Southern Hemisphere Growing Season 21/22

[UK_Palms]

On 12/13/2021 at 11:15 PM, Tyrone said:

Very mild down here. Only 19C cloudy with a chance of rain. Much like summer in the UK, but without the 20hrs of daylight. 

Your current temps aren’t that far off my own here. I have just reached 15.1C this afternoon and I only went down to 11.4C last night. The last 4 consecutive nights have been at or above 11C here now. I believe you guys in Albany went down to 9C last night and had 5C a few nights back? I know you get cool nights year-round though. We are running above average here, whereas I’m guessing you guys are running a bit below average right now. A cool start to the summer for you guys? The days are horribly short at this time of year for us and I haven’t even seen the sun for several days now, despite it being very mild. No rain though. 

[Tyrone]

8 hours ago, UK_Palms said:

Your current temps aren’t that far off my own here. I have just reached 15.1C this afternoon and I only went down to 11.4C last night. The last 4 consecutive nights have been at or above 11C here now. I believe you guys in Albany went down to 9C last night and had 5C a few nights back? I know you get cool nights year-round though. We are running above average here, whereas I’m guessing you guys are running a bit below average right now. A cool start to the summer for you guys? The days are horribly short at this time of year for us and I haven’t even seen the sun for several days now, despite it being very mild. No rain though. 

I’ve only been to the uk in summer where the days virtually do not end. Up in Newcastle it only really was twilight at midnight. You could still paint your house if you wanted too around 11pm. Quite odd for us closer to the equator. I couldn’t handle the exact opposite in winter. I think I’d get quite somber and be listening to Joy Division all the time. I hate winter here but at least the sun goes down around 5.15pm in the depth of winter. 

Yes it’s been very mild this year. At least it’s dried out a ton. I reckon we will have a late start to summer, then autumn will be warm with a slow start to winter. So probably two months out of whack. Sea surface temps really take control down here. Unless we get northerly winds that give us the heat from the interior, it’s all sea breezes in every other direction. 

[Tyrone]

Another cold day here. It reached 20C around 9am but the temp dropped into the 16-18C range for the rest of the day with howling winds and rain and drizzle for a good part of the day. I lit the fire around noon and have got it all nice and toasty inside now. Not right for December 18 in the Southern Hemisphere at this latitude. 

[tropicbreeze]

Here it's the same old same old. Usually we'd be getting large storm fronts 100 - 200 kms wide moving up from the Arnhem Land Plateau to the south east. These 'd reach the north west coast late afternoon or evening. There'd also be the Gulf Lines moving in from the Gulf of Carpentaria reaching the west coast often during the night. But all there's been are occasional small isolated storms which produce very little rain for very few places.

This morning 5am it was 27 and "feel like temperature" was 33.1. It's been the same for the past several weeks. Daytimes it's in the high 30's with the occasional drop to the mid 30's when some bits of storms move through. We're two and a half months into the wet season, just wish the wet season would start.

 

[sandgroper]

It's been a really strange Spring and start to Summer, in fact Winter was strange in Perth too with much higher rainfall that average. Yesterday morning I was heading into work and I got rained on! I'm enjoying the cooler temperatures but it is certainly unusual for this time of year. Looks a bit more like you'd expect over the coming week though.

Edited December 18, 2021 by sandgroper
Add temps

[UK_Palms]

On 12/15/2021 at 10:27 PM, Tyrone said:

I’ve only been to the uk in summer where the days virtually do not end. Up in Newcastle it only really was twilight at midnight. You could still paint your house if you wanted too around 11pm. Quite odd for us closer to the equator. I couldn’t handle the exact opposite in winter. I think I’d get quite somber and be listening to Joy Division all the time. I hate winter here but at least the sun goes down around 5.15pm in the depth of winter. 

Yes it’s been very mild this year. At least it’s dried out a ton. I reckon we will have a late start to summer, then autumn will be warm with a slow start to winter. So probably two months out of whack. Sea surface temps really take control down here. Unless we get northerly winds that give us the heat from the interior, it’s all sea breezes in every other direction. 

Newcastle is up at lat 55N whereas I am down at 51N. They probably have an extra 2 hours of daylight up there in June compared to me down here, and consequently about 2 hours less daylight than me during winter. I couldn't imagine living up there in Newcastle and I certainly wouldn't visit. It is one of the coldest, dullest places in England. You certainly won't find many palms up there. I'm not surprised your parents/grandparents migrated to Oz, assuming that is the reason for you visiting Newcastle. I can't think of any other reason why you would want to go there haha. I won't really go any further north than London, primarily due to the better weather. 

When I was in WA a few years back, I was surprised how many 'northerners' were living there. A lot of people from northern England and Scotland as well. I guess Perth is named after Perth in Scotland. Exmouth too, my favourite spot in WA, obviously named after Exmouth in Devon. Camping at Ningaloo reef was genuinely the best 3 days of my life. I have fond memories of WA and probably will move out there permanently at some point. Not to Albany though haha. It's too similar to southern England, with the exception of your warmer winters. I will probably move out to Perth's northern suburbs, assuming I do make the move. The area around Sorrento and Hillary's is pretty nice, as is Ocean Reef.

Our summers are pretty good here, similar to your own really, but I can't deal with the cool winters and short days that we get. Sunset was around 3:45pm today and it was totally pitch black by 4:30pm pretty much. As of yesterday however, the evenings are actually getting lighter now. The mornings will continue to get darker though for another 2 weeks, due to the earths axis/tilt. The lowest so far is only -2.7C here and I haven't been below 8C here for well over a week now (pretty good for mid-December), but that is due to change. It is going to get a lot colder next week. I'll probably find myself looking at property listings in Perth at some point next week haha. Do you plan on staying in Albany for the long haul, or are you moving back to Perth at some point?

[Tyrone]

47 minutes ago, UK_Palms said:

Newcastle is up at lat 55N whereas I am down at 51N. They probably have an extra 2 hours of daylight up there in June compared to me down here, and consequently about 2 hours less daylight than me during winter. I couldn't imagine living up there in Newcastle and I certainly wouldn't visit. It is one of the coldest, dullest places in England. You certainly won't find many palms up there. I'm not surprised your parents/grandparents migrated to Oz, assuming that is the reason for you visiting Newcastle. I can't think of any other reason why you would want to go there haha. I won't really go any further north than London, primarily due to the better weather. 

When I was in WA a few years back, I was surprised how many 'northerners' were living there. A lot of people from northern England and Scotland as well. I guess Perth is named after Perth in Scotland. Exmouth too, my favourite spot in WA, obviously named after Exmouth in Devon. Camping at Ningaloo reef was genuinely the best 3 days of my life. I have fond memories of WA and probably will move out there permanently at some point. Not to Albany though haha. It's too similar to southern England, with the exception of your warmer winters. I will probably move out to Perth's northern suburbs, assuming I do make the move. The area around Sorrento and Hillary's is pretty nice, as is Ocean Reef.

Our summers are pretty good here, similar to your own really, but I can't deal with the cool winters and short days that we get. Sunset was around 3:45pm today and it was totally pitch black by 4:30pm pretty much. As of yesterday however, the evenings are actually getting lighter now. The mornings will continue to get darker though for another 2 weeks, due to the earths axis/tilt. The lowest so far is only -2.7C here and I haven't been below 8C here for well over a week now (pretty good for mid-December), but that is due to change. It is going to get a lot colder next week. I'll probably find myself looking at property listings in Perth at some point next week haha. Do you plan on staying in Albany for the long haul, or are you moving back to Perth at some point?

All my British relatives are on my dads side and came from Hammersmith in London. If you’ve been to “The Dove” pub on the bank of the Thames my family lived two or 3 doors down from it in what is now Furnival Park as far back as the 1850s. They lived there before the Hammersmith bridge was built. After the war the family splintered and went to the 4 corners of England and my dad and Aunty came further out to Australia. I had a couple of uncles in the north, one in Newcastle, the other in Barrow-In-Furness. They’ve since passed away. The Lake District is beautiful. Worth a visit. Were there palms up there? Yes. Quite a few Trachycarpus in the north. They want there palms up there but are seriously limited in what they can grow. 

WA traditionally has the biggest UK expat population in Australia. Back in the days of travelling by ship and slow plane, many landed in Fremantle or Perth and thought they just couldn’t travel any further and stayed. The reason my Dad came to WA was his brother in law loved fishing and back in the 60s it was the best fishing here.

The place names everywhere are copies of English or Scottish names due to that mass emigration out here from the beginning. The first governor was governor Stirling, a Scottish man from Perth in Scotland. Other names have native Aboriginal origins. 

A lot of people from the UK flock to the northern beaches area of Perth. I can see why. You may even get a coconut to grow close to the ocean there. 

Will we move away from Albany back to Perth? I have no plans for it and we’ve put down roots here. It would be a shame to leave behind what we’ve already done here. Perth is now way too expensive for us and I’m not sure if I could stand living in suburbia again. I’m spoilt by acreage here. I’ll just plant 2000 Nikau palms and enjoy the greenery even on the worst days. 

On the bright side today’s weather is a complete upgrade from yesterday. The suns out, the winds mild and warming up as the month progresses. I may be able to get things done today. 

[tropicbreeze]

Well it seems whinging pays off. A  big storm from came through just after midday today. We were getting wind gusts to 96 kph along with torrential rain. In 15 to 20 minutes there was 39mm rain but then it slowed and is just a steady drizzle now.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning - Darwin City and Outer Darwin
for DAMAGING WINDS and HEAVY RAINFALL
For people in Bynoe, Cox Peninsula, Litchfield, Palmerston and Darwin areas.
Issued at 1:31 pm Monday, 20 December 2021.
STRONG LINE OF STORMS MOVING TOWARDS DARWIN
The Bureau of Meteorology warns that, at 1:15 pm, potential severe thunderstorms were detected on the weather radar near Dundee Downs, Acacia Hills, Darwin River Dam and Manton Dam. These thunderstorms are moving towards the north to northwest. They are forecast to affect Dundee Beach, Berry Springs, Middle Point and Tumbling Waters by 1:45 pm and Humpty Doo, Noonamah, Middle Arm and the base of Cox Peninsula by 2:15 pm.
Damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding are likely.

[sandgroper]

Not looking to much fun for Christmas.

[Tyrone]

10 minutes ago, sandgroper said:

Not looking to much fun for Christmas.

Too hot even for the beach. Just put the roast out on the concrete and watch it cook. 

[UK_Palms]

Send some of that WA heat to Europe please! It looks like I will have to deal with an 11-12C high and an 8C low on Christmas Day here. While that isn’t overly bad for 51N, I think it’s safe to say I won’t be spending Xmas on the beach! You guys in Perth better hope the Doc kicks in during the afternoon. I’m also surprised Albany will be running 15C cooler as well on Christmas Day. I didn’t realise the temperature disparity was that big between Perth and Albany on ‘hot’ days. Is that normal, or is Perth just forecast to be abnormally hot later this week?

[sandgroper]

It's not uncommon for Perth to be this warm and Albany can often be much cooler than Perth. I've been in Albany in January when it's been 18c and rainy, that is not normal but it can happen.

[tropicbreeze]

Maybe big changes next week. The EC weather model is predicting a tropical low forming just north of Darwin. They expect it to move south west and cross the north Kimberley coast possibly as a low level tropical cyclone.  BOM is expecting much the same, however, the GFS model has it weaker and crossing the northern Arnhem Land coast. Whatever, it's a good sign that we might get the monsoon soon.

[Tyrone]

23 hours ago, UK_Palms said:

Send some of that WA heat to Europe please! It looks like I will have to deal with an 11-12C high and an 8C low on Christmas Day here. While that isn’t overly bad for 51N, I think it’s safe to say I won’t be spending Xmas on the beach! You guys in Perth better hope the Doc kicks in during the afternoon. I’m also surprised Albany will be running 15C cooler as well on Christmas Day. I didn’t realise the temperature disparity was that big between Perth and Albany on ‘hot’ days. Is that normal, or is Perth just forecast to be abnormally hot later this week?

That’s a normal difference in temp.  Actually Perth is forecast to be 42C on Saturday and we are forecast to be 23C which is 19C cooler.  We follow Perth more closely in winter, at least the difference is much less in winter. But summer is where the difference opens right up. We are like another country down here. 

[greysrigging]

An absolute beast of a Top End storm two days ago 78mm at the Airport, which mostly fell in 2 hours !

[michael]

Fabulous skies! You might even get a christmas cyclone to wet you even more...

[tropicbreeze]

The EC model has 'changed its mind' and now has the tropical low staying weak and crossing the north Arnhem Land coast. BOM has it crossing the coast just to the east of Darwin but low chance of developing into a tropical cyclone Christmas Day. But possibility of further intensification into early next week Very little change in the GFS outlook.

 

[greysrigging]

Could be a record breaking heatwave along the south western coastal regions of WA. Some December max temp records may well be broken Xmas day and Boxing Day.

And if the 46c max forecast on Xmas Day eventuates at Jurien Bay ( about half way between Perth and Geraldton ), it would be an all time record at the site with data back to 1969.

[tropicbreeze]

Darwin is under Tropical Cyclone Watch which also extends to Kalumburu WA. BOM tracks the system just to the west of Darwin. EC model tracks it much closer, but not a direct hit. And GFS is again further east. It's under favourable conditions so will intensify more the longer it remains out to sea.

[Tyrone]

14 hours ago, greysrigging said:

Could be a record breaking heatwave along the south western coastal regions of WA. Some December max temp records may well be broken Xmas day and Boxing Day.

And if the 46c max forecast on Xmas Day eventuates at Jurien Bay ( about half way between Perth and Geraldton ), it would be an all time record at the site with data back to 1969.

Gosnells a southern suburb of Perth is expected to hit 44C tomorrow and 43C on Sunday. Awful heat. 

[sandgroper]

Not looking forward to the next few days, I spent years in Exmouth but I was younger then and the heat didn't bother me as much but I don't like it much these days. 

Merry Christmas to you all, stay cool keep the fluids up (preferably something frothy) and stay safe.

Edited December 24, 2021 by sandgroper

[Tyrone]

29 minutes ago, sandgroper said:

Not looking forward to the next few days, I spent years in Exmouth but I was younger then and the heat didn't bother me as much but I don't like it much these days. 

Merry Christmas to you all, stay cool keep the fluids up (preferably something frothy) and stay safe.

Stay hydrated. The BOM is now forecasting 44C tomorrow for Perth, and 43C for today. That’s up on before. I can see a record falling somewhere this weekend. Way too hot. 

[cbmnz]

Just nudging 30C here , warmest Christmas day for a few years. Still very  green from decent rain up until 15 Dec but will start to dry from now.

[greysrigging]

Our coolest  Xmas Day since records began in 1941. temp between 25c and 26c all day, although it has risen to 27.1c by 8.30pm.

[Tyrone]

Well Perth officially hit 43C yesterday we were a tad above 23C and a min just above 18C. Going for 24C today with a ton of easterlies. Perth is going for another tarmac melting day of 44C. 

[sandgroper]

37 minutes ago, Tyrone said:

Well Perth officially hit 43C yesterday we were a tad above 23C and a min just above 18C. Going for 24C today with a ton of easterlies. Perth is going for another tarmac melting day of 44C. 

It was already 31c in Jandakot when I woke up this morning just before 5.00am. not going to be a pleasant day I think.

[greysrigging]

I had to turn on my hot water booster this morning. 5th day today of full overcast/rain. About 180mm here at home including 72,5mm yesterday/overnight.
 

[Tyrone]

Swanbourne hit 43.7C today and they are right on the coast. But what amazed me was Rottnest Island 20km offshore hit 42.5C and at 9.30pm it was still 35C! For a site in the ocean that’s incredible. I bet the sea surface temps are going to rise up a bit from all this concentrated heat. 

I think we only got to 24C down here with strong winds but our RH sat around 65-70 % all day. 

[sandgroper]

6.00pm and it's still pretty warm, going to be a warm night too.

[greysrigging]

Despite the Monsoon buggering off today and the temp back up +32c after 4 sub 30c days. the 'Drysoons' ( hot and dry Westerlies ) have produced this, this afternoon.
( Pics by Lita Lomberto )

[cbmnz]

So one of my Baueri has still not opened the spear I was talking about in late November! but otherwise,  looks fine. Wondering if  it's  just reacting to the fact that it gets bright sun for 2-3 months Nov to Feb as opposed to none for rest of year?   When I planted it, I put it in a 40L planter bag and packed out the rest of the barrel with crushed pumice. The 40L bag seemed so huge compared to the pot it came in so I thought had 2 years until would need to take it out of the PB. When I started to clear away the pumice last week I found it had grown a heap of roots out of the bag and into the pumice and had grown roots through the drainage hole in the barrel and into the ground! I managed to remove most of the PB but left the bottom "floor" part in so as to not disturb  the roots, then filled out rest of barrel with good quality outdoor container mix. Broke a few fine fibrous feeder roots in the process,  was impossible to avoid. Only time will tell.

[cbmnz]

It's sister one opened the spear frist week of Dec and next one is forming now.. That one gets direct sun in winter but not summer which handy. It must  be close to outgrowing the pot now though.

[cbmnz]

Been tuning 2-3C above average since November. Came withinn  0.3C of my home station record with 33.4 on Tuesday.  The bananas are loving it.

[Tyrone]

4 hours ago, cbmnz said:

So one of my Baueri has still not opened the spear I was talking about in late November! but otherwise,  looks fine. Wondering if  it's  just reacting to the fact that it gets bright sun for 2-3 months Nov to Feb as opposed to none for rest of year?   When I planted it, I put it in a 40L planter bag and packed out the rest of the barrel with crushed pumice. The 40L bag seemed so huge compared to the pot it came in so I thought had 2 years until would need to take it out of the PB. When I started to clear away the pumice last week I found it had grown a heap of roots out of the bag and into the pumice and had grown roots through the drainage hole in the barrel and into the ground! I managed to remove most of the PB but left the bottom "floor" part in so as to not disturb  the roots, then filled out rest of barrel with good quality outdoor container mix. Broke a few fine fibrous feeder roots in the process,  was impossible to avoid. Only time will tell.

It looks fine to me and a few broken roots will not be noticed by it. That spear has a little bit further to go before it’s ready to open. Maybe another 200mm. I reckon each leaf is 25% to 40% bigger than the previous one until maturity with this species. Just keep it moist and it will be fine. 

[Tyrone]

We had a 35C day here after Boxing Day but we’ve been in the mid twenties all this month. Constant easterlies during the day, high humidity, and virtually no rain. Better to work in than the high 30s and low 40s further north but the humidity still makes you sweat a ton when working. The garden is loving it. After the huge amount of rain we got in 21 it’s good to see the ground all nice and firm again. 

[Tyrone]

4 hours ago, cbmnz said:

Been tuning 2-3C above average since November. Came withinn  0.3C of my home station record with 33.4 on Tuesday.  The bananas are loving it.

Your bananas look way better than mine. They love water but not 6 months of flooding through the cooler periods of the year. Mine are just starting to put out healthier growth after getting root rot. 

[greysrigging]

The palms and bananas in south east Queensland will be going great guns after the record breaking 24 hour ( until 9.00am this morning ) rainfall totals in the region !

[greysrigging]

Oh and over on the west coast, both Mardie and Roebourne have a forecast max temp of 49c towards the end of next week !

[cbmnz]

23 hours ago, Tyrone said:

It looks fine to me and a few broken roots will not be noticed by it. That spear has a little bit further to go before it’s ready to open. Maybe another 200mm. I reckon each leaf is 25% to 40% bigger than the previous one until maturity with this species. Just keep it moist and it will be fine. 

Entirely because I posted that, it has started to open today. 

[cbmnz]

16 hours ago, greysrigging said:

Oh and over on the west coast, both Mardie and Roebourne have a forecast max temp of 49c towards the end of next week !

It's still the case that >50C has only been recorded a handful of times in Aus, right.  So even by hot part of Australia standards that must be up there.