Discussion: Sydney's Weather

[TokWW]

When you say dry and cold - what is the humidity and DP over there with that wind and the temps and blue sky?

[rainfan]

Originally Posted by ATO2

A bit nippy in some places there, I see! How often, do you know, does most of Sydney ever get a frost?

Sydney City has never recorded a frost, lowest ever temp was 2.1oC way back in June 1932 followed by 2.2oC in July 1890 & 2.7oC in August 1872.

Western suburbs tend to record much lower min temps in winter than the city. Frosts are recorded several times a year from April to September especially under a cold SW airflow.

Richmond in the NW has recorded -0.4oC for April, May 2005 with -1.4oC, June 2004 with -3.4oC, July 2002 with -5.2, August 2005 with -4oC and -0.5 for September in 1995. (Records from 1993). At the old site (Records from 1965-1975) May 1965 with -2.8oC, June 1973 with -3.4oC, July 1970 with -7.2oC, August 1974 with -3.7oC and -1oC for September in 1972.

Camden in the SW: April 2006 with -0.7oC, May 1987 with -2.2oC, June 1986 with -5.4oC, July 2002 with -6.0oC, August 1986 with -4oC and September 1972 with -1 degree.

[rainfan]

Originally Posted by TokWW

When you say dry and cold - what is the humidity and DP over there with that wind and the temps and blue sky?

DP yesterday ranged from -3.4 to 3.9 but hovered around zero – 1 most of the time. Humidity ranged from 28% to 69&. When the DP dropped to -3.4, humidity dropped to 28%.

[rainfan]

Sydney Airport’s maximum of 13 degrees yesterday was the coldest day in 2 years.

The daily sun total yesterday reached 10.0 hours – first occasion since May to do so & a sure sign that days are getting longer & 2 1/2 months to go before daylight savings start

After a clear and cold night, cloud swept in around sun-rise making for a mostly cloudy & cold day with some afternoon spells of sunshine. Some light to moderate showers at Bondi this morning according to wifey, only a little bit in the city. Southerly winds were moderate to fresh at times.

Rain since 9am: 3.8mm at Rose Bay, 2.6mm at Airport and 1mm for Ob Hill.

City: 5/14
Airport: 5/14

Several suburbs had frosts this morning: Richmond with -2oC, Penrith with 0.3, -0.9 at Badgerys Creek and -0.5 at Campbelltown. Terrey Hills had the lowest max with 11oC.

[TokWW]

Well you're welcome to any of our rain and "moisture" - this is getting boringly repetitive! Just another 5 weeks and we should be out of it...

[RWood]

We're keeping about 140mm ahead of YTD rain average with this last lot. However the surplus sunshine (though this month may break the spell) YTD has been a very good counterpoint.

[rainfan]

God, I can't go to bed yet as am so thrilled at hearing the rain

Had couple more slow moving showers since last post, some moderate to heavy, just had a heavy one sweep over lasting ten minutes Rain since 9am today:
City:4.2
Airport:6
Rose Bay:7.8

In reply to TokWW's post - You Kiwis , I recall during Jan/Feb there were serious worries about the "drought" in northern NZ. Winter is usually a wet time for NZ especially in the NI, looking at records I note that July 1998 was very wet over most of the NI with flooding of the Waikato river. It's good to have a wet winter so the rain can replenish all dams & rivers before entering the drier summer.

Perth has also been having a lot of rain showers & storms, their MTD total stands at 112mm including 19mm since 9am today with plenty more on the way & you should hear all the cheering & excitement that's going on - bless them & plenty of rain in Queensland, its quite unusual to have this happen as its the "dry" season, but it's to much benefit for farmers & dams, lots of praise for rains on this side of the ditch

[RWood]

The excess rain is a nuisance around the city now, with sodden parks and outdoor sports venues. We need a couple of months of relatively dry weather to rebalance things.

[TokWW]

Yes Rainfan - I think what we are having is a "Normal Winter" that we haven't seen for a while although my station records show (over just 1 year) that the heaviest rain fall totals were in August last year..., that's why I say a further 6 weeks until September gets underway with more sunshine.

I'm waiting for my solar sensor to arrive and get that configured, but we need full sunshine at the zenith to calibrate Weather-Display software... would have it (the sunshine) today but no sensor yet...

Perhaps we will hear the Waikato dairy farmers bleating about the stock damaged muddy pasture soon... You can't win...

[RWood]

Posting this here as I don't think it's of enough general interest to warrant a separate thread. It shows sunshine averages for a few Australian sites. It should be noted that the possible recordable shown (and hence the average % of that experienced) is based on astronomical daylength, not the actual recordable amount at the sites.