Summer time south of the equator

[Tyrone]

Hope they bloom for you soon...here is one of mine...I'm wondering how many 'beaks' it will get before it stops. (sorry for OT Hijack of weather thread!)

Daryl

Hey... this is not just the 'weather' thread... This is also where we have been catching up :). BTW, very nice beaks... They do get long.. the longer they are in the ground, the longer the 'beaks' get, providing they are well fed and watered. I love my heliconias... hopefully more will flower this year.

Regards, Ari

Yeah, this thread seems to have "eaten up" a lot of the Aussies. We don't see as many appearances in other threads...

Well Bill, I just put up two new threads in the main section and was almost totally ignored by the majority of US posters. I know it's natural to communicate with those of your own kin and those you actually know in person, but maybe that's why us Aussies tend to stick together a bit and have withdrawn a bit from the main forum. It takes time and effort to put up pictures etc, and if noone cares why bother? Life's too fast.

Best regards

Tyrone

[amazondk]

Don, I didn't know an equatorial climate would get 3 or 4 months of 38-40C. That's real hot. So my E precatoria can take very high temps with humidity. That is good to know.

Best regards

Tyrone

Tyrone,

The heat should be no problem as long as you don´t let them dry out. Here in the city it is a little hotter than out in the country. I would say normally 2 degrees C or so. The temperature here is all a matter of rain and clouds. In the dry season there is little of either. This past year was drier than most. But, since the rains kicked in it has been pretty much back to normal if not a little wetter than the average.

dk

[BS Man about Palms]

Hope they bloom for you soon...here is one of mine...I'm wondering how many 'beaks' it will get before it stops. (sorry for OT Hijack of weather thread!)

Daryl

Hey... this is not just the 'weather' thread... This is also where we have been catching up :). BTW, very nice beaks... They do get long.. the longer they are in the ground, the longer the 'beaks' get, providing they are well fed and watered. I love my heliconias... hopefully more will flower this year.

Regards, Ari

Yeah, this thread seems to have "eaten up" a lot of the Aussies. We don't see as many appearances in other threads...

Well Bill, I just put up two new threads in the main section and was almost totally ignored by the majority of US posters. I know it's natural to communicate with those of your own kin and those you actually know in person, but maybe that's why us Aussies tend to stick together a bit and have withdrawn a bit from the main forum. It takes time and effort to put up pictures etc, and if noone cares why bother? Life's too fast.

Best regards

Tyrone

I've seen the same thing Tyrone. Its sometimes a "time of day" thing. It may be an off time on the other side of the world. If its a thread I have no knowledge I will tend to not post. If its a pics thing, if I see it I try to give some feedback just for the reason you stated. Oh well, I like seeing whats going on all over!

[ariscott]

I know you do, BS... but unfortunately... not everyone.

BTW.... boring boring boring... I think ex-Olga really did it to us.. We might have an early dry, if this persists!!

[Tyrone]

Hope they bloom for you soon...here is one of mine...I'm wondering how many 'beaks' it will get before it stops. (sorry for OT Hijack of weather thread!)

Daryl

Hey... this is not just the 'weather' thread... This is also where we have been catching up :). BTW, very nice beaks... They do get long.. the longer they are in the ground, the longer the 'beaks' get, providing they are well fed and watered. I love my heliconias... hopefully more will flower this year.

Regards, Ari

Yeah, this thread seems to have "eaten up" a lot of the Aussies. We don't see as many appearances in other threads...

Well Bill, I just put up two new threads in the main section and was almost totally ignored by the majority of US posters. I know it's natural to communicate with those of your own kin and those you actually know in person, but maybe that's why us Aussies tend to stick together a bit and have withdrawn a bit from the main forum. It takes time and effort to put up pictures etc, and if noone cares why bother? Life's too fast.

Best regards

Tyrone

I've seen the same thing Tyrone. Its sometimes a "time of day" thing. It may be an off time on the other side of the world. If its a thread I have no knowledge I will tend to not post. If its a pics thing, if I see it I try to give some feedback just for the reason you stated. Oh well, I like seeing whats going on all over!

Bill I looked back at my comments I posted yesterday, and I think I was a bit over critical. You're right about the time of day thing. I'll keep posting pictures and things regardless. It may benefit and entertain silent participants even if you get no response.

The weather is getting a tad boring here too. 19-30C today, and much the same all week. No rain.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Daryl]

Personally, Bill, I just think Palmtalk has slowed down recently, apart from all of the tales of woe from the Eastern US. In Oz, most of us our out and enjoying summer! Next outing we will have more photos and another semi-ratpack story...

I only post if I have something interesting to contribute, and occasionally to comment on other's posts, but do not reply to every post on palmtalk . And I'm sure people don't want to keep seeing photos of my garden/palms over and over.

Weather here is hot lately...right now at 12:30 it is 31C and dewpoint of 25C...very steamy!

Daryl

[BS Man about Palms]

Daryl, I'm ALWAYS happy to look at pics of your garden. I keep boring folks with mine just so theres something to look at here.

[Tyrone]

From tomorrow on we're hitting a hot spell. I hope we get some rain on the weekend. The temperature is spot on then.

Forecast for Tuesday

Mostly sunny. Moderate S/SE winds shifting moderate to fresh S/SW in the

afternoon.

Precis: Mostly sunny.

City: Max 31

Mandurah: Max 28

UV Alert: 8:40 am to 4:20 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 11 [Extreme]

Fire Danger: Coastal Plain: HIGH

Hills: HIGH

Wednesday Hot, mostly sunny. Min 18 Max 36

Thursday Hot, mostly sunny. Min 20 Max 38

Friday Cloud developing. Min 21 Max 36

Saturday Chance of a shower. Min 18 Max 35

Sunday Chance of a shower. Min 19 Max 32

Monday Sunny. Min 17 Max 36

Best regards

Tyrone

[peachy]

After long hot dry spell, with dessicating winds, we finally had 2 very hot steamy nights (weather wise you dreadful lot) and many hours of heavy drenching rain last night. A bit too late for some things but those who survived are going to get a much needed boost now. I lost my big 13 year old abutilon in this last hot dry spell, a plant I had previously considered indestructable. Most of the hydrangeas and many of my azaleas are now blooming in heaven too. Most of the palms have just been sitting stagnant apart from the Licuala grandis and my Livistona rotundifolia. They have been growing rapidly since spring and out performed any other palm in the place. Weeds of course are going to enjoy this weather too....I am already battling infestations of morning glory (its everywhere) tipuana tipu and chinese elm. A couple of the latter two are too big for me to get rid of so once again I have to pay a small fortune to get the experts in. More rain has been forecast so I hope they got it right.

Peachy

[Daryl]

Rain, rain , rain here. After last weeks drenching, we have been getting lots of little night showers, and steamy days. Last night was another 24mm and today we got another 42mm..and there's another thunderstorm headed our way now.

Brisbane copped it at lunchtime today when they got over 90mm in 2 hours!

Daryl

[ariscott]

Yeah... that was supposed to be ours...

[Daryl]

We got another 15mm last night. Ground is REALLY squelchy now...it would be nice to have a week of hot sunny weather now!

Daryl

[amazondk]

we finally had 2 very hot steamy nights (weather wise you dreadful lot)

Peachy

Nothing like hot steamy nights.

dk

[Tyrone]

SE QLD has been drenched lately. That's really good news to hear. It's great for peoples tropical gardens and the native ecology.

Dry as a chip over here, but relatively humid. For the last couple of weeks moisture has been building in the atmosphere, but not enough to rain here. Places inland and on the south coast have been hammered by thunderstorms. The extreme west coast misses all the action.

34C here today after a min of 21C. The rain previously forecast for the weekend has been removed from the forecast. It will stay hot/dry but most likely humid this weekend. I think what we are getting is the beginnings of a tropical buildup season, but we are not far enough north for it to proceed any further to actual afternoon thunderstorms. Very soon, we'll be tilting away from the sun enough, for the peak of the warm weather to start to withdraw. Oh well. Have to create my own rain then. Palms don't care.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Cycadcenter]

Here is the general forecast for Qld today off the BOM site

"Masses of cloud over QLD as huge amounts of moisture feed a trough are generating heavy rain and storms leading to flash flooding. Some storms are bringing intense downpours, the most intense in several years in central parts. Mostly clear southwest of about Mt Isa and Roma."

Bruce

[Walter John]

Way to soggy at home to get the ride-on out of the shed.

[Tyrone]

Hot and dry. Got to 36C today. This is the driest summer on record for Perth and the records go back to the late 1800's. No official rain since Nov 20 2009. We're approaching 3 months now. It looks like the west coast has caught the El Nino that normally is in the east coast. The east coast is drowning in water. Talk about contrasts.

Best regards

Tyrone

[PalmsZA]

Hi all

Hope all is well....

We had two weeks of hell here...hot, sticky, not even a breeze.... Tuesday got 33mm in half an hour and that caused the river at the back to go wild... washed a travellers out. Suprisingly all other plants survived the 2 hours of hectic water flow.

[ariscott]

Hhmm... given up on the wet season... They are still talking about monsoon next week... Yeah, heard that before... last week and the week before and the week before that. February is out!!

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

Hey Dennis, great to hear from you. Lucky you getting rain and humidity. We're just getting humidity.

Dewpoints have been from 16-20C and temps up to 36C lately. Lastnight once the sun went down the the humidity was in the range of 70-96% all night. If iI can't get rain I'll take humidity. The min was 20C and today we're going for a humid 30,31C. Perfect actually. It's going to be sticky. Everything is growing flatout and I need to go and buy some fertiliser today to keep up with the demand. Going to repot the Tahina's out of 5L's and into bigger tubs too.

Here's the forecast.

Forecast for Friday

Cloudy periods. Light to moderate SW'ly winds.

Precis: Cloudy periods.

City: Max 30

Mandurah: Max 28

UV Alert: 8:50 am to 4:10 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 10 [Very High]

Fire Danger: Coastal Plain: HIGH

Hills: HIGH

Saturday Partly cloudy. Min 20 Max 31

Sunday Partly cloudy. Min 19 Max 32

Monday Mostly sunny. Min 19 Max 36

Tuesday Mostly sunny. Min 22 Max 37

Wednesday Partly cloudy. Min 24 Max 39

Thursday Cloudy periods. Min 22 Max 32

Best regards

Tyrone

[aussiearoids]

Much drier than average start of the year for me in Tully . Local paper 'The Tully Times' just published some staTS.

total rainfall of 185.8 mm for the week , and last Thursdays fall of 92.5 was the highest .

Year to date total 796.1mm from 36 days of rainfall is 309.4 mm below the long term mean of 1105.5mm.

[Tyrone]

Michael, it sounds like the wet tropics are most effected by a strong El Nino signature. You guys have the most to lose from an El Nino period, because you get so much in a normal wet season. Unlike here. Who really cares if you miss out on 20mm in 3 months. If it fell in one day, it would have evaporated the moment the sun came out again anyway.

Still El Nino's are a natural oscillation and the rainforests can still cope on nearly 800mm of rain in 6 weeks. That's pretty much our yearly rainfall in the SW of Oz!!

Best regards

Tyrone

[ariscott]

I don't think was really El Nino, Tyrone... I think ex-Olga stuffed it for all of us here up north, because the wet season has started great for us!! If Michael has less than average rainfall... I know that we won't have a chance here in Darwin.

[Tyrone]

Are you running your reticulation Ari? At least you've got the right temps (When does Darwin not have the right temps?) You'll have to create your own rain for now.

Best regards

Tyrone

[ariscott]

It rained today... woohoo... we got almost 50mm, the first substantial rain the last few weeks. There was no steer whatsoever, so unless it was developed on top of your place, you won't get any. But today was my day... and I am happy.

Yes, Tyrone... we have our reticulation set up for 2 years now.. and Scott is now installing controller & solenoids ready for the dry season so hopefully everything will be automated very soon. I don't mind irrigating, but rain is definitely better on the garden.

[Tyrone]

Are you looking at getting a bore eventually Ari? I'd be lost without mine. You could irrigate all year round then without any problems.

Best regards

Tyrone

[amazondk]

Michael, it sounds like the wet tropics are most effected by a strong El Nino signature. You guys have the most to lose from an El Nino period, because you get so much in a normal wet season. Unlike here. Who really cares if you miss out on 20mm in 3 months. If it fell in one day, it would have evaporated the moment the sun came out again anyway.

Still El Nino's are a natural oscillation and the rainforests can still cope on nearly 800mm of rain in 6 weeks. That's pretty much our yearly rainfall in the SW of Oz!!

Best regards

Tyrone

Tyrone,

Michael does get an awful lot of rain. In our part of the rainforest the annual average is 2,500 mms. January was pretty much on target for the yearly rainfall. Even if it was predicated to be less than average due to the El Niño this year. Below is a picture of what happpened. It is in Portuguese, but you should be able to understand it as the information is mostly numbers.

[ariscott]

Are you looking at getting a bore eventually Ari? I'd be lost without mine. You could irrigate all year round then without any problems.

Best regards

Tyrone

I do have a bore :). There is no way I am irrigating my 5 acres on town water. I can't afford to, more likely. Yes, I can irrigate all year, although there is no substitute for rain.. IMO.

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

Are you looking at getting a bore eventually Ari? I'd be lost without mine. You could irrigate all year round then without any problems.

Best regards

Tyrone

I do have a bore :). There is no way I am irrigating my 5 acres on town water. I can't afford to, more likely. Yes, I can irrigate all year, although there is no substitute for rain.. IMO.

Regards, Ari

True about rain being better. At least you are not left high and dry.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

Michael, it sounds like the wet tropics are most effected by a strong El Nino signature. You guys have the most to lose from an El Nino period, because you get so much in a normal wet season. Unlike here. Who really cares if you miss out on 20mm in 3 months. If it fell in one day, it would have evaporated the moment the sun came out again anyway.

Still El Nino's are a natural oscillation and the rainforests can still cope on nearly 800mm of rain in 6 weeks. That's pretty much our yearly rainfall in the SW of Oz!!

Best regards

Tyrone

Tyrone,

Michael does get an awful lot of rain. In our part of the rainforest the annual average is 2,500 mms. January was pretty much on target for the yearly rainfall. Even if it was predicated to be less than average due to the El Niño this year. Below is a picture of what happpened. It is in Portuguese, but you should be able to understand it as the information is mostly numbers.

Don, interesting info. I would have thought that you got more rain than that. The Australian wet tropics is much wetter by comparison. Some of the mountains up there have reportedly had 10000mm in a year. Now that's a lot of water.

Best regards

Tyrone

[amazondk]

Tyrone,

Below are the average annual climate data for Manaus. As you can note the wettest month is coming now, March. This pattern is pretty much similar over the Amazon basin. Except the eastern part has more evenly spread rainfall than we do. And to the north of the equator the seasons are opposite. 10,000 mm is way too much rain as far as I am concerned. The nice thing about our climate is by the time you are sick of the rain the sun comes. And, by the time your are sick of so much sun the rain comes.

dk

[ariscott]

Tyrone,

Just like everywhere else, the rainfall varies in the equatorial tropics. Jakarta for example, where I grow up, only receive 1500-2000mm a year. Whereas Bogor, which is only 60 km away has 3500-4000 a year, that is probably why Kebon Raya Bogor is doing so well there with minimal care.

Don't compare all the wet tropics with Tully either... because even Cairns only has 2000mm. That is why they have the golden gumboots...lol. The beauty about the wet tropics though, they still get rain in the dry season, the same with Don and most equatorial tropics. Whereas we who are in monsoonal tropics have to put up with the dry season that is LONG and BORING with NO rain!! Thank goodness for bore water :). Now that the controller is in, it will be even better... I don't have to keep going out there to turn the taps on and off...lol.

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

Tyrone,

Below are the average annual climate data for Manaus. As you can note the wettest month is coming now, March. This pattern is pretty much similar over the Amazon basin. Except the eastern part has more evenly spread rainfall than we do. And to the north of the equator the seasons are opposite. 10,000 mm is way too much rain as far as I am concerned. The nice thing about our climate is by the time you are sick of the rain the sun comes. And, by the time your are sick of so much sun the rain comes.

dk

Don, what a beautiful climate you've got there.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

Tyrone,

Just like everywhere else, the rainfall varies in the equatorial tropics. Jakarta for example, where I grow up, only receive 1500-2000mm a year. Whereas Bogor, which is only 60 km away has 3500-4000 a year, that is probably why Kebon Raya Bogor is doing so well there with minimal care.

Don't compare all the wet tropics with Tully either... because even Cairns only has 2000mm. That is why they have the golden gumboots...lol. The beauty about the wet tropics though, they still get rain in the dry season, the same with Don and most equatorial tropics. Whereas we who are in monsoonal tropics have to put up with the dry season that is LONG and BORING with NO rain!! Thank goodness for bore water :). Now that the controller is in, it will be even better... I don't have to keep going out there to turn the taps on and off...lol.

Regards, Ari

Interesting Ari. Now that you mention it, even here the rainfall varies heaps. Everyone goes on how it's so dry in WA but the hills behind me get over a 1000mm of rain a year, and on the south coast they can get into the 1100-1200mm rainfall zone. Trouble is it's all in winter/ spring.

Jakarta must sit in a rain shadow or something, and Bogor must be bounded by mountains at a guess for rainfall to vary like that. North Qld is the same. Get behind the mountains and it's like WA again. It even feels the same. Go down to the coast and it's all wet and green. I've gotta get back to the wet tropics. My favourite place to be.

Best regards

Tyrone

[ariscott]

You are right... Bogor is bounded by the mountain... on a bit of elevation from sea level. So, it is relatively cooler than Jakarta, but not quite highlands.. Very nice place actually. I wouldn't mind having a house there myself...

Not sure about Jakarta being in the rain shadow though. I wasn't really interested in the weather back then . If you want another extreme... Bandung which is about 180km south of Jakarta, has average annual rainfall ranges from 1,000 milimetres in the middle and the southeast region to 3,500 milimetres in the north of the city. Anything is possible in the tropics...

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

Looks like some decent rain is coming back to the top end in a few days Ari.

Best regards

Tyrone

[ariscott]

I hope so, Tyrone... that is what they have been saying for the past 3 weeks... It is too much of hit and miss... I really miss those nice organised lines we should get during the build up and monsoonal break. They are really something!!! We haven't got many this year... weird year this one!! Everything from inland always died at Adelaide River...

[Daryl]

Still raining here. Torrential showers all morning..so much for doing the mowing and brushcutting! The grass will be a metre tall by next weekend with all this rain.

Daryl

[Tyrone]

Here's the forecast for the next few days.

It's going to be a stinker of a week.

Precis: Sunny.

City: Min 17 Max 33

Mandurah: Min 19 Max 31

UV Alert: 8:50 am to 4:10 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 10 [Very High]

Fire Danger: Coastal Plain: HIGH

Hills: HIGH

Tuesday Sunny. Min 21 Max 36

Wednesday Storm risk. Min 24 Max 38

Thursday Storm risk. Min 24 Max 39

Friday Sunny. Min 24 Max 37

Saturday Sunny. Min 24 Max 38

Sunday Very hot. Sunny. Min 24 Max 41

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

Now this forecast is just getting stupid. It's HOT. One 15 day internet forecast doesn't have us dropping below 31C for the entire forecast period ie until Mar 9.

Forecast for Tuesday

Some high cloud. Moderate E'ly winds shifting moderate to fresh S/SW'ly in the

afternoon.

Precis: Some high cloud.

City: Max 36

Mandurah: Max 33

UV Alert: 8:40 am to 4:20 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 13 [Extreme]

Fire Danger: Coastal Plain: VERY HIGH

Hills: VERY HIGH

Forecast for Wednesday

Partly cloudy. Moderate to fresh E'ly winds, easing during the morning. Winds

shifting moderate S/SW during the afternoon.

Precis: Partly cloudy. Windy morning.

City: Min 22 Max 38

Mandurah: Min 19 Max 33

Thursday Possible afternoon thunderstorm. Min 24 Max 42

Friday Partly cloudy. Min 25 Max 41

Saturday Mostly sunny. Min 23 Max 39

Sunday Sunny. Windy morning. Min 23 Max 37

Monday Sunny. Min 21 Max 36

Best regards

Tyrone