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Winter down under


cbmnz

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6 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Evacuated. 119mm in 5 hrs. Will check house in the morning but I reckon it’s under now. 

Bloody hell !   I hope its all OK for you mob.....

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11 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Evacuated. 119mm in 5 hrs. Will check house in the morning but I reckon it’s under now. 

Good luck Tyrone, the damage in Albany has been on the news all morning in Perth, it sounds really grim.

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It's 10.00am as I write this and it's only 10c here in Jandakot, if this past couple of weeks are anything to go by it'll be a very cold winter. I can't remember such a cold start to winter.

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Moving back in today some time. Power went back on last night. Insurance assessor is coming tomorrow. A bit of water got in but only a small amount. I’m thinking the floors may need replacing though if we can’t dry them out.  A lot to clean up though.

To put how wet it’s been down here in context, we’ve been had 410mm of rain since the start of May, or 7 weeks. That’s 16 inches in 7 weeks. When you’re in a valley on clay and peat, it gets quite wet. The yearly amount is now around 630mm which is double where we were this time last year. We’ve still got the bulk of winter to come too, so I’m leaving the place sandbagged for a few months. It could have been way worse though.

My lake system turned into one big lake with virtually no lawn left. It also had a flow too it as well like a big deep river. Scary stuff.

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Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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Pleased to hear you're mostly ok, but any floodwater getting into a main dwelling is a major pain.  That's a huge amount of rain to get in 7 weeks, would be alot in that time period even over here.

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1 hour ago, cbmnz said:

Pleased to hear you're mostly ok, but any floodwater getting into a main dwelling is a major pain.  That's a huge amount of rain to get in 7 weeks, would be alot in that time period even over here.

The palms just loved it. I took a pic of a Norfolk opening a new leaf and one of my Norfolks just threw a green leaf off to expose a flower bract. LOL

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Tyrone said:

Moving back in today some time. Power went back on last night. Insurance assessor is coming tomorrow. A bit of water got in but only a small amount. I’m thinking the floors may need replacing though if we can’t dry them out.  A lot to clean up though.

To put how wet it’s been down here in context, we’ve been had 410mm of rain since the start of May, or 7 weeks. That’s 16 inches in 7 weeks. When you’re in a valley on clay and peat, it gets quite wet. The yearly amount is now around 630mm which is double where we were this time last year. We’ve still got the bulk of winter to come too, so I’m leaving the place sandbagged for a few months. It could have been way worse though.

My lake system turned into one big lake with virtually no lawn left. It also had a flow too it as well like a big deep river. Scary stuf

Glad to hear it didn't get any worse for you mate and I hope the floors are ok. It looked terrible on the news, a lot of drowned livestock too, no good at all. 

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Yes the livestock drowning is particularly distressing. That was in the Bornholm Torbay area between Albany and Denmark. This is low lying swampy areas in the best of times. They farm potatoes in these areas in summer. With that amount of rain they would have been one of the first places to go under. The roads through there are all cut as far as I know. Lots of dairy cows etc out there too.

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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11.20am and 10C with rain down here. :sick:

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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A week of cold nights starting tonight. Even parts of the Auckland region may see frosts in sheltered places. The  overnight low here has softened  from -2  to 0 as wind is now forecast to stay up.  At least all my zone push experimental plantings are still small and did not cost a fortune. If anything does not survive this week, it's not viable to grow here.

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4 hours ago, cbmnz said:

A week of cold nights starting tonight. Even parts of the Auckland region may see frosts in sheltered places. The  overnight low here has softened  from -2  to 0 as wind is now forecast to stay up.  At least all my zone push experimental plantings are still small and did not cost a fortune. If anything does not survive this week, it's not viable to grow here.

Hopefully the temp stays up for you. 

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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-1.4C last night, about 6 hours below freezing. 30% browning on exposed banana leaves otherwise no damage. Question is was that the coldest night? 6 more nights of a 0 overnight low forecast which is interesting. Some reason to think last night was the coldest. Tonight sitting 2C above the same time last night.

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12 hours ago, cbmnz said:

-1.4C last night, about 6 hours below freezing. 30% browning on exposed banana leaves otherwise no damage. Question is was that the coldest night? 6 more nights of a 0 overnight low forecast which is interesting. Some reason to think last night was the coldest. Tonight sitting 2C above the same time last night.

I hate it when things drop below zero. Hopefully that is the last one below zero. 

While so far we haven’t had frost, we’ve had that much rain. It’s backed off since the flood but I’m trying to dry the place out which is impossible if it keeps raining even a little. Been digging drainage ditches to drop the perched water table in areas that normally just stay moist not wet. The ground under areas of my lawn now resembles diarrhoea in places. No structure left in it. 

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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1 minute ago, greysrigging said:

Middle of winter in Darwin
obU1oa2.jpg

Beautiful bbq weather. Very comfortable. 

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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8 hours ago, Tyrone said:

I hate it when things drop below zero. Hopefully that is the last one below zero. 

While so far we haven’t had frost, we’ve had that much rain. It’s backed off since the flood but I’m trying to dry the place out which is impossible if it keeps raining even a little. Been digging drainage ditches to drop the perched water table in areas that normally just stay moist not wet. The ground under areas of my lawn now resembles diarrhoea in places. No structure left in it. 

No drama. -2C is normal for my location and not worth planting anything that cant handle that. 0C does no harm therefore. Only if I get a -4C,  which did last happen in 2009, will be crying.

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Well the next two or three weeks are statistically the coldest of the year in southern Australia. The temps here are mainly in the mid to low teens for the next few days but most notably one forecast has forecast rain on every day for about 4 weeks from Sunday on. Some models are saying up to 80mm of rain in the next 7-10 days. That will take my annual total past 700mm, and make the total from the start of April go past 600mm!!!! It’s been so wet. I just dug a trench through my lawn to drain away standing water to another drain just before the sun went down tonight. Gonna be a pain to mow but at this rate I won’t be mowing it until about October. 

Our forecast minimum is 9C but as I type at 6.27pm it’s already about 9C. The sky is clearing under a high pressure zone so I actually expect about 1C tomorrow morning and hopefully nothing lower. 17C and sunny is forecast tomorrow. But Sunday the weather cranks up again. Still got the house sandbagged. 

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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Currently 6c in Jandakot at 7.00am heading for a sunny top of 21c. Looks like a lot of rain heading our way from tomorrow onwards though so I'd better make the most of a sunny day.

Hope the weather is kind for you in Albany Tyrone, it was amazing the other week, you don't need that sort of rain again.

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Well the temp went down to 5.1C just before midnight then took a turn in an upward direction and just before sunrise it’s a balmy 8C. Going for a dry top of 19C today so hopefully that’ll dry a few things off a bit before everything gets saturated again. Just had a look and the drain I dug yesterday has done the trick overnight. I’m probably seeing this place in the worst and wettest condition but I think my open drains may need to be upgraded to perforated piping, geo fabric and back filled with coarse river sand in the dry season to help the soil breathe. Standing water can ruin soil in the end. 

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Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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Let me say I fully realise this is a minor hit compared to what others around the world have faced, loosing whole gardens and homes to  wildfires, flooding, hurricanes etc. However was a bit sad this morning to wake to most damaging freeze since I got back into palm growing in 2018. The low -2.4C and hours below freezing (about 7) were nothing extreme- had a worse one by those numbers last year.  Not sure what it was, perhaps the cumulative effect of 6 frosts in a row eating away at stored heat in structures,  but a bucket of water have had out all week , near the house but not covered, had a thin layer of ice on it for first time, and some moister air arrived jut before dawn on a breeze forming a moving freezing fog that seemed to increase the conductivity and drive cold into everything, even areas well protected from radiation losses by canopy or cloth.

This is typical of what it's done to most of my Rhopalostylis and Archontophoenix.  I realise either the darker or lighter green is damaged tissue and will probably turn brown over next few weeks. Even my favourite Chattam that's always looked so perfect has some spotting, although not as bad as this one.

Oh well at least I have two Rhopalostylis  and one Archontophoenix that were in extra protected spots and still look fine.

20210705_082439.thumb.jpg.e0d7361179596acb1b534ac72e9dd2c4.jpg

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Tyrone -reading back about your frost last year , you said

"Im hoping the green blotches will disappear in a few days."

That gives me some hope, maybe the dark green tissue is not completely dead, it's more a case of the chlorophyll having an uneven concentration after the cold. Anyway, might as well tell myself   that for now, even if it's wishful thinking.

Here is my 'experimental' Alexandrae mid June before any freeze  and after the milder freezes prior to  Sunday,  one frond got properly burnt at end where frost cloth was touching (left side), but also got this weird 'two tone' thing going on now - time will tell.

Oh well, could just plant trachcy and butia and queens have a bulletproof, never worry garden but some risk/trying luck is what keeps life interesting.

20210703_100804.jpg

20210619_200643.jpg

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19 hours ago, cbmnz said:

Tyrone -reading back about your frost last year , you said

"Im hoping the green blotches will disappear in a few days."

That gives me some hope, maybe the dark green tissue is not completely dead, it's more a case of the chlorophyll having an uneven concentration after the cold. Anyway, might as well tell myself   that for now, even if it's wishful thinking.

Here is my 'experimental' Alexandrae mid June before any freeze  and after the milder freezes prior to  Sunday,  one frond got properly burnt at end where frost cloth was touching (left side), but also got this weird 'two tone' thing going on now - time will tell.

Oh well, could just plant trachcy and butia and queens have a bulletproof, never worry garden but some risk/trying luck is what keeps life interesting.

20210703_100804.jpg

20210619_200643.jpg

Hey mate. Sorry to see that the 5 letter F word got you. That dark green blotchiness is exactly what I got last year. In one to three weeks it disappears. I think it’s the plants coping mechanism. Maybe some sort of plant based antifreeze going on. I must admit it’s alarming and distressing to see it in the landscape but I think it’s ok given the circumstances. I predict all your palms will recover in time with little to no damage. Archie’s are fast to repair themselves too. 

I was just looking at pics of my damage from last year and pretty much everything made a strong recovery. I even still have a Pinanga coronata looking good. Not Barbados good, just good. 

Your palms are far from done and will likely get stronger. 

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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Thanks. I think I did somewhat panic and presume the worst at the time, but all in all it was not that bad a freeze. These Nikau in a public park look like nothing happened and there are birds of paradise around town too that also look fine.

Strange how we are discussing theories on the dark blotches,  you'ld think a quick google and there would be an authoritative scientific paper to refer to but I've found nothing definite so far.

20210706_122651.jpg

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This is how 'winter' isreported on in Darwin.

Blankets possibly required as Darwin shivers through run of 'cold' nights                                                                                                                                                                                          Anthony Sharwood, Tuesday July 6, 2021 - 10:16 EST ( Weatherzone )

There's cold and then there's Darwin "cold".And while Darwin cold is not what anyone in the southern half of Australia - or even the southern half of the Northern Territory - would call real cold, it's all relative.The NT capital has just shivered its way through its third straight night of frigid sub 20°C temps. Brrrr! And don't think the locals aren't feeling it.

Minimums over the last three nights at Darwin Airport, the city's "official" weather station, have been 17.8°C, 18.5°C and 18.8°C respectively. That's almost cold enough to turn a croc to stone! Min temps below 20°C are in fact not unusual at this time of year in Darwin. Indeed the average July minimum is 19.3°C - the only month where it's below 20°C. All the same, it's always a bit of a shock to locals when they have to break out strange things called "blankets" and "layers". NSW-based Weatherzone developer Andrew Miskelly is up in Darwin this week visiting family (he arrived there well before the Sydney Covid lockdown was enforced .

"We don't quite need a jumper in the evening, it's not that bad, or not for a southerner anyway, he said. "But you do have to pull a second sheet up when you're in bed and in extreme cases, a light blanket! "I've even heard that some locals are now wearing pyjamas."

Miskelly added that the days are "absolutely perfect right now", although he conceded that he may consider bringing a light jumper to Darwin's outdoors Deckchair Cinema this evening. Oh, the hardship. So what's causing the chilly nights? "A high pressure system moving over southeastern Australia has been pushing a cool and dry airmass all the way up to the Top End," Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino explained.
"However, more humid easterly winds will develop from Wednesday, which will cause Darwin's minimums to climb."
On behalf of all locals: phew!

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2 hours ago, greysrigging said:

This is how 'winter' isreported on in Darwin.

Blankets possibly required as Darwin shivers through run of 'cold' nights                                                                                                                                                                                          Anthony Sharwood, Tuesday July 6, 2021 - 10:16 EST ( Weatherzone )

There's cold and then there's Darwin "cold".And while Darwin cold is not what anyone in the southern half of Australia - or even the southern half of the Northern Territory - would call real cold, it's all relative.The NT capital has just shivered its way through its third straight night of frigid sub 20°C temps. Brrrr! And don't think the locals aren't feeling it.

Minimums over the last three nights at Darwin Airport, the city's "official" weather station, have been 17.8°C, 18.5°C and 18.8°C respectively. That's almost cold enough to turn a croc to stone! Min temps below 20°C are in fact not unusual at this time of year in Darwin. Indeed the average July minimum is 19.3°C - the only month where it's below 20°C. All the same, it's always a bit of a shock to locals when they have to break out strange things called "blankets" and "layers". NSW-based Weatherzone developer Andrew Miskelly is up in Darwin this week visiting family (he arrived there well before the Sydney Covid lockdown was enforced .

"We don't quite need a jumper in the evening, it's not that bad, or not for a southerner anyway, he said. "But you do have to pull a second sheet up when you're in bed and in extreme cases, a light blanket! "I've even heard that some locals are now wearing pyjamas."

Miskelly added that the days are "absolutely perfect right now", although he conceded that he may consider bringing a light jumper to Darwin's outdoors Deckchair Cinema this evening. Oh, the hardship. So what's causing the chilly nights? "A high pressure system moving over southeastern Australia has been pushing a cool and dry airmass all the way up to the Top End," Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino explained.
"However, more humid easterly winds will develop from Wednesday, which will cause Darwin's minimums to climb."
On behalf of all locals: phew!

LOL. I've never recorded a >20C min on my station which has been running since Dec 2016. These two days in 2019 would be the closest but it dipped for a short while around 5am.

 Jan 29 max: 32.8 min: 19.4 avg: 26.100 C
 Jan 30 max: 31.1 min: 19.1 avg: 25.100 C
 

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59 minutes ago, cbmnz said:

LOL. I've never recorded a >20C min on my station which has been running since Dec 2016. These two days in 2019 would be the closest but it dipped for a short while around 5am.

 Jan 29 max: 32.8 min: 19.4 avg: 26.100 C
 Jan 30 max: 31.1 min: 19.1 avg: 25.100 C
 

Same here. I’ve never recorded a min as high as 20C since jan 2014. 

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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On 7/5/2021 at 5:33 PM, cbmnz said:

Tyrone -reading back about your frost last year , you said

"Im hoping the green blotches will disappear in a few days."

That gives me some hope, maybe the dark green tissue is not completely dead, it's more a case of the chlorophyll having an uneven concentration after the cold. Anyway, might as well tell myself   that for now, even if it's wishful thinking.

Here is my 'experimental' Alexandrae mid June before any freeze  and after the milder freezes prior to  Sunday,  one frond got properly burnt at end where frost cloth was touching (left side), but also got this weird 'two tone' thing going on now - time will tell.

Oh well, could just plant trachcy and butia and queens have a bulletproof, never worry garden but some risk/trying luck is what keeps life interesting.

20210703_100804.jpg

20210619_200643.jpg

Is the blotchiness fading. How are your palms going?

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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14 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Is the blotchiness fading. How are your palms going?

Thanks for asking. Harder than you'ld think to retake the same photo with same lighting and contrast but I reckon it is definitely normalising out. Compare this morning to Monday morning at peak of the freeze.

20210709_080634.jpg

20210705_082439.jpg

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On 5/17/2019 at 6:11 PM, greysrigging said:

Snow flurries in Dunedin yesterday I see ?

Is that you Doug?

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I'm another person in Darwin...been pretty cold for us lately...I live in the rural area so I see lower tempe then Darwin airport...we get temps that Darwin would get if not for the concrete. Ive recorded one over 20c night this month so far (20.3) and lowest was 16.8c. wonder if I'll see a temp close to 10c this year like I did last. 

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The South West is going to be slammed on Monday by a strong cold front.

Philip Wright

Sydney southern suburbs

Frost-free within 20 km of coast

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4 hours ago, Darwinpalmlover said:

Is that you Doug?

yes nikko, it is I....suppose I'll have to stop some B/S posts now you're watching me.....haha

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Pouring with rain, lightning, strong winds with more to come, been a fantastic day to be driving a canvas canopy Landrover Perentie! :D

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14 minutes ago, greysrigging said:

yes nikko, it is I....suppose I'll have to stop some B/S posts now you're watching me.....haha

Haha no carry on. Good forum this. Learnt some things

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5 hours ago, philinsydney said:

The South West is going to be slammed on Monday by a strong cold front.

Yes. Watching this closely. The worst looks to bypass us but that could change. We’ve had 50mm of rain in the last 3 days, and 685mm for the year so far. The soil is 100% saturated so we can’t handle any more rain. 

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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We’ve just gone past 700mm (27.5 inches) for the year. It hasn’t stopped raining today.

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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On 7/9/2021 at 12:58 PM, cbmnz said:

Thanks for asking. Harder than you'ld think to retake the same photo with same lighting and contrast but I reckon it is definitely normalising out. Compare this morning to Monday morning at peak of the freeze.

20210709_080634.jpg

20210705_082439.jpg

Right back to normal as of this morning, :-) Still can't find any scientific write up of the process going on here.

20210711_082210.jpg

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13 hours ago, Tyrone said:

We’ve just gone past 700mm (27.5 inches) for the year. It hasn’t stopped raining today.

Looks like a deeper low coming your way Monday/Tuesday.  Hope it does not bring too much rain. We getting one about same depth at similar time, lucky looks like won't affect me much, just some wind which at this time of the year at least keeps the nights above 0C..

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