Southern Hemisphere Growing Season 22/23

[Tyrone]

4 hours ago, cbmnz said:

Darn, the forecasters are good. Constant helicopters from 4am was not what I was wanting to hear.  But so far so seems my garden has escaped any serious damage.  Low was-1.1C on my station  which smashes any previous record for October, never gone below 0 before.  Thr leaves on banans looked good and nothing had mottled up. Will see over the next few days. Two nearby airports hit -3C which has gone under and possibly  smashed their all time Oct records, will confirm. Nature can still throw a curveball when you least expect.

 

That is cold, even for NZ in October. 

[Phil Petersen]

5 hours ago, Foxpalms said:

Sounds similar to here we have bad freezes when there's an anomaly in the polar jet stream and it sends very cold air from the north pole/Scandinavia here. For widespread snow, moist air would have to come up from the south and mix with the dry air coming from the arctic. Luckily that's very rare. @Phil PetersenWhat was the lowest temperature you saw this winter? Are the Rhopalostylis sapida all fine it will be interesting how they cope with snow. @cbmnz Did the forecast say -3c and you ended up at -1c.  I don't think the BBC or metoffice ever factor in the urban heat island here.  happened last winter lots (forecast was lower than the temperature got too) the conditions were the same as the forecast said, clear skies low wind , but it never went below freezing except 1 night. For example now we have clear skies and no wind, forecast shows 55f for now but the temperature is 57f now and it's always more inaccurate on nights below freezing.

The R sapida (chathams, and mainland) seem completely fine today. Sunny and around 13deg, not snowing 🙂

Ive got around 30 R baueri and they have no damage either. They are all under trees or shade cloth.

In the graph below looks like we had -0.7C as out lowest min this winter in Aug.

As you can see, its reasonably mild here in terms of minimum lows. That october storm doesnt show yet and despite being the only snowfall of the year was not subzero. Note July rainfall. That was the wettest single month ever recorded in ~100years of data locally. 

[cbmnz]

6 hours ago, Foxpalms said:

Sounds similar to here we have bad freezes when there's an anomaly in the polar jet stream and it sends very cold air from the north pole/Scandinavia here. For widespread snow, moist air would have to come up from the south and mix with the dry air coming from the arctic. Luckily that's very rare. @Phil PetersenWhat was the lowest temperature you saw this winter? Are the Rhopalostylis sapida all fine it will be interesting how they cope with snow. @cbmnz Did the forecast say -3c and you ended up at -1c.  I don't think the BBC or metoffice ever factor in the urban heat island here.  happened last winter lots (forecast was lower than the temperature got too) the conditions were the same as the forecast said, clear skies low wind , but it never went below freezing except 1 night. For example now we have clear skies and no wind, forecast shows 55f for now but the temperature is 57f now and it's always more inaccurate on nights below freezing.

From what I can tell, here they try to forecast for what the majority of population in the centre will see, which generally is urban so a little warmer than what a nearby official site, typically located at an airport will record. My sensor is (in a passive  screen) up on a pole so about 3m off the ground, this was a compromise to get it out of shelter and up in the general breeze as I did not want it recording silly high temps every time the sun was out. It won't meet any spec so temps are only directly comparable with its own readings from year to year. In winter it records closer to the offical site than Spring and Summer when more heat is stored in surrounding structures.  On this occasion the forecast was -2C, the rural airport site reached -2.9C a full 1.1C below the old record from the mid 70s which itself was an outlier. The other official site closer to edge of urban area recorded -2.0 so the forecast was spot on.

After being away for the day was able to see the damage tonight. The banana leaves are not completely happy but not completely  burnt, 50/50. Also lost 50 % of flower buds on avocado despite it being covered. Lost 50% of shoots on the grapevine, this same vine has been growing in the same spot since 2003 with no change to the general structure or canopy around it and has never shown any damage to growing shoots before.  The good news is that all palms still look fine, I think their susceptibility to cold must be more even  throughout the year and even though this was off the scale for October it would only have been a light to moderate freeze in mid winter.

 

[Tyrone]

We are having a cool start to October over here being 2 to 3C cooler than average so far. About 200km inland got frost this morning and some minus 1C. 4.6C was the minimum here. Toasty by comparison.

The cold can go now. Let spring start. 

[The Palm Nut]

Weather wet, sort of getting sick of all the rain but at least it's not cold. Cooler than yesterday, it topped out at 27C under the house, today 18C and windy.  The coming week looks to be pretty average low 20C. 

[Phil Petersen]

Up to 21Cdeg today. Low of 7 lastnight and low of 10 tonight. The snow settling to sealevel last week feels like a distant memory 🤣

[cbmnz]

Another datapoint showing how much of a departure from normal the recent event was.

[Tyrone]

We had a beautiful sunny day on Saturday in the low twenties and abundant sunshine, then Sunday started fine but descended into winter again. The last couple of days have been cold wet and blowy. Tomorrow is colder again. It’s like winter never left. Next week is marginally better but a 20C degree day looks like a bonus at least until November. I desperately want some warmth and I’m over the rain. However I won’t complain about rain with the east coast just getting pummeled by rain all the time.

[Tyrone]

We’ve had a huge low just wobbling around in the Great Australian Bight where normally highs sort of get stuck. This has funnelled an ocean of tropical moisture down over the eastern sea board flooding it, and on my side of the country it’s sucking up cold air off the outskirts of Antarctica from somewhere in the 50s south and so we are cold, cloudy, and wet. This would be the coldest October I’ve experienced. It basically feels like winter and is colder than September. We had some nice glimpses of warmth in September. None yet in October. 

[Daryl]

On 10/1/2022 at 5:51 AM, greysrigging said:

October is our first 'wet season' month, and right on time, a big early morning storm 1st October

Hi mate, a couple of us are coming up to Darwin in  a couple of weeks...what's the weather like at the moment...besides hot LOL!

We should catch up and say hello...

 

[Daryl]

It's been way cooler thn average here in SE QLD...and wetter too. Brisbane had its coldest October day in 27? years last week. Waiting for some heat...not one warm day yet this spring...

Daryl

 

[greysrigging]

For sure Daryl, we can catch up.....its bloody hot atm lol

[Tyrone]

Well we’ve had some below avg temps for October but yesterday after a cloudy start we reached 21.7C and today we are going for a sunny 25C with the possibility of a 27C at my place. After that the temps drop again and the rain returns with storms on Monday, and no real good weather again until November. Spring is a bit of a non event here until about November.

[Tyrone]

So much for 27C. It hit 31C with almost no wind at times. The flying ants and billions of all types of bugs are out and about now.

[Daryl]

On 10/14/2022 at 8:36 AM, greysrigging said:

For sure Daryl, we can catch up.....its bloody hot atm lol

Thanks mate...my palmtalk mailbox is full, so flick me an email  dazzoc at hotmail dot com   and we can organise something...cheers Daryl

 

[Tyrone]

Got some rain coming over the next few days. Nowhere near as much as the flooded areas of the east but the 10 day accumulated rainfall on windy.com is 74mm which is not far off what the northern end of the Sunshine Coast in QLD is expecting over the next 10 days. 

[Tyrone]

Here it comes

[Tyrone]

Quite a drenching last night that hasn’t stopped yet. 43mm in the last 24hrs with more to come. 

[The Palm Nut]

Lots of rain last night and this morning but looking to be a great warm to hot and humid week starting tomorrow. 

[Tyrone]

We ended up with 53mm in the end. Not much compared to the east but decent. The garden is well and truly drenched. 

[Tyrone]

Some seedling Rhopalostylis sapida from Great Barrier Island sitting in water. They should love it. 

[Phil Petersen]

12 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Some seedling Rhopalostylis sapida from Great Barrier Island sitting in water. They should love it. 

Nice work! If I had a stream on my property thats what I'd also be doing. See many Rhopies growing pretty much in stream beds and banks in the wild here in NZ. I had to extend the shade cloth yesterday as some of my smaller  baueri rhopies were getting sunburnt with the nice sunny weather we have been getting recently.  Almost hitting 20deg on the nicer days now.  I need more trees to get them established. 

[UK_Palms]

It’s quite incredible just how much rainfall Sydney has experienced this year. It’s already the wettest calendar year on record with 2+ months left to go, but now it is also the wettest October on record too with 287mm (11.3 inches) of rain this month. That is more rain in one month than I have had for this entire year here, which is 284mm (11.1 inches). The total over the past 12 months there is a staggering 2,645mm (104 inches). More rain to come as well for Sydney. Crikey!

 

Edited October 25, 2022 by UK_Palms

[Tyrone]

It’s been a cold and wet October with 100mm of rain so far which is at least 25% above average. Just looked at the 28 day rainfall forecast and there is only one day forecast for absolutely no rain and that’s on the 24th of November. Siggghhhhh. 😔

[UK_Palms]

Just seen the England vs Australia cricket game in Melbourne was called off before it even started due to the rain. They should have had it in the UK haha. Lords in London was dry and 22C yesterday. 8C warmer than Melbourne. 21C here today as well with sun. Crazy given that we are nearly into November now and have this warmth, while large swatches of Oz are still very cold & wet. That should change in the next week or so.

[Tyrone]

10 hours ago, UK_Palms said:

Just seen the England vs Australia cricket game in Melbourne was called off before it even started due to the rain. They should have had it in the UK haha. Lords in London was dry and 22C yesterday. 8C warmer than Melbourne. 21C here today as well with sun. Crazy given that we are nearly into November now and have this warmth, while large swatches of Oz are still very cold & wet. That should change in the next week or so.

Mt Barker just north of me is going for a top of 13C today and that’s our top tomorrow. The fire hasn’t gone out for ages. It’s been cold this year. 

[Phil Petersen]

It was forecast on and off showers and sunshine here for the next ten days, and mild overnight lows.  Yesterday was up to 22degrees, sunny and then started raining at night. Looks the same again today, up to 23 deg. Great growing weather 

[Phil Petersen]

Hope you get some warmer weather soon @Tyrone. I'm sure you will where you are. All that rain will be setting up the land and plantings well to handle the heat of your summer. Was pushing the pram around the botanic gardens today and checked on the nikau. The new chatham sapida plantings from autumn this year planted under deciduous trees have browned off on the older fronds  but the central growth should be good for it now.

The 3m-high, older R sapida in the thicker native tree section are looking good as always. Rata (Metrosideros sp.) vine in full flower behind, trunk of Pseudopanax crassifolius in foreground. 

[Foxpalms]

@Phil Petersennice photos of the nikaus. Every park in central London needs some of these!  How many leaves per year do the nikaus typically make on the south Island of new Zealand?

[Tyrone]

It’s 12C here and we’ve had hail today. Everything is waterlogged. We’ve had about 120mm of rain this month with about 75mm falling this week. Our average is 75mm in October.

The good news is one forecast is saying 25C on Friday. 

[Phil Petersen]

12 hours ago, Foxpalms said:

@Phil Petersen How many leaves per year do the nikaus typically make on the south Island of new Zealand?

Not too sure TBH but I think its somewhere around 2-3. My mainland NZ sapida are definitely slowest with the chathams sapida and the baueri being the fastest. I may have to do a year-long tally/count to get a better idea. They do slow right down from July-ish and are pushing spears normally again by this time of year.  

[cbmnz]

24.1C yesterday and 25.0C today, bit of a contrast to 3.5 weeks ago. A near neighbour has a big bunch of bananas on one stem in their grove despite all leaves getting zapped in June then again in October. 

[Tyrone]

We had 130mm of rain in October and tomorrow is meant to be 21C with some rain, then it’s all mid to high teens for the foreseeable future with rain and clouds. This has been the longest winter on record. Totally over it. 

[PalmCode]

Suns getting hot now, time to move all my potted Nikau and Hedyscepe into shade.  Archontophoenix should  still be fine though.

[Tyrone]

I think the south coast of WA especially around Albany is just a cloud magnet. It can clear up to blue skies and 32C in Perth while we are sat under multiple levels of cloud and only make 21C which is the scenario today. 21C is the highest it will get in the long range forecast. Yesterday and probably the seven days before it were actually like being in a cloud. There was just a very light breeze with tiny dew size drops floating around constantly. Everything is just moist and dripping off excess moisture. Probably like being in the Colombian Andes at 2000m. The weeds and clover in the lawn just loves it. But I need to get some warmth to get certain things growing again. 

[Phil Petersen]

Generally mid to late teen highs for the next week or so here with overnight lows around 10deg. Pretty normal conditions with no extremes. Mix of fine, cloudy periods, and showers.  Wider garden is looking verdant with all the spring growth. Palm-wise, the Archie purpurea is pushing its first new spear since it was moved outside and potted to 25l end of winter. Latest spears on the 75l chathams nikau look nice and tall, should get a couple of bigger fronds very early summer all going well. Some 25l baueri opening new spears currently. 

[Tyrone]

Yesterday actually reached a balmy 25.8C and today when I woke it was blue sky outside which is just awesome. Nights are now in the teens again. I think spring is finally here. Now I’m hoping for the place to dry out a bit. It makes it much easier to mow the lawn. 

[Tyrone]

Well after that warm blip up to 25.8C it just descended again into sub 20C weather with clouds drizzle and at times it’s very windy. Coldest start to November I’ve ever experienced. The fire is still burning in the house 24/7. Really depressing. Just had a few minutes at sunup with the sun out and a bit of blue sky but the clouds flew back in and that’s all folks for that. 

At least the nights are double digits now. Gotta be positive. 

[sandgroper]

2 hours ago, Tyrone said:

Well after that warm blip up to 25.8C it just descended again into sub 20C weather with clouds drizzle and at times it’s very windy. Coldest start to November I’ve ever experienced. The fire is still burning in the house 24/7. Really depressing. Just had a few minutes at sunup with the sun out and a bit of blue sky but the clouds flew back in and that’s all folks for that. 

At least the nights are double digits now. Gotta be positive. 

It's the coolest spring I can remember for a while, we even had some rain this morning. No complaints from me, happy to enjoy the cool temps while I can.

[Tyrone]

Windy.com has got my area down for about 42mm of rain for the next ten days. That isn’t high compared to the east, but our November avg is about that and we already have rain in the gauge. Expecting thunderstorms this afternoon and evening.

Normally by now the rain starts to drop away with some dry spells. The lakes start to recede a bit and the stream that feeds the property, can be a bit stop and start. Not this year. The place is still loaded with water, the stream is still flowing strong.

Synoptically by now we should be seeing high pressure zones lodging in the Bight pumping easterlies over us that turn to northerlies with heat troughs starting to form down the west coast. These bring dry and warmer conditions. Instead the highs are staying mostly in the Indian Ocean and lows are coming overland to drop down into the Bight and go east.

Its going to be an interesting summer if that continues.