amazondk]

Tyrone,

I love living in the tropics. At least in one respect life is less complicated. You don´t have to deal with cold.

dk

[Tyrone]

Only 6c outside as I write this. Daytime max today was only 12c. Think you Darwin folk would keel over in those temps!

They're cold daytime temps. I totally respect Nikau palms for putting up with that.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Daryl]

Tyrone, why did you have to mention the 'W' word??? Going for a minimum of 10C tonight...brrrr...hopefully it will be spring before we know it!

Daryl

[tropicbreeze]

When I left for work this morning at 4:00 am it was 22.2C (72F) and humidity was 79%. That's a big change from the weather we'd been getting, a sudden jump into winter on the day before winter. I won't be home for a fortnight now to be able to check on what the later figures were. But Noonamah AWS (on the net) showed a low of 20.6C (69.1F) and peak (night time) humidity of 79%. Yesterdays maximum at my place was 31.6C (88.9F) with the humidity bottoming out at 66%. Interestingly enough it got up to 93% mid afternoon soon after 1.5 mm of rain falling.

What pushed this mass of cold air through to here was the combination of the low pressure on the east coast and the high pressure to its west funnelling the air towards us. But there's a weak trough moving into the north with some dense cloud masses off the Kimberley coast. Will be interesting to see if this brings a change back to humid weather again.

Longer range, they're saying the dry season will be short this year, that the build-up will come early. Let's hope the build up brings some decent rain with it. Meantime we're right into bright clear skies and crisp mornings.

[ariscott]

Zig, I can always update you... although I think my place is actually colder than yours. It is now 19.5 deg at 6.44 am. Rain??? No wonder the humidity jumped from 50% to 77% in the afternoon.

BTW, you are going to miss the garden spectacular this weekend...

Regards, Ari

Edited May 31, 2010 by ariscott

[Tyrone]

Zig, I can always update you... although I think my place is actually colder than yours. It is now 19.5 deg at 6.44 am. Rain??? No wonder the humidity jumped from 50% to 77% in the afternoon.

BTW, you are going to miss the garden spectacular this weekend...

Regards, Ari

Better get the frost blankets out then Ari. You know if the temp only dropped another 19.5C (I can actually count that far) it would be 0C and then you'd be in trouble.

I hope the wet season starts early for you guys this year. Maybe they are expecting La Nina conditions to generate that, but it may mean a return to spring early for the Great Southern Land.

Here, wintery conditions were a little early. I've noticed over the years that if we get a late winter, we get a late spring and vice versa. I'm hoping that spring here starts in mid to late August. Generally by then we're over the worst of it and the days are noticably longer.

I'm going back to my cave again. It's cold out here.

Best regards

Tyrone

[amazondk]

Longer range, they're saying the dry season will be short this year, that the build-up will come early. Let's hope the build up brings some decent rain with it. Meantime we're right into bright clear skies and crisp mornings.

Zig,

You sure go to work early. Regarding the monsoon season there. Is this the same one as India? I was reading that the crops were bad in India because the last monsoon season was weak and it was dry. And, that this slowed India´s economic growth. If the next one is the same it will further inhibit growth. But even in spite of this India will be over 10 percent economic growth.

dk

[Mike in Nelson]

Longer range, they're saying the dry season will be short this year, that the build-up will come early. Let's hope the build up brings some decent rain with it. Meantime we're right into bright clear skies and crisp mornings.

What's your idea of a "crisp morning"?

[ariscott]

15-19 deg, Mike... he is just down the road from me... Well, last year... the minimum at my place was 8 deg.

Regards, Ari

[tropicbreeze]

Ari, my weather station has a data logger so I get to see the data when I get home. Meantime I just rely on the Noonamah AWS.

DK, I sort of go to work once a fortnight and prefer to go in the morning rather than the day before. It's around a 2.5 hour drive. Then I live at work for a fortnight before returning home. My work fortnight starts off with one long day. The monsoon arrives here when we get the north westerly winds, in the monsoon trough from December to April. India's in the northern hemisphere and would have it opposite to us. India and China are the economic power houses of the world today. And I understand Brazil is doing very well also.

Mike, I pretty well agree with Ari, "crispy" is anything below 20C.

Today is the first day of winter, even though physically it started yesterday here.

Noonamah AWS recorded a minimum of 19.6C (67.3F) this morning, after a maximum yesterday afternoon of 31.1C (88F).

Relative humidity peaked at 72% overnight after bottoming out at 42% yesterday afternoon. It's that lowering humidity that I dislike most.

[happ]

Here is the monthly data for May and demonstrates how cool it has been for so late in spring. It was a bit toasty over this past weekend but the models are showing significant heating later this week [should record my first 90F\ 32.2C].

May 2010 Data

Average Max: 75.0F\ 23.8C - Norm: 78F

Average Min: 55.7F\ 13.1C - Norm: 57F

Average Mean: 65.3F\ 18.5C - Norm: 68F

Highest Max: 85F\ 29.4C

Lowest Max: 62F\ 16.6C

Highest Min: 59F\ 15C

Lowest Min: 50F\ 10C

Heating degree days: 43

Cooling degree days: 54

Maximums

80's: 6

70’s: 21

60’s: 4

Minimums

60's:

50’s: 31

40’s:

Rainfall: .03

Rain days: 1

Rainyear: 22.13 [jul-jun]

[Tyrone]

Happ that has been cool for you.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Mike in Nelson]

15-19 deg, Mike... he is just down the road from me... Well, last year... the minimum at my place was 8 deg.

Regards, Ari

8 deg? Wow, I'm suprised it can get that cold where you live. Are you a way inland?

[ariscott]

No... only 35km from the coast... enough to make a difference. Darwin minimum is probably only 15deg.

Regards, Ari

[ariscott]

Wow..... it is 16.5 deg this morning!!! Freezing!!!!!! The kids are wearing jumpers this morning going to school...

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

Wow..... it is 16.5 deg this morning!!! Freezing!!!!!! The kids are wearing jumpers this morning going to school...

Regards, Ari

You should have got the frost cloth out lastnight Ari.

[Tyrone]

Another beautiful sunny 22C day today. Really pleasant. What's wrong with the weather????????? It should be cold and miserable. Me no compline.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Mike in Nelson]

Wow..... it is 16.5 deg this morning!!! Freezing!!!!!! The kids are wearing jumpers this morning going to school...

Regards, Ari

No, no. Don't even let them outside! Survival time is only a matter of minutes in those conditions. LOL!

[Mike in Nelson]

Another beautiful sunny 22C day today. Really pleasant. What's wrong with the weather????????? It should be cold and miserable. Me no compline.

Best regards

Tyrone

It always worries me when temps are unseasonally high. Makes me wonder what is in store.....

[Tyrone]

Another beautiful sunny 22C day today. Really pleasant. What's wrong with the weather????????? It should be cold and miserable. Me no compline.

Best regards

Tyrone

It always worries me when temps are unseasonally high. Makes me wonder what is in store.....

Yeeeesssssssss.

[ariscott]

Hey... I am sitting here... the temperature is declining as we speak. At the moment, it is 18.8deg at 9.37 pm. I wonder whether we are going to break the 15 barrier this morning!! I am wearing long pants, and the kids are wearing long pyjamas... Your blood does get thinner in this weather..

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

Ari, you're only 5 C warmer than Perth at the same time. It's not really a cold night here though. Cloud has finally moved in from the ocean. Perth and Darwin have similar dewpoints at the moment around 11.7C.

Tyrone

[amazondk]

Today is a holiday here, Corpus Cristi Day, so I had no work. I did have to go over to my office to get something. And, when I went out around 0830 the sky to the east was real black. And, then it opened up and dumped a real lot of water. It only lasted about 30 minutes. But, the rain came down hard.

dk

[ariscott]

14.5 deg this morning!! Yes, it has break the 15 barrier... I wonder whether we will get any below ten this year. Probably, the way we are going!!

Tyrone, thank goodness for warm days.... I can't handle it if the days are like this!!

Don, so jealous!! I would love rain like that... Now we have to wait till October!!

Regards, Ari

Edited June 3, 2010 by ariscott

[Tyrone]

Well we just dropped below 10C as a min but we've got higher dewpoints than Darwin at present and the humidity is around 95%. We're going for a top of 21C. The air in Darwin must feel really dry compared to normal. Darwin in the next couple of days is going for mins of 17C and days of 28C. That looks mighty cool for Darwin. I'm not used to seeing Darwin in the 20's in the day. The only major centre in all of Oz expecting anything in the 30's is Broome with 30C. Maybe Townsville will, but weatherzone didn't show it up on a national map. Everyone else is maxing in the teens or twenties.

Also a large high will move into the Bight in the next few days, centred way south. This is more of a summer pattern minus the northern monsoon troughs. It will be windy and dry in the north, but it will be dry down here on the west coast too. Sunny, warm and dry in the day, cool and clear at night. If it doesn't rain soon, I think the wheat farmers are going to go insane. They don't know when to seed. The SW of Oz is also on their total winter sprinkler ban too, which with no rain at all poses a big problem.

Best regards

Tyrone

[amazondk]

It is the winter season in Campos do Jordão in the Mantiquera Mountains about 100 kms from São Paulo and at about 2,000 meters above sea level. Campos do Jordão has building with an theme from the Alps and a favorite place for Brazilian to go to enjoy the cold. There is a winter festival which has top entertainment and over 2 million visitors during the season. Since Brazil is mostly warm people pay to go enjoy the cold. I used to frequent the place a lot. It is a beautiful region. One of the specialities is trout. Not to mention the wine.

This is the link to the festival, it is in Portuguese, but gives a good look at the festival.

Winter Festival Campos do Jordão

Campos Do Jordao, Brazil

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Current Conditions

9° 8:57 PM PARTLY CLOUDY

More Information

RealFeel® 9°

Winds E 7 kph

Relative Humidity 100%

Dew Point 9°

Barometric Pressure 102

Pressure Tendency Unavailable

Visibility 8

Sunrise 6/3/2010 7:36:05 AM

Sunset 6/3/2010 6:24:44 PM

Three-Day Forecast

Thursday Clouds yielding to sun

High Temperature: 14

Low Temperature: 7

Friday Clouds and limited sun

High Temperature: 15

Low Temperature: 11

Saturday Rain

High Temperature: 14

Low Temperature: 6

[tropicbreeze]

I've long suspected that freezing point is much higher in the tropics, it's certainly been feeling that way these past few mornings. Noonamah AWS recorded a low of 13.7C (56.7F). Humidity peaked at 85% in the middle of the night but then dropped along with the temperature, down to 68%, rising again to 76% by sunrise (lowest temp). Yesterday's maximum was only 30.4C (86.7F) with the humidity bottoming out at 27%.

Middle Point, to the north east (about 20 kms) had a minimum of 11.4C (52.5F). Whilst on the north east coast of the NT Gove had a minimum of 21.5C (70.7F). Now Ari, aren't you sorry you didn't stay and make your palm garden there?

Still about 18 days to the shortest day, and July can still be cold. And with the humidity so low, even with the temperature getting into the low 30's it still feels cold during the day. The tourists are full on here now. Went to Katherine the other day (also have to today) and it was chockers with huge caravans. And the backpackers all running around scantily dressed while the locals are rugged up. Although some of the backpackers help to warm your blood up.

[amazondk]

Zig,

What is a caravan in Australia?

dk

[ariscott]

Zig,

Cant' stay in Gove even if I wanted to... House prices are crazy and you can't work anywhere that doesn't have anything to do with Alcan!! 2 years was enough... and we are out!! We did have a nice garden though... mostly heliconias and gingers, since I could just dig up the rhizome and took them with us.

Regards, Ari

[PalmsZA]

Got to 10.7 here this morning.....

Time to move to Brazil!

[Mike in Nelson]

Zig,

What is a caravan in Australia?

dk

Mobile accommodation that is towed behind a vehicle.

Edited June 4, 2010 by Mike in Nelson

[Mike in Nelson]

14.5 deg this morning!! Yes, it has break the 15 barrier... I wonder whether we will get any below ten this year. Probably, the way we are going!!

Tyrone, thank goodness for warm days.... I can't handle it if the days are like this!!

Don, so jealous!! I would love rain like that... Now we have to wait till October!!

Regards, Ari

14.5 is our maximum at this time of year. But the Nikaus, Kentias and tree ferns don't seem to mind.

[amazondk]

Zig,

What is a caravan in Australia?

dk

Mobile accommodation that is towed behind a vehicle.

Which in American is a trailer. I figured it was something of the like. I thought it might have been motorized maybe. That is something not seen much around here. Mainly because there are no roads to Manaus. That is except from Venezuela. And, there does not seem to be much trailer traffic from there. I do see the occaisional 4 x 4 excursion of Europeans come through though. You can get through the road to Porto Velho 900 kms south of here in a vehicle like that.

dk

[ariscott]

WHOA!!!! 12.5 this morning!!!! For sure... we will see below 10 minimum temperature this year!!!! My poor garden....

Regards, Ari

[Mike in Nelson]

At least it's the dry season for you. Mix those cool temps with rain then your tropicals would shiver for sure.

[Daryl]

Ari, I see middle point was down to 10C this morning! Brrrr.that is colder than my little gully here! Makes my 12C min seem OK!

The world is turning upside down...

Daryl

[ariscott]

12.3 minimum this morning, Daryl... It will continue to go down at this rate...

Mike,

Yeah... that is why I adjust the watering to be during the day... so it is not wet and cold at night...

Regards, Ari

Edited June 4, 2010 by ariscott

[tropicbreeze]

We might have to start off a freeze damage thread for here soon the way it's going. First on the list are going to be my 'male credentials'.

Noonamah AWS recorded a minimum of 13.2C (55.8F) in the middle of the night. Then it crept up to 15.4C (59.7F) a few hours later, dropping again to 13.9C (57F) just before dawn. Humidity was up and down through the night as well. Peaked at 81%, then fluctuated between 64% and 71%.

Yesterday maximum was 28.4C (83.1F), that's well below average. Humidity bottomed at 23%.

I think the low pressures off the east coast have a lot to do with it. A couple of weeks back I noticed Townsville was getting minimums of 10C and lower. We were still above 20C minimums. Now the lows are circulating the warmer air around in a small circle near the east coast. At the same time, combined with the highs to the south, it's channelling cold southern air in our direction.

Middle Point had a low of 10.4C whilst Gove had a low of 21C. So we're close to the edge of the cold/warm airstreams, but on the wrong side. Looks like this pattern might change by Monday, we can only hope.

DK, the photo below is a typical "Grey Nomad" rig. Retirees (Grey Nomads) usually migrate north for the winter in these. There have been years when there've been broadcasts over the radio asking them to not come into Darwin because all the caravan/camping areas were overcrowded. All the roadside rest areas get crowded as well, no camping fees there. It's quite a sight, but a pain to try and drive through.

[Tyrone]

12.3 minimum this morning, Daryl... It will continue to go down at this rate...

Mike,

Yeah... that is why I adjust the watering to be during the day... so it is not wet and cold at night...

Regards, Ari

Hey Ari, we had a minimum of 13.9C!!!!! Northern clouds came down over us from the Indian Ocean. Quite balmy really for June. I think I'll go and walk around in my shorts and t-shirt. All this heat.

Best regards

Tyrone

[ariscott]

Be careful, Tyrone.... You might still get colder yet... Hopefully Zig is right and on Monday, things will turn around...

Zig,

They are usually using 200 series Landcruiser, not a Dodge... LOL. I really don't like it when they are in town. I know it is good for the NT, yadda yadda yadda... but it is so crowded to go anywhere...

Regards, Ari