Southern Hemisphere Growing Season 2025/26

[Jonathan]

12 hours ago, Tyrone said:

The same day was forecast to be about 36-38C down here so as we left 2 days earlier I covered vulnerable stuff with shade cloth and made sure they were juiced up. The actual temp that day was a humid 30.6C. I think that was a much better temp.  Low to high twenties this week. Bewdiful. 

Same here, the mid 20's perfect zone!

[Bennz]

115mm rain last night, I like summer rain. Back to 28c tomorrow so it'll probably dry up pretty quickly.

[Jonathan]

The sweet spot...a bit cool tomorrow but then perfect.

[Tyrone]

The weather has been great lately. Forecast is 30C tomorrow. However it’s been mid to high twenties every day. Mid to high teens at night. No rain forecast though, but then there’s no low humidity either. Dewpoints in the mid to high teens. 

[tropicbreeze]

December had turned out to be a bit of a mixed month. The first three weeks were relatively dry. However, a monsoon trough formed earlier than previously forecast and brought a lot of rain in the last week of the month. Amazingly enough, the rain stopped for the whole of Christmas Day but at night the skies opened up again. There was 289.6mm rain for the month mostly at the end, but still about 10% below average.  The weak monsoon trough dissipated by the end of the month. A lot of cloud cover kept temperatures down, av. min. 25.1C, av. max. 33.9C.

During the month Severe Tropical Cyclone Grant formed in the Indian Ocean and crossed the coast as a Cat 3 at the northern end of the Dampier Peninsula. The models aren't predicting anything until about a fortnight when an inland tropic low may cross the coast heading out to sea near Port Hedland and intensify. BoM has another monsoon trough forming to the east of us later in the week. 

[Jonathan]

20 hours ago, tropicbreeze said:

December had turned out to be a bit of a mixed month. The first three weeks were relatively dry. However, a monsoon trough formed earlier than previously forecast and brought a lot of rain in the last week of the month. Amazingly enough, the rain stopped for the whole of Christmas Day but at night the skies opened up again. There was 289.6mm rain for the month mostly at the end, but still about 10% below average.  The weak monsoon trough dissipated by the end of the month. A lot of cloud cover kept temperatures down, av. min. 25.1C, av. max. 33.9C.

During the month Severe Tropical Cyclone Grant formed in the Indian Ocean and crossed the coast as a Cat 3 at the northern end of the Dampier Peninsula. The models aren't predicting anything until about a fortnight when an inland tropic low may cross the coast heading out to sea near Port Hedland and intensify. BoM has another monsoon trough forming to the east of us later in the week. 

Your minimums are a pretty good match for our maximums this week, pretty brutal up there!

[tim_brissy_13]

We’ve been having really nice growing weather lately with an average max of 25C so far in January but that’s about to change. 41C forecast tomorrow, then 30C and 37C. May just sit and mist the Lepidorrachis the next few days!

[tim_brissy_13]

Got to 42.4C today! Kept everything moist so I’m confident all my palms are ok. The Cyathea tree ferns on the other hand instantly sulk at these kind of temperatures. 

[Jonathan]

8 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Got to 42.4C today! Kept everything moist so I’m confident all my palms are ok. The Cyathea tree ferns on the other hand instantly sulk at these kind of temperatures. 

Ouch  too hot Tim. Hope everything pulls through OK. 

Was a lovely 25 here yesterday.

[Tyrone]

On 1/7/2026 at 7:16 PM, tim_brissy_13 said:

Got to 42.4C today! Kept everything moist so I’m confident all my palms are ok. The Cyathea tree ferns on the other hand instantly sulk at these kind of temperatures. 

Was wondering how you guys were going over there. That sort of heat nobody needs unless you’re growing Medemia argun. 

So far it’s been a mild summer for us. Nothing over 38.2 and mid 20s mostly. I think we’ve had 3 days over 30C and that’s it. A cold front came through yesterday and blew like mad for a while and we got a few hours of light rain on sundown. Min was 16C and going for a max of 20C then back to mid 20s after that. 

[tim_brissy_13]

1 hour ago, Tyrone said:

Was wondering how you guys were going over there. That sort of heat nobody needs unless you’re growing Medemia argun. 

So far it’s been a mild summer for us. Nothing over 38.2 and mid 20s mostly. I think we’ve had 3 days over 30C and that’s it. A cold front came through yesterday and blew like mad for a while and we got a few hours of light rain on sundown. Min was 16C and going for a max of 20C then back to mid 20s after that. 

Yeah I’m sure my Hyphaene petersiana appreciates it having barely survived the long winter but that’s about it. Today we’ve just hit 40C at midday with 60km/h Northerlies and still climbing quickly. Looks like we’ll be getting up around 42-43C again. So far no obvious damage to any palms, but Cyatheas are crispy and some bromeliads are bleached. 

[Tyrone]

3 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Yeah I’m sure my Hyphaene petersiana appreciates it having barely survived the long winter but that’s about it. Today we’ve just hit 40C at midday with 60km/h Northerlies and still climbing quickly. Looks like we’ll be getting up around 42-43C again. So far no obvious damage to any palms, but Cyatheas are crispy and some bromeliads are bleached. 

40C plus temps and high winds are the worst combination. Your Hyphaene will love it. Cyatheas rebound well provided they get cooler weather and moisture, moisture, moisture.

Hopefully you’ll get cooler weather soon. 

It's hit 19C here today and is trying to drizzle. Only 3C difference between min and max. What a contrast of weather between east and west. 

[tim_brissy_13]

39 minutes ago, Tyrone said:

40C plus temps and high winds are the worst combination. Your Hyphaene will love it. Cyatheas rebound well provided they get cooler weather and moisture, moisture, moisture.

Hopefully you’ll get cooler weather soon. 

It's hit 19C here today and is trying to drizzle. Only 3C difference between min and max. What a contrast of weather between east and west. 

44.0C now with 74km/h winds. This is about as bad as it gets. A recently opened Chrysalidocarpus lanceolatus frond has been completely desiccated. My big Hedyscepe is about to open a frond but hasn’t quite yet which I’m grateful for because I suspect the freshly exposed leaf surfaces would be toast. 

[cbmnz]

4 hours ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

44.0C now with 74km/h winds. This is about as bad as it gets. A recently opened Chrysalidocarpus lanceolatus frond has been completely desiccated. My big Hedyscepe is about to open a frond but hasn’t quite yet which I’m grateful for because I suspect the freshly exposed leaf surfaces would be toast. 

Sorry to see/hear - hard to imagine that type of weather, must be like a hair dryer at arm's length. Some of that heat coming across this weekend, this is not for where I am, this Hastings just inland in the Hawkes Bay region, have not seen a forecast like this for any NZ location for quite a while.  Thanks to the flow being NW the relative proximity of the Tasman sea should keep my location/garden under 30 thankfully. 

[Bennz]

12 hours ago, cbmnz said:

Sorry to see/hear - hard to imagine that type of weather, must be like a hair dryer at arm's length. Some of that heat coming across this weekend, this is not for where I am, this Hastings just inland in the Hawkes Bay region, have not seen a forecast like this for any NZ location for quite a while.  Thanks to the flow being NW the relative proximity of the Tasman sea should keep my location/garden under 30 thankfully. 

I'm only half an hour drive from Hastings, but my expected high is a mere 36C tomorrow!

[Jonathan]

10 hours ago, Bennz said:

I'm only half an hour drive from Hastings, but my expected high is a mere 36C tomorrow!

That's hot for you blokes...it is of course 18 degrees here, lol.

[cbmnz]

1 hour ago, Jonathan said:

That's hot for you blokes...it is of course 18 degrees here, lol.

The heat was a mini-bust today. This was expected to be the hottest official site 35C, every time it tried to pass 30, the sea breeze came in. Maybe some rural areas further inland did hit mid 30s however. 

Tomorrow may be different with a stronger foehn wind expected, this site not far from Bennz still forecast to each 38.
Locally,  it hovered 26 to 27C all afternoon with a sunny sky and steady breeze. With 17C 850 hPA temperature overhead, with no wind it would have been 32+. Was thinking what  a massive heat sink the Tasman sea is. Went for a bike ride and a swim, the temp was just in that sweet spot for both. 

[cbmnz]

It did go above 36 for both main stations in the Hawkes Bay region on Sunday.  

[Jonathan]

Mostly nice week ahead, still no real heat to speak of this summer.

[Bennz]

Been a bit damp in Northern NZ, with one friend of mine recording over 600mm in 48 hours at her home in Whitianga. Thata would be the Whitianga that has all the roads blocked off, the wastewater system overflowing, and the fresh water about to collapse.  Down here we only got 110mm overnight, and with 27C today it feels a bit like I'm visiting tropicbreeze!

[Tyrone]

On 1/9/2026 at 1:27 PM, tim_brissy_13 said:

44.0C now with 74km/h winds. This is about as bad as it gets. A recently opened Chrysalidocarpus lanceolatus frond has been completely desiccated. My big Hedyscepe is about to open a frond but hasn’t quite yet which I’m grateful for because I suspect the freshly exposed leaf surfaces would be toast. 

Way too hot. Reminds me of a summer here a few years back. I lost a few Chatham Island Nikaus in that. 

[Tyrone]

On 1/9/2026 at 5:46 PM, cbmnz said:

Sorry to see/hear - hard to imagine that type of weather, must be like a hair dryer at arm's length. Some of that heat coming across this weekend, this is not for where I am, this Hastings just inland in the Hawkes Bay region, have not seen a forecast like this for any NZ location for quite a while.  Thanks to the flow being NW the relative proximity of the Tasman sea should keep my location/garden under 30 thankfully. 

Amazing to see those sort of temps in NZ

[Tyrone]

Weird temp graph today. It was around 30C by 7.40am. Then we got some rain but nothing that really registered in the gauge or of any use. It peaked at 35C quickly then dropped just as quick. 

[Tyrone]

12 hours ago, Bennz said:

Been a bit damp in Northern NZ, with one friend of mine recording over 600mm in 48 hours at her home in Whitianga. Thata would be the Whitianga that has all the roads blocked off, the wastewater system overflowing, and the fresh water about to collapse.  Down here we only got 110mm overnight, and with 27C today it feels a bit like I'm visiting tropicbreeze!

That’s an incredible amount of rain. The landslips have been on the news over here. Terrible. 

[cbmnz]

On 1/23/2026 at 4:26 AM, Tyrone said:

That’s an incredible amount of rain. The landslips have been on the news over here. Terrible. 

All in all a horrible unnamed system. Seems it has taken up to 10 lives and damaged some areas worse than cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.  No ill effects here just 35mm of rain.  Now a couple of days of summer being on holiday as it drags up a big outburst from the Southern ocean.  Does look like better comming, the high pressure belt looks like will return and hopefully stick around all Feb like last year.

[tim_brissy_13]

It’s hot here. Just failed to touch 40C yesterday. 26C today which is nice, and then we’ve got this coming up:

Typically forecasts are slightly conservative for the really extreme days, so I’m not looking forward to what Tuesday might become.

 

[Jonathan]

On 1/25/2026 at 7:08 AM, tim_brissy_13 said:

It’s hot here. Just failed to touch 40C yesterday. 26C today which is nice, and then we’ve got this coming up:

Typically forecasts are slightly conservative for the really extreme days, so I’m not looking forward to what Tuesday might become.

 

Good luck tomorrow Tim, That's a bit scary.

Almost as scary as our forecast 17 max next Monday...this crazy summer is continuing true to form. Last night was COLD, got down to 7 degrees...tomorrow 34c. Don't plan a picnic!!

[tim_brissy_13]

17 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

Good luck tomorrow Tim, That's a bit scary.

Almost as scary as our forecast 17 max next Monday...this crazy summer is continuing true to form. Last night was COLD, got down to 7 degrees...tomorrow 34c. Don't plan a picnic!!

Tomorrow’s forecast now up to 44C. Honestly I’d take 17C any day! At least the Lepidorrhachis would be loving life down there!

[Jonathan]

1 minute ago, tim_brissy_13 said:

Tomorrow’s forecast now up to 44C. Honestly I’d take 17C any day! At least the Lepidorrhachis would be loving life down there!

It's a crazy country, you've gotta choose your poison. Despite my constant whining about the lack of heat this year I'm actually getting pretty good growth in general, so shouldn't complain really. 

And yep, agreed, 17 is more pleasant than 44!

[Tyrone]

Going for a pleasant top of 28C today but the nights have been chilly. We’ve had some single digit minimums which is cool even for us down here at the bottom of WA. They drop into the single digits briefly before sun up then bounce back strongly once the sun comes up. UV index around 12 lately. So with mild highs cool nights and high UV, mountain species like Parajubaea are just going off at the moment. 37C forecast for Monday. 

[happypalms]

On 1/26/2026 at 7:36 PM, Jonathan said:

It's a crazy country, you've gotta choose your poison. Despite my constant whining about the lack of heat this year I'm actually getting pretty good growth in general, so shouldn't complain really. 

And yep, agreed, 17 is more pleasant than 44!

Ovens and  freezers 🤪

[Jonathan]

Finally hit settled summer weather here after what felt like a seemingly endless spring. The strange thing is that despite seeming cool, the mean temps in Hobart have consistently been around 0.5C above average all summer...

I suspect that we're experiencing shifting baseline syndrome, where what we perceive as 'normal' is actually based on already changed conditions. In other words, summers have been getting marginally warmer each year for X number of years without us particularly noticing, so unless it's a super warm summer it seems cool, even though it isn't in a long term context...if that makes sense?

The classic example of shifting baseline syndrome is degraded fisheries, where each generation of fishers think they've had a big catch when they've actually caught far less and smaller fish than the previous generation would have considered successful.

Enough philosophy...here's the forecast!

[tropicbreeze]

January brought more heavy and consistent rain. Two monsoon troughs developed, although small and fairly weak they still brought a lot of rain. 

Currently there's a tropical Low passing to the south  of us and expected to cross the Kimberley coast in a couple of days. In the Indian Ocean it's likely to intensify and develop into a tropical cyclone. Possible effect here is drawing away of a lot of the moist air and bring in a drier spell. So far, though, February has got off to a very wet start.

In about a week the sun will pass directly overhead. UV index still up to 15.

January rain 649mm (172.4% of average)
Average max. 32.4C
Average min. 24.1C

[Tyrone]

Had a hot Monday. 

[Tyrone]

Then a totally mild Tuesday with the max at midnight.

 

[Tyrone]

Got some mild weather, good growing weather for sub tropicals but would love 30 or 40mm of rain in a thunderstorm but it’s the driest time of the year and basically not a chance of that until mid late March if we get some thunderstorms from decaying cyclones etc. 

[cbmnz]

Also in a very steady Summer groove temperature wise.  My palms have loved this whole Summer, it started early, no extremes, and has never fully dried out either. The palms all look like what the picture on the seed packet would look like. Trying to admire while it lasts, as it won't be forever, the next frost or hailstorm will come eventually. 

 Even the one Chatham Island that  never would hold any but the the newest frond green, has finally found its groove. The one thing that coincided was that I greatly lifted up the shade cloth "hat"  over it.  Better airflow? Rain getting through  better? Who knows.

[Jonathan]

On 2/5/2026 at 9:33 PM, Tyrone said:

Got some mild weather, good growing weather for sub tropicals but would love 30 or 40mm of rain in a thunderstorm but it’s the driest time of the year and basically not a chance of that until mid late March if we get some thunderstorms from decaying cyclones etc. 

That looks like beautiful weather!

[Jonathan]

11 hours ago, cbmnz said:

Also in a very steady Summer groove temperature wise.  My palms have loved this whole Summer, it started early, no extremes, and has never fully dried out either. The palms all look like what the picture on the seed packet would look like. Trying to admire while it lasts, as it won't be forever, the next frost or hailstorm will come eventually. 

 Even the one Chatham Island that  never would hold any but the the newest frond green, has finally found its groove. The one thing that coincided was that I greatly lifted up the shade cloth "hat"  over it.  Better airflow? Rain getting through  better? Who knows.

And so does that!!

[cbmnz]

Reached 30.8 today, first time even my home station which is sheltered and more often than not warmer than the nearest official site 15km away, had gone over 30 since once on Jan 7, and before that had to go back to Dec 11. Yet had an average max of 25.5 and 25.7 for Dec and Jan. 

After easily warmest November in last 20 years and 5 days in a row >30 in early Dec, was expecting a lot more >30 days this summer but today could quite possibly be the last.  Not complaining, palms seem to like temps in the 20s as do people.