Winter in the South / Summer in the North

[happ]

Happ,

I guess that was a relative statement. But, by local standards yesterday was cool. And, that is what the people here were calling it. Now in fact the only time it is really ever cool is inside with the AC on.

dk

Don, suppose you need air conditioning all year. Do you even have a house heater in Manaus?

Sunday was closer to normal values after 5 days of very hot temps.

Maximum: 90F\ 32.2C

[amazondk]

Happ,

One thing you certainly would never use is a heater. This weekend was cold by local standards. The temperature got down to 19 or 20 C at points around town. And during the day it never warmed up much with a nice breeze. So, people who have them broke out jackets and sweaters. The end of the stong cold front that came into southern Brazil from Argentina got this far. This happens every once and a while and is known locally as, Friagem. Regarding AC it does make sleeping a lot better. In the southern part of the state tempertures dropped more maybe even to below 10 C.

dk

[ariscott]

Only people from down south have AC all year up here, Happ. We stop using ours since March and we won't be using it again until Sept, when temperature starts to rise. Even then, I use it from 11 am to 7 pm (basically until sunset) when we are all at home at 26deg. Colder than that, the kids start to wear jumpers indoor, which beats the purpose of having AC. At night, the temperature drops here and very rarely we use AC to sleep.

When the rain starts in Dec, we don't use the AC again as the temperature drops around 10deg with the rain and the breeze usually comes with it... The only time we put AC on is when we have monsoon for 3 weeks straight and the house gets a bit damp... I turn it on then just to dry everything a little.

A lot of people come to Darwin and didn't want to do it rough... but if you can survive the first build up and wet season with minimal AC, you will acclimatise faster and things will be a lot pleasant. Scott is a big guy and he never thought that he could survive the heat... but now, give him below 15deg, he will get rugged up... So, I think it is all relative...

Down south, you have AC for summer... and heater for winter... whereas here, if you want to change your comfort zone, it is possible.

Regards, Ari

[tropicbreeze]

Happ, glad to see you finally got your summer. Our expectations are for climate, but all we get is weather. Guess that's the way it'll always be.

The use of aircons here is varied. Because the majority Australian population live in the (colder) south there's a lot of encouragement needed to get people to move here for work due to the climate. Conditions for moving into government jobs in remote localities here include 70% electricity subsidy to cover the cost of running aircons for 8 months of the year. Some of the mining companies also subsidise electricity costs for their employees because of the high cost of running aircons.

I had a neighbour who ran his aircon 365 days a year. Others I know only run their aircons of a night for only about 350 days a year. And there's those who just use them during the wet season. During the day during the wet season I only use an aircon to dry the bedroom out. I use overhead fans when I sleep, never aircons. There are no heaters, none are sold in shops.

[peachy]

Had the sprinkler going all day then of course tonight it started pouring with rain. Wont complain however as it is much needed. A nice mild 11 tonight, doesnt even feel cold outside. As for A/C, I would be dead without it. In winter it heats and keeps the house warm and in summer it keeps me and the pooches alive. I have toughened up a lot since moving up here all those years ago and now I dont really need the a/c till it gets to 30, but when I was first here it went on at 25. In the car, the a/c runs 9 months of the year, not sure if the heater in it even works. Only been to Darwin once and couldnt get out of there fast enough, although I felt the exact same way first time I visited Brisbane. At the time I thought it was the most horrendous place and vowed never to return...little did I know that years later I would end up here. If God was a woman, we could live in nice places like Melbourne or New York or Berlin and be able to grow Neoveitchias !!

Peachy

[amazondk]

Here in Manaus AC at night makes sleeping a lot more comfortable. You can get by with a fan. But, I prefer to have AC. That way we can sleep with a down comforter and pretend we are in Montana. In the country away from the city the nights are normally a few degrees cooler and it is ok to sleep with no AC, especially when sleeping a hammock. At home in the day time we normally do not use AC. We only turn it on when it gets real hot.

Peachy,

I don´t think you would do to well in Amazonia. Everyone was impressed with the tempertures in the past few days where it did not get much over 25 C during the daying. And, it dropped down to a low as I mentioned above of around 20 C.

dk

[Tyrone]

Here, I don't use the air con until mid to high thirties. It's a drier heat than the tropics anyway. If it's sitting around 28-30C when it's time to go to bed around 10pm for instance it will go on, but if it drops back to around 22C outside it will go off and the back door will be opened with the security screen locked. Boy I miss summer talking like this. I actually enjoy opening the doors and windows on warm summer nights to hear the crickets and frogs out in my rainforest. Nothing better.

Best regards

Tyrone

[amazondk]

Tyrone,

You know speaaking of night noises you made me remember that it has been ages since I have been camping out in the forest. I used to go camping with my sons who live in Florida when they came down for summer vacation. We would go fishing for several days on a very large lake made by a hydro electric facility north of here about 160 kms. The margins of the lake are wilderness and have all the wildlife common to the area, including jaguars. I love to sleep ou in a hammock in the middle of nowhere. It is cool at night, there are next to no bugs and there are plenty of night noises. I always hope that one won´t be a jaguar coming through camp. So far it has not happened. I really need to do that again. We would take a small aluminum boat with a 15 hp outboard motor some 4 to 8 hours from nowhere and make camp in clearings by the shore. This one has a nice Oenocarpus bacaba behind the camp. No AC here.

Camp at Balbina Lake, July 2004.

[Tyrone]

Tyrone,

You know speaaking of night noises you made me remember that it has been ages since I have been camping out in the forest. I used to go camping with my sons who live in Florida when they came down for summer vacation. We would go fishing for several days on a very large lake made by a hydro electric facility north of here about 160 kms. The margins of the lake are wilderness and have all the wildlife common to the area, including jaguars. I love to sleep ou in a hammock in the middle of nowhere. It is cool at night, there are next to no bugs and there are plenty of night noises. I always hope that one won´t be a jaguar coming through camp. So far it has not happened. I really need to do that again. We would take a small aluminum boat with a 15 hp outboard motor some 4 to 8 hours from nowhere and make camp in clearings by the shore. This one has a nice Oenocarpus bacaba behind the camp. No AC here.

Camp at Balbina Lake, July 2004.

How cool is that Don. Lots of fun.

The noisiest place at night I've ever been too is the Daintree Rainforest. We stayed at this B&B which ran on solar power and used water that came off the mountain (Mt Misery??? ). Anyway this place had a toilet and shower on the back verandah open to the world, except it was very well protected by the steep slope of the mountain and tonnes of Calamus that went right to the hand rail and stopped anyone actually walking past while you were in the shower. The frogs and wild life came right up to you, so you were looking at Tree frogs while you were in the shower. Anyway there were tonnes of wildlife including Cassowaries and they all had parties at night. The Bush turkey's would let out screams in the distance, then one laying silently near you, would reply at the top of its voice startling you. Then you'd here things scurrying around in the leaf litter, then something would land with a thud on your roof, and ran off at full throttle banging and crashing into things. Then the Black Palms would drop a seed or two onto the tin roof and it would sound like a gun going off. You'd here squeaks and yells and screams from all this wildlife, not to mention the insects. Things were chasing other things or just scratching around in the leaf litter. It was so awesome. I loved every minute of it. The rainforest is not a quiet place at night. It's noisy. There were also these monitor lizards which roamed the area. We had an old chicken carcass which we threw into the garden for the wildlife and within minutes a monitor had it. It's a very special place with all the partying nocturnal animals. Just like the Lemurs in the movie Madagascar. Awesome.

Best regards

Tyrone

[peachy]

The temperature dropped down to 9 last night and the rain lasted till just before sunup. A coolishly comfortable 22 today with a forecast minimum of 7 tonight. The palms should be enjoying this. Tyrone you dont have to live in the rainforest to hear the sounds of nature. All year I get the flying foxes fighting and screaming outside the windows, the boobook owls going off and the seeds from the queen palms that the bats spit out hitting the tin roof. In summer the graceful tree frogs kick up a real racket, the green tree frogs have a deep croak on wet nights and hang off the window panes, alongside the geckos, who also make a lot of noise. The prize has to go to the marsh frogs for noise, they start popping in spring and go till autumn, all night everynight. Kookaburras often get the giggles at 3 am when most birds are asleep. Ibis make a racket too when they land on the roof and slide down the sides trying to grip with their claws. Koalas live in the gully at the other end of the street and when they get into fisticuffs the whole street knows about it. The flocks of galahs and corellas are in the park now so this means the big trees next door will soon be full of screaming babies. A horrible sound. Magpies should be back soon, making their high pitched gurgling noise and holding me to ransome for food or be swooped and pecked when I go outside. They are pretty good since I started feeding them but some of the others in the park can be quite dangerous. Flocks of lorikeets land on the palms when they flower and its like hearing a mouse plague. City living isnt all sirens and cement.

Peachy

[Mike in Nelson]

A good pair of ear muffs is what needed for you Peachy. One of my Hyphorbe indica seedlings has rotted. Bum.

[Exotic Life]

Pictures of this showed yesterday on the dutch weather forum, and I do like pictures like that much more then the pictures what I showed before. After a few cooler days I reached to 29C yesterday, and not cooler then 17.5C last night. At the moment it's partly cloudy with some sunshine and 28C, 32C forecasted but don't think we gonna reach that if the sky will not clear.

Looks like we going after tomorrow to more normal summer weather for this area with temperatures from 23-25C for the days, nights stay nice and mild with 14-16C. So far this july average should be an average from a place somewhere in southern europe, so i can't complain....

Robbin

Edited July 20, 2010 by Exotic Life

[amazondk]

Tyrone,

That sound like a great place.

Peachy,

You do live in a noisy neighborhood. Urban wildlife is great.

dk

[philinsydney]

-20c at Charlotte Pass Monday night- the third lowest temperature ever recorded in Australia!

Edited July 20, 2010 by wrigphi

[Daryl]

Yikes, I hope that cold stays down there!

Daryl

[Tyrone]

-20c at Charlotte Pass Monday night- the third lowest temperature ever recorded in Australia!

That's colder than the deep freeze at Woolies. You can keep that on the east coast. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[peachy]

A good pair of ear muffs is what needed for you Peachy. One of my Hyphorbe indica seedlings has rotted. Bum.

My Hyophorbe indica is coming good again and is putting a new spear after I gave it a good drink. I have been stingy with the water in case of a freeze. Good rain last night will help it all on. Glad I dont have to go skiing this weekend....minus 20 will make the snow so slippery and dangerous...and hard to land on !!

Peachy

[Tyrone]

Well originally this mornings min was forecast to be 2C then yesterday they changed it to 3C and in the end we got down to 5.4C. Not warm but I'll take it over 2C. Nights gradually warming up for the foreseeable future. Days in the high teens and a 20C in there too. This has been a cold July. That 21C for Sunday has been scrapped. Now rain and 19C which should keep the nights nice and toasty.

6 weeks until spring and counting. Can I last that long. The UV is moving south quite noticeably now. We're back into UV alert territory again. UV index of 3 and an alert from 11.50am -12.50pm

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

Got to 20C today with heaps of sunshine. The coconut got to 42C today. That'll dry him out nicely. The nights won't be as warm as initially forecast but the good news is another couple of 20C days in the mix. Just a little while longer and I'll see mid twenties again. I can't wait.

[ariscott]

Nice & dry day... yes... cool night... yes. Had enough... definitely!!! Bring on the build up....

Regards, Ari

[tropicbreeze]

Finally back home from work tonight. Bit of a surprise waiting for me, embedded in the weather station data. This morning's low was 19.5C (67.1F). But yesterdays had been 15.9C (60.6F), the lowest minimum for July (so far). Maximum today was 32.6C (90.7F), same as yesterday.

Got a feeling it'll be cold tonight, the wind's dropped. All day it was pretty windy but most nights it just dies away.

Peachy, that's the problem generally with Australian snow. During the day it becomes real slushy. Then overnight it turns to concrete. Powder snow is great, but it just won't happen here.

[ariscott]

It is cold, Zig... I can feel it coming on....

Regards, Ari

[Mike in Nelson]

A good pair of ear muffs is what needed for you Peachy. One of my Hyphorbe indica seedlings has rotted. Bum.

My Hyophorbe indica is coming good again and is putting a new spear after I gave it a good drink. I have been stingy with the water in case of a freeze. Good rain last night will help it all on. Glad I dont have to go skiing this weekend....minus 20 will make the snow so slippery and dangerous...and hard to land on !!

Peachy

I'm too scared to water my indica - it's the only one I've got.

If you want good powder snow, come to NZ.

[Tyrone]

Stop talking about snow. You'll jinx the weather, and it's making me cold.

Sorry about the indica Mike. Some are stronger than others, and when they go, they go quickly. Once they get older they get much stronger.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

3C last night.

Did anyone say monotony,

monotony,

monotony.

Monotony is a word that keeps coming back monotonously lately.

One of my bottles looks fried now. The other more protected one looks marginally better, and the one next to the fried one looks OK with just a tinge of spotting.

The coconut grew about a cm last night. It must have been due to the 42C it was sitting in yesterday. It's leaflet extremities have browned off on the leaves outside the plastic. Daytime heat is what it's all about with a coconut. Even if the nights are cool to cold a coconut will continue to grow provided it gets warm to hot in the day. Having nights that never see freezing and sit around 8C are of no use if the temps during the day sit around 16C. They've got to get above 20C to keep going.

It's been the worst winter ever here. I've never had such damage to my bottles before. Kind of depressing when everyone is posting wonderful pics of their gardens and the QLDers are posting beautiful pics of pristine palms in winter.

Oh well.

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

Well we may have turned a corner here. Nights are still cold but the days are getting better, and then when it rains the nights have come right back up in temp.

Perth Forecast

Issued at 4:30 pm WST on Thursday 22 July 2010

Warning summary

Haze Alert has been issued.

Forecast for Thursday evening

Clear. Light to moderate NE winds.

Precis: Clear.

Forecast for Friday

Sunny. Light to moderate E/NE winds.

Precis: Sunny.

City: Min 3 Max 20

Mandurah: Min 9 Max 18

UV Alert: Nil , UV Index predicted to reach 2 [Low]

Fire Danger: Coastal Plain: NOT RATED

Hills: NOT RATED

Saturday Sunny. Min 4 Max 20

Sunday Sunny. Min 5 Max 21

Monday Partly cloudy. Min 4 Max 21

Tuesday Shower or two. Min 7 Max 18

Wednesday Shower or two. Min 8 Max 19

Thursday Shower or two. Min 7 Max 19

Best regards

Tyrone

[philinsydney]

Peachy, that's the problem generally with Australian snow. During the day it becomes real slushy. Then overnight it turns to concrete. Powder snow is great, but it just won't happen here.

That's true in general, but I've seen nice powder snow up on Merritts occasionally.

Edited July 22, 2010 by wrigphi

[tropicbreeze]

Yesterday as the sun went down the wind dropped and a chill started to set in. However, by around 9:30 pm another breeze came to the rescue. It had got down to 20.2C (68.4F) and then went back up to 24.4C (75.9F) before slipping gradually down to the minimum of 19.9C (67.8F) this morning. Maximum today got to 33.7C (92.7F).

This afternoon it's a different scenario. Late afternoon a lot of cloud moved in and the breeze died. So it's a warm humid evening. Still over 30C (86F) at 7:00 pm. I find that quite civilised for a mid July evening.

Wrigphi, it's been quite a while since I've been to the Snowies. I learned to ski in Austria during my 'Australian Traditional Working Holiday' in Europe, but never found the snow quite the same when I got back home. Living up here doesn't give you much opportunity for skiing, I gave my skis and other gear to my brother's family.

[Mike in Nelson]

Stop talking about snow. You'll jinx the weather, and it's making me cold.

Sorry about the indica Mike. Some are stronger than others, and when they go, they go quickly. Once they get older they get much stronger.

Best regards

Tyrone

Yes it's a bit disappointing. Most of my palm seedlings have taken a fair hammering from Mealy Bug ever since mid summer so maybe that had something to do with it. I've been spraying them but even today I had to squash another one of the little critters. They are tough!

[Mike in Nelson]

Zig, I have another Paw Paw query. Some of the seedlings that have suffered from cold feet have lost all their foliage but most of the main stem is still firm and I have cut off most of the rotted part which is at the tip of the stem. In cold weather, Paw Paw will often drop their leaves and hibernate until warmer weather returns. I'm just wondering if I should keep all my seedlings and see if they come to life again when things warm up. What do you think?

[amazondk]

Peachy, that's the problem generally with Australian snow. During the day it becomes real slushy. Then overnight it turns to concrete. Powder snow is great, but it just won't happen here.

That's true in general, but I've seen nice powder snow up on Merritts occasionally.

There is not much snow around here where I live now. But, when I lived in Montana, USA as a kid it was a real fact of life. The ski run I used to frequent has somw of the best powder snow conditions around. In the winter it is difficult for temperatures to get above maybe minus 10 and when it snows with real cold conditions the snow is the best. But, that is at about 45 degrees north and 2,500 meters above sea level.

dk

[tropicbreeze]

Mike, I've found cut Paw Paw stems to be very susceptible to fungal rots. When trunks have got too big I've cut them shorter and put a cover over the cut but they still end up rotting. Keep the seedlings for sure, but when the weather warms a bit I'd plant some more seeds as insurance.

[Daryl]

Peachy, that's the problem generally with Australian snow. During the day it becomes real slushy. Then overnight it turns to concrete. Powder snow is great, but it just won't happen here.

That's true in general, but I've seen nice powder snow up on Merritts occasionally.

There is not much snow around here where I live now. But, when I lived in Montana, USA as a kid it was a real fact of life. The ski run I used to frequent has somw of the best powder snow conditions around. In the winter it is difficult for temperatures to get above maybe minus 10 and when it snows with real cold conditions the snow is the best. But, that is at about 45 degrees north and 2,500 meters above sea level.

dk

I thought it was going to snow here the other night it was so cold...got down to 7C. Forecast is looking up though...I like nights in the double digits!

Daryl

Forecast for Friday

Mostly fine, just a possible shower. Light to moderate S to SE winds.

Precis: Mostly fine, possible shower

City: Min 10 Max 21

Bayside: Min 8 Max 20

UV Alert: 10:20 am to 1:20 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 4 [Moderate]

Saturday Mostly fine, possible shower Min 11 Max 21

Sunday Mostly fine, possible shower Min 11 Max 21

Monday A shower or two Min 12 Max 22

Tuesday Showers Min 13 Max 22

Wednesday Showers Min 14 Max 22

Thursday Showers Min 14 Max 22

[philinsydney]

Wrigphi, it's been quite a while since I've been to the Snowies. I learned to ski in Austria during my 'Australian Traditional Working Holiday' in Europe, but never found the snow quite the same when I got back home. Living up here doesn't give you much opportunity for skiing, I gave my skis and other gear to my brother's family.

Another thing that puts people off is the wind in the Australian ski fields. It's not much fun in the chairlift when your face is being blasted by snow grains; it certainly makes a hood essential.

But it is exciting seeing the snow blowing off the top of the ridge, and the snow gums writhing around.

[peachy]

It is 3 degrees outside, already the predicted minimum so it may get colder yet. Very clear night too....always a bad sign. I wont get much sleep tonight. All the new palms are nice and snug near the motor bit of the a.c system, which of course is running full blast.

I always preferred the unfashionable Mt Baw Baw for skiing. Less crowded, no wind and the snow was always nice and dry. (I hate having a wet bum) Plus it has a very scary black diamond run. The downside was tbars instead of chairlifts and the runs werent very long and the apres ski facilities were very basic....too bloody basic. Luckily the lodges were reasonable to lease for the season and one could supply the basics to suit one's own needs. (and I need plenty)

Peachy

[ariscott]

I don't ski... I fell down continuously... and decided I was just not suitable for skiing... It is ok, I stay in the tropics...

Regards, Ari

[Walter John]

I don't ski... I fell down continuously... and decided I was just not suitable for skiing... It is ok, I stay in the tropics...

Regards, Ari

Hi Ari, I had the same experience ice skating, it just wasn't me. Why are we talking ice and snow in the weather thread ? Brrrr...I'm SICK OF THE COLD ALREADY....one thing I really really hate is people in the city (Brisbane) saying how they prefer/like the winter cold over the hot and humid, wish they'd all go and live down south (that's where most of these whingers come from anyway ). don't mean to offend anyone, it's this weather you see, I'm not myself in cold weather...brrrr...could be worse, could be living in Ipswich or Gympie...

[JASON M]

Your single Celsius digits are NOTHING compared to F digits... which Wisconsinites consider warm in the winter..

[ariscott]

Hi Ari, I had the same experience ice skating, it just wasn't me. Why are we talking ice and snow in the weather thread ? Brrrr...I'm SICK OF THE COLD ALREADY....one thing I really really hate is people in the city (Brisbane) saying how they prefer/like the winter cold over the hot and humid, wish they'd all go and live down south (that's where most of these whingers come from anyway ). don't mean to offend anyone, it's this weather you see, I'm not myself in cold weather...brrrr...could be worse, could be living in Ipswich or Gympie...

Wal,

They complained all the time up here!!!! I wonder why they are up here at all??? Dry season only last about 4 months, and the rest is hot and humid.... just the way we like it

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

Hi Ari, I had the same experience ice skating, it just wasn't me. Why are we talking ice and snow in the weather thread ? Brrrr...I'm SICK OF THE COLD ALREADY....one thing I really really hate is people in the city (Brisbane) saying how they prefer/like the winter cold over the hot and humid, wish they'd all go and live down south (that's where most of these whingers come from anyway ). don't mean to offend anyone, it's this weather you see, I'm not myself in cold weather...brrrr...could be worse, could be living in Ipswich or Gympie...

Wal,

They complained all the time up here!!!! I wonder why they are up here at all??? Dry season only last about 4 months, and the rest is hot and humid.... just the way we like it

Regards, Ari

Wal and Ari, I agree with you both. Why move to the tropics and sub tropics only to whinge about the heat and humidity. I'd take it any day including today. I'm a definite cold whinger.

I'm a hopeless ice skater as well. But coming out of -4C in an ice rink on a cold wet winters Perth night actually makes Perth feel tropical when you walk out.

In regards to snow, while we're all still yabbering about it and jinxing the weather, I've never in my 37 years of life ever seen snow. I was born in Melbourne and never went to the ski fields, but spending most of my life in WA, snow is simply non existent. Virtually no one owns snow skis. I don't know anyone that does. If anyone owns skis here it's water skis.

Daryl, I think you would have frozen solid if you had the last month minimums we've had. I'm actually looking forward to a 7 or 8C night, and double digits, well I'd be out starting the barbeque and walking around in shorts and t-shirt at night again. It's been a dry and cold winter so far here. We're nowhere near out of the woods yet, but by August things will slowly improve, but still will not be warm weather. I can't wait for a 25C day again.

3.3C last night and 20C forecast for today with NE winds and blue skies. Not too bad really. My bottle palms look toasted though. They won't recover until mid summer.

Best regards

Tyrone