Australian Weather

[Coast]

Townsville declared a disaster zone after freak storm

TOWNSVILLE has been declared a disaster zone after a freak storm - described as a mini tornado - left 60 homes and businesses with major structural damage. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh visited the hard-hit suburb of Vincent today, hours after the storm tore roofs from dozens of homes, uprooted trees and downed power lines. "It appears to be something akin to a mini tornado. It has taken roofs off houses and there's a lot of vegetation down," she said. She said the army would be called in to help with the clean-up, and many victims would be out of their homes for months.

Residents had been through a terrifying experience and it was very fortunate no lives had been lost, she said. "These quiet suburban streets of Townsville have suffered a shocking and devastating event," Ms Bligh told reporters. "Its force was obviously ferocious." Ms Bligh said the people of Vincent were now facing a heartbreaking clean-up task on a scale not seen even after Cyclone Yasi last year. "Yasi did nothing like this in Townsville. There is a lot of heartbreak," she said.

Ms Bligh said a disaster had been declared to give victims access to cash grants and other support and the defence force would also be called in to help. "A number of these people aren't going to be back in their homes for a matter of months and we will be helping people to relocate for the short-term," Ms Bligh said.

The storm hit about 5am on Tuesday. The Department of Community Safety earlier said at least 25 properties had lost their entire roofs. As Ms Bligh toured Vincent, she stopped to speak with local man Wally Currie, 56, who described the incredible noise of the storm. "All of a sudden I heard an aeroplane take off. But it wasn't an aeroplane. S*** happens," said Mr Currie, who is in the process of renovating his home. "It's a good thing you're renovating your house, but your job's got a lot bigger," the Premier told him. Ms Bligh said the scale of the damage was truly shocking. "I've never seen anything quite like this," she said. "It's worse than Yasi in this street."

Further north, emergency workers have rescued more than 20 people from floodwaters after torrential downpours in far north Queensland. A landslide on Monday at Ellis Beach cut-off the Captain Cook Highway, while several other major roads including the Gillies Highway have been blocked because of localised flooding, say police. About 20 people had to be rescued on Monday night after becoming trapped between two causeways near Cairns, says the Department of Community Safety. Another man had to be rescued from the back of his ute on Mission Beach early today.

"SES units from Cairns, Gordonvale and Babinda have assisted in the rescue of about 20 people from floodwater in Little Mulgrave," the DCS told AAP. "They were in cars trapped between two causeways where water flows quite rapidly," a DCS representative said. "We also rescued a man from the back of a ute near Mission Beach. "No one was injured." Since 9am (AEST) yesterday more than 300mm of rain has been recorded at Bureau of Meteorology Tung Oil weather station south of Cairns, while 241mm was recorded at Bucklands, 245 at Corsis Alert and 250 at Clyde Road.

Flood warnings have been issued for coastal and adjacent inland catchments from Cairns to Bowen including the Tully and Murray Rivers (minor flooding) and the Bohle River (moderate) and Don River (minor). There are also flood warnings for the Norman River (minor) and Gilbert River (moderate). Flooding along the Bohle River has forced the closure of the northbound bridge of the Bruce Highway at Shaw forcing traffic the southbound lanes to be split into two to accommodate motorists heading north. Ingham Road at Blakey's Crossing and Dalrymple Road, both in Townsville, have been closed due to localised flooding.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/high-winds-described-as-a-mini-tornado-sweeps-through-townsville-on-tuesday-morning/story-fn7x8me2-1226305016734

[Snowangel-MK]

Peter Byrne is Queensland weather presenter for the WIN TV a regional TV network in Australia. He was very angry at "more unprofessional claptrap on what they portray as breakfast television" who he alleges forecast 200 kph winds for north Queensland.

This is the Sunshine Coast version of his rant......

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2ZOVBLLCbs&sns=tw

[Methuselah]

Perhaps they get their 'data' from Ken Ring? Remember him?

[Styx]

The first cold outbreak for the autumn is shortly due to sweep across Tasmania.

On Friday, snow is expected to descend to the 700 metre level ( 2300 feet ), with coastal and land gales. The cold pool of air is originating from waters well to the south of Tasmania, and eventhough the timing is not especially unusual for this time of the year it will freshen things up nicely. Hobart's maximum will be 14 degrees ( 6 below average for March )

On Saturday morning Hobart's Mt Wellington ( see signature webcam link below ) should look grand with a nice snowcap.

There might even be enough snow to ski at at southern Tasmania's premier ( cough ) snowfield ( 4200 feet ) ! ( at least for a day before it melts away )

http://www.stsa.webb...au/snowcam.html

Edited March 20, 2012 by Styx

[NorthNSW]

Yes Styx, definately looking chilly for parts of SE Australia this Friday and over the weekend. On the mainland, there should be a bit of snow for the alpine region of Victoria and the higher alpine peaks in New South Wales. For the majority of NSW, the front should bring a blast of dry air. Away from the coast, and especially on the ranges this should see minimums fall firmly into the single figures. BOM can sometimes be a bit conservative with minimums on the ranges, and I expect a frosty night or two in places like Cooma, Goulburn and Armidale. Being on the coastal fringe, the front should bring a few dry, and cool(ish) nights here and mild days.

I lived in Armidale for three years recently. It usually gets close to 100 frosts a year. I will never forget the morning of June 30th 2010, the minimum was -11.2ºC (grass minimum of -15ºC). My internal hot water pipe froze and burst and I had hot water running down some of my kitchen and laundry wall and onto the floor. Parts of the wall had to be filled in and some of the brickwork replaced. More about the Armidale climate here: http://www.weatherar...com/climate.htm

Thankfully at my current location, I don't get frosts where I live in town. The outskirts of town do about one to three times a year (about 800m away) on the inland side of a small rise, but not where I live just a kilometre from the ocean. The record low here is 4ºC.

BTW, this is a good overall summary of the Townsville Tornado. First half from Seven Local News in Townsville 20/03/2012, and the second half from Seven News Brisbane 20/03/2012:

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITfHqDdOaZ0

Edited March 21, 2012 by NthNSW

[NorthNSW]

Good afternoon everyone

Summary here for the past week (Date/Min/Max/24hrRainfall):

Mar 16th - 19.0ºC/27.0ºC - Nil

Mar 17th - 22.3ºC/24.7ºC - 3.4mm

Mar 18th - 17.5ºC/24.5ºC - 2.4mm

Mar 19th - 16.5ºC/24.7ºC - 11.2mm

Mar 20th - 17.1ºC/27.2ºC - 16.6mm

Mar 21st - 19.0ºC/24.2ºC - 3.0mm

Mar 22nd - 19.3ºC/27.0ºC - Nil

It was a mild to warm week. Rain this week was from some showers in an onshore flow, and was enhanced locally on the 20th as a weak trough dissipated off the state's north coast. A ridge of high pressure cleared the showers by morning tea on the 21st. Severe Tropical Cyclone Lua caused minor damage as it hit the Pilbara coast on the 17th, thanks to the region being very sparsely populated. Though reports from Pardoo Roadhouse (petrol station, tavern and caravan park), which was near the eye of the storm, suggest it received moderate damage there. As already mentioned above, the monsoon trough certainly gave a few suburbs in the city of Townsville a nasty surprise!

Today was a very warm day. It was 28.1ºC at 3pm. A southerly change is due late tonight. There is the slight chance of a light shower overnight as the change moves through. A dry airmass behind the front should bring dry and mild weather over the weekend. Late on Sunday or during Monday, a high pressure system will move into the Tasman Sea, and winds should turn onshore. There is the possibility of a shower or two from Monday. At this stage, any showers that do occur should be isolated and only bring light falls. This March has been dry, with current monthly rainfall about 100mm below the average.

Apart from today's summer-like warmth, it should be an autumnal week and pretty much the temps you'd be expecting in late March. Maximums should generally stay around 24-26 degrees this week and minimums should be around 16-18 degrees.

Edited March 23, 2012 by NthNSW

[Styx]

Just a note on the Tasmanian cold snap on Friday March 23. It is well worth mentioning this! At 1:30pm in Hobart (sealevel) the temperature fell to 5.9C, a stunningly low figure more in tune with mid winter than the first few weeks of autumn. I have not known it to be so cold during the day so early in the year. The maximum managed to reach 12.5C.

There was light snow cover in the highlands, but more extensive cover further inland ( 3 to 4 inches ). Some highland roads were only passable via 4WD vehicles.

Back to average values now, with high pressure centred at this latitude.

[NorthNSW]

Summary here for the past week (Date/Min/Max/24hrRainfall):

Mar 23rd - 19.5ºC/28.5ºC - Nil

Mar 24th - 15.5ºC/25.0ºC - Nil

Mar 25th - 16.0ºC/26.1ºC - 7.2mm

Mar 26th - 18.3ºC/26.4ºC - 0.8mm

Mar 27th - 17.4ºC/26.9ºC - 8.0mm

Mar 28th - 17.2ºC/23.1ºC - 3.8mm

Mar 29th - 18.1ºC/26.6ºC - Nil

It was a mild to warm week. A surge of cooler and drier air pushed through early on the 24th, bringing a mild and cloud-free day (the wind made it feel more like 21-22 rather than 25). Winds tended SE'ly early Monday morning, bringing a few showers over the following days with most of them occurring during the night. Aside from the 28th, the days were generally mostly sunny. The following photo is from the historic Trial Bay Gaol (used as a German internment camp during WWI) at South West Rocks looking NNW, taken on the afternoon of the 27th (about 26ºC at the time of this pic):

There is the chance of a shower or storm today with a weak trough near the northeast of the state. A ridge of high pressure will move into the region during tomorrow and persist into Sunday, and weaken during Monday. A trough looks like moving into the state on Monday, and will be nearer to our region on Tuesday but it's not expected to do much with limited moisture available. It's a bit unclear as to what will occur on Wednesday/Thursday, but winds should turn SE'ly, and at present it appears a low pressure trough could approach the north coast and enhance the onshore flow bringing a decent amount of showers.

Maximums should be around 25-27 degrees over the next week into April, with minimums around 17-19 degrees.

April is our second wettest month on average (170.8mm). Even as tropical moisture starts to wane, colder airmasses start to make more impact (more-so in mid/upper levels, rather than at the surface) combined with warm ocean temps means the risk of East Coast Lows increases during April. If it wasn't for the persistence of SE'ly trade winds in these parts during April, we'd probably get a burst of storm activity at this time of year.

Max and min temps start to fall as we get more regular injections of cooler air. Humidity levels also fall gradually during the month. It isn't too uncommon for summer-like warmth to persist into April though, but usually there is a change to a more "wintry" pattern by late April as those cold fronts start make some progress further northwards.

The Bureau is predicting a 70-80% chance of above median rainfall over April-June in northeast NSW (http://www.bom.gov.a...ain.seaus.shtml). Cooler days and warmer nights are favoured over the Apr-Jun period in northeast NSW as well (http://www.bom.gov.a...emp.seaus.shtml).

Here's a link to a webcam at South West Rocks (a low-ish quality cam): http://www.maritime.nsw.gov.au/webcams/webcam_southwestrocks.html

The nearest high quality webcam is a Bonny Hills, around 75kms south of here: http://webcams.bsch.au.com/bonny_hills_ne.html

Edited March 30, 2012 by NthNSW

[NorthNSW]

Good afternoon all,

Summary here for the past week (Date/Min/Max/24hrRainfall):

Mar 30th - 19.0ºC/27.6ºC - Nil

Mar 31st - 17.5ºC/26.1ºC - Nil

Apr 1st - 17.2ºC/26.1ºC - Nil

Apr 2nd - 18.6ºC/26.4ºC - 8.6mm

Apr 3rd - 19.0ºC/27.0ºC - Nil

Apr 4th - 18.9ºC/27.1ºC - Nil

Apr 5th - 18.9ºC/26.8ºC - Nil

It was generally a mostly sunny and warm week, almost summer-like. On the 2nd, warm humid air at the surface and an upper cold pool triggered a small area of showers/storms on the coastal fringe along a weak southerly change. A thunderstorm raced through here around lunchtime that day with squally winds and brief heavy rain, before moving out to sea. Winds turned SE in the days following but showers have only been very isolated (had none here) as nothing ended up developing to enhance the onshore flow.

A fair amount of heat has built up over central Australia due to the settled weather of late in that area, and there have been very warm to hot days inland of the Great Dividing Range. Tibooburra has been in the mid to high 30s this week, and in the high 30s at Alice Springs. Birdsville got to 40.9ºC on the 3rd, which is less than a degree off the April record. A decent portion of Victoria will be around 29-34ºC today (Good Friday), and Adelaide was close to 35ºC yesterday.

It should remain fine and mostly sunny here on the Fri/Sat, with just the small chance of a shower in a very weak onshore flow. There is a moderate risk of a shower on Sunday as the trough moves into central NSW, but it will most likely remain fine. The trough should move through here late Monday morning (around 11am), bringing a southerly change. At this stage, the chance of a storm is low because the trough is forecast to move through before the afternoon, though if it ends up moving through around 1-2pm (or later) that would be more favourable. Winds are forecast to turn SE'ly during Tuesday and bring a few onshore showers through Tues/Wed/Thurs.

Maximums should get to around 26-28 degrees over today, Sat, Sun & Mon. After the passage of the southerly change, the maximums should fall to 23-25 on Tues, Wed & Thurs. Minimums should stay around 16-18 degrees over this week.

Have a good Easter everybody, and hope the Easter Bunny is generous.

Edited April 6, 2012 by NthNSW

[NorthNSW]

The summer-like weather across much of SE Australia has come to a screeching halt, as this article humourously summarises:

COLD AFFRONT: It's the middle of April. So why is it so freaking c-c-c-cold?

IF you ducked outside this morning for coffee and mistook your quiet Australian street for an icy plain in Siberia, there's good reason.

Today is cold. Really cold. Especially if you live in Canberra.

But first, let's back up a bit.

1. This is Australia. This is not England. Australia is meant to be warm. England is meant to be cold.

2. It's April. The average temperature is supposedly 22.4 degrees in Sydney, 20.3 in Melbourne and 17.3 in Hobart.

3. Hobart is in Tasmania, which is further away from the equator than mainland Australia, so it gets pretty cold down there.

With these three irrefutable facts in mind, we ask: why is it so pitifully freezing today, on Tuesday April 10?

Sydney commuters confronted a wintry chill of just 12 degrees this morning, re-enforced by nasty, nasty winds.

The temp was even lower down south, where Victorians put on a couple extra layers beneath their Snuggies to brace the 9.4-degree wake-up surprise.

Brisbane's 19 degrees, but it's always warm there, and so too the 25-degree anomaly that is Darwin.

But it gets worse. Hobart's finest are rocking around in 7 degrees. And if you're a federal politician, or otherwise a resident of Canberra, it's just 1 degree.

ONE. DEGREE.

The snow sectors copped it the worst. Thredbo got down to -5.5 degrees overnight. Minus degrees? Why are we talking about minus temperatures, in Australia, in April?

Are you feeling the cold, or are we all just a bit precious?

Pesky terms like "cold front" and "wind chill" are partly to blame, which are particularly relevant for Victorians, according to the Weather Channel.

"Cold south-westerly winds in the fronts wake also brought frequent showers to southern districts, which fell as snow above an elevation of about 800 metres," said senior meteorologist Tom Saunders.

"The frigid polar air also produced small hail and thunder over central and eastern districts. The coldest air will move out into the Tasman Sea today, allowing the showers to ease and daytime temperatures to gradually rise over the coming days but overnight minimums will remain chilly for the next few nights."

The Snowy Mountains lived up to their name by delivering the first snow of the season to NSW.

"We usually get some colder outbreaks about this time of year," said a spokesperson from the Bureau of Meteorology.

"It was fairly cool - I know that myself because I rode into work on my scooter."

The frosty conditions pose a risk to five missing canyoners in their 20s, AAP reports.

Link: http://www.heraldsun...6-1226322574487

Although One Direction seemed to think the weather in Sydney was fabulous and spent much of the day shirtless around the harbour, including swimming. Winds reaching up to around 60-70km/h and temps in the mid to high teens is not shirtless weather, lol.

It was a bit warmer here than further south. According to the 3pm summary, it was a cool 13.5ºC here overnight and reached a max of just 20ºC (rounded off) in the 6hrs to 3pm. Windy at times as well, though despite being a cool day, I still found it pleasant as it was a change from the consistent warmth of late.

The cold won't last long, and it should warm up into the mid to high 20s across much of the SE quadrant as the week progresses, even Thredbo should be back in double figures for much of the upcoming week.

Edited April 10, 2012 by NthNSW

[Styx]

The Herald Sun is the Australian version of the UK's Daily Mail, sensationalist and often misrepresentative. I was going to post something on Netweather about the latest brief cold snap which particually affected Tasmania, but didn't bother because it was nothing out of the ordinary for this time of the year.

I have a weather memory strectching back to the 80s and when I feel a weather obsessive mood coming on I head down to the library and go thru the newspaper archives, searching for local weather stories of note. This was a piddly affair not worthy of a newspaper article - even in recent years there have been more intense cold changes in April than this one. In the next few days another very warm spell will be upon us ( but this particular newspaper will not report it with much energy, as it usually steers away from climate 'warming stories' ).

As the 3rd final line in the newspaper quote says:

"We usually get some colder outbreaks about this time of year," said a spokesperson from the Bureau of Meteorology.

[NorthNSW]

True Styx. Though the temps on the mainland aren't unheard of at this time of year, I think it was the drop in temperatures that most places experienced which made this cold change noticable to people/media. Had places not experienced a prolonged period of "summery" weather over the past few weeks, I imagine this change would've only received a brief mention.

Another cool night, 13.0ºC here last night. In the past 10 years here, there have only been minimums below 13ºC during April in 2006 and 2008. I did find it surprising that this has been Sydney's earliest 'chill' in 80 years though: http://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/sydneys-earliest-chill-in-80-years/21427

First frost of the year for a number of places on the NSW tablelands on yesterday morning, and also some places had another frost this morning (like Armidale, Orange and Goulburn). Armidale had a frost free period of 170 days until yesterday morning. Armidale averages about 100 frosts a year (which almost exclusively occur from May-Sept). Lived there for three years, the novelty of seeing a frost wears off quickly, lol.

Edited April 11, 2012 by NthNSW

[NorthNSW]

Good evening to all, hope you had a great Easter.

Summary here for the past week (Date/Min/Max/24hrRainfall):

Apr 6th - 18.2ºC/27.2ºC - Nil

Apr 7th - 18.4ºC/27.4ºC - Nil

Apr 8th - 20.0ºC/28.1ºC - Nil

Apr 9th - 19.5ºC/27.1ºC - Trace

Apr 10th - 13.5ºC/20.4ºC - Nil

Apr 11th - 13.0ºC/22.0ºC - Nil

Apr 12th - 13.6ºC/22.0ºC - 7.0mm

It was a summery Easter long weekend. Storms developed across central eastern NSW on Sunday, bringing some severe storms to that area (hail up to 5cm reported), with unconfirmed reports of a weak tornado in Sydney's Northern Suburbs. There were also unconfirmed reporrts of a small tornado or microburst in a Melbourne suburb on Good Friday. Sunday's storms were fairly impressive for April (radar loop for that arvo/evening on 512km composite Newcastle Radar): http://www.theweathe...1/2012-04-08-13

Locally, the weather on Sunday was really nice, and there was a reasonable amount of humidity in the air. The day wouldn't have been out of place in January. Picture from Little Bay (a couple of kilometres away), where we had a morning Easter picnic:

The trough lost strength on Sunday night. The trough moved through here around 10-11am on Monday morning, so we only got a brief shower (only a trace recorded), with storms developing from around 20kms north of here and northwards through Coffs, Grafton and Casino. Though the strongest storms were only marginally severe that afternoon.

The cold front moved through overnight, and Tuesday was quite cool, windy and dry. I think you could say that autumn arrived that day. The strength of the cold front did take me by surprise. Cool to mild conditions have persisted since then. A stream of showers affected the most exposed coast (a few locations on the Newcastle and Ballina coasts picked up falls 25mm+) in a decent flow of showers from Tuesday afternoon (which were only passing a couple of kms off the coast here). On Thursday, the flow turned more to the S/SE allowing showers to affect much of the north coast, before the flow weakened overnight with a couple of light showers about the region today.

The weather for upcoming week should have E/SE'lies persisting. From Sunday/Monday, there is the possibility of a few showers. I've found that the weather at this time of year for this latitude starts to become more changeable, and as a result tends to become more difficult for models to predict accurately until things start to settle into a winter pattern during June. The models are differing somewhat on the amount of rain that could fall from Monday, and appears that it is dependent on whether a trough or weak low (or not) forms off the north coast. BOM are remaining understandably conservative at this stage.

Maximum temperatures should stay in the mid 20s this week and minimums should generally hang around 16-18 degrees.

Edited April 13, 2012 by NthNSW

[NorthNSW]

Over the weekend, the models started to come into agreement on a 'trough' scenario for this week. BOM have issued a Severe Weather Warning for heavy rain for the Mid North Coast (my region) and the Northern Rivers:

Severe Weather Warning

for heavy rain

for people in the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast forecast districts

Issued at 10:46 am EST on Monday 16 April 2012.

Weather Situation

A deepening low pressure trough off NSW north coast and an upper cold pool are expected to bring locally heavy rain during Tuesday.

Rain and thunderstorms increasing Monday night may lead to flash flooding is forecast for the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast forecast districts during Tuesday.

http://www.bom.gov.a...gs/severe.shtml

Most of the NSW east coast should receive some decent rain from the event over the next few days.

If you want a quick look at what is happening along the north/central NSW coast:

Grafton: http://www.bom.gov.a...loop.shtml#skip

Newcastle: http://www.bom.gov.a...loop.shtml#skip

Edited April 16, 2012 by NthNSW

[NorthNSW]

Hey all

Summary here for the past week (Date/Min/Max/24hrRainfall):

Apr 13th - 14.6ºC/23.2ºC - 0.2mm

Apr 14th - 15.4ºC/25.8ºC - 7.0mm

Apr 15th - 18.5ºC/26.9ºC - 14.6mm

Apr 16th - 18.1ºC/23.7ºC - 26.4mm

Apr 17th - 16.3ºC/19.0ºC - 23.0mm

Apr 18th - 16.4ºC/22.2ºC - 53.4mm

Apr 19th - 16.6ºC/22.8ºC - 61.0mm

It was mild and very wet week. A trough developed not far offshore the coast late Sunday night, which combined with a moist E/NE'ly feed and was enhanced by a upper cold pool, bringing rain to the NSW North Coast over the following days. On Mon/Tues, the heavy rain was sporadic, with large variations in rainfall occurring over short distances. Persistent cloudcover on the Tuesday brought a cool day. On Wed/Thurs, the heavy falls were more widespread though it was still restricted to the coastal fringe. River flooding did not occur in the region because the heaviest falls were restricted to within about 10kms of the coast. The Sydney region also did well with similar heavy falls occurring down here, which penetrated further inland due to the alignment of the trough. Warragamba Dam (Sydney's main dam) has overflowed again for the second time in two months (until last month, it had not overflowed since 1998). On Wednesday night, a shower brought 27mm in 25 minutes here. The trough weakened last night, with rain easing yesterday evening.

This week is looking drier. The weakening trough has moved a bit closer to the coast this afternoon and is expected to bring a few showers later today and clearing during tomorrow morning. Although, there is potential for isolated moderate to heavy falls to possibly occur on the coastal fringe tonight on the North Coast (the bulk of the rain should stay offshore though).

Saturday should turn into a fine day during the afternoon, with dry weather likely to persist during Sunday. A trough is expected to move through eastern NSW on Monday but should only bring a little light rain (unlikely to be more than a couple of millimetres) here later on Monday and into Tuesday. A cold front during Tuesday could bring snow to the alpine peaks in NSW. Cool winds are likely to be pushed northward to here during Tuesday. Winds may turn more SE'ly later on Thursday, with the risk of a light shower.

Max temps should be around 24-26 degrees through to Monday, with temps in the low 20s from Tuesday. Minimum temps should stay in the high teens, possibly a 20 degree minimum on Monday night. Minimums should drop to around 16-17 degrees from Tuesday.

Edited April 20, 2012 by NthNSW

[NorthNSW]

Good afternoon everyone

Summary here for the past week (Date/Min/Max/24hrRainfall):

Apr 20th - 17.5ºC/25.2ºC - 38.8mm

Apr 21st - 18.3ºC/25.7ºC - 0.2mm

Apr 22nd - 18.6ºC/26.0ºC - Nil

Apr 23rd - 19.9ºC/26.6ºC - 15.0mm

Apr 24th - 17.6C/22.6ºC - 0.2mm

Apr 25th - 14.0ºC/21.2ºC - Nil

Apr 26th - 13.4ºC/23.4ºC - Nil

It was a mild to warm week though tending cloudy at times. Rain on the 20th occurred during the early morning as a weakening trough moved close to the coast delivering a burst of moderate to heavy rain, which cleared not long after sunrise. A weak NW cloudband (http://www.bom.gov.a...ark=nwcloudband) developed and moved into northeastern New South Wales on the 23rd. Isolated storms developed ahead of cloudband in the warm late April sunshine, though there were only distant rumbles here. Locally high moisture about the region enhanced the rainband along the coast, allowing for higher totals than what would normally occur on the leeward side of the range from a system moving in from the inland. A cold front moved through during the late afternoon on the 24th, with cooler, drier air moving in that night. This caused cool nights and mild days on the 25th, 26th and even today. There were a couple of frosty nights (mainly light frosts) on the NSW tablelands/highlands, and the alpine region received some snow shortly after the passage of the cold front. On the 25th, I put a blanket on my bed. Before then just sleeping with a thin sheet would suffice. Not time for a doona yet (I think the UK calls it a duvet?), probably have to wait until mid/late June for that to happen.

For the upcoming week:

A shower or two is likely to occur tomorrow as a low forms off the southern/central QLD coast. A couple of light showers should persist into Sunday and Monday due to a high directing SE'ly winds onto the coast. Winds are expected to turn more easterly on Tuesday, with a possible shower or two lingering about the region into Wednesday. Indications are that a low pressure trough should form across central Australia on later on Monday or into Tuesday, though it should have little to no impact on our local weather until Thursday. At this stage there may be a little light rain on Thursday, possibly with the slight chance of an isolated storm about the region.

Maximum temperatures should stay in the mid 20s, tending towards the low 20s on cloudier days. Minimum temperatures should stay around 15-18 degrees.

The month of May:

May is the driest month of autumn but still gets 133.6mm on average. May rain is not as reliable as Mar/Apr though, and it can vary somewhat from year to year. Extended dry spells can happen, though more likely during El Nino. With sea surface temperatures still warm, East Coast Lows can contribute nicely to May rainfall but their formation from year to year varies. Frontal rainbands and NW cloudbands become more common, providing some rain. However, being on the leeward side of the Great Dividing Range means these systems do not usually provide much more than patchy light to steady rain. Locally favourable conditions can enhance the rainband on the leeward side (like earlier this week), but it is not particularly common for this to happen. Thunderstorms in May are rare, though not unheard of (e.g. May 2008 was stormy month). It is a noticably cooler month than April, with more regular intrusions of cooler, and generally drier air. The wind often comes from the southwestern quadrant during May (and the winter months). The record high max for May is 29.5ºC and the record low min for May is 5.9ºC.

Edited April 27, 2012 by NthNSW

[Styx]

Warmest April on record is possible here, with the projected temperature until the 30th going within 0.1 of a degree of the 1989 record for the month of April

[NorthNSW]

Good afternoon to all,

Summary here for the past week (Date/Min/Max/24hrRainfall):

Apr 27th - 15.1ºC/21.6ºC - 6.0mm

Apr 28th - 15.8ºC/17.9ºC - 5.4mm

Apr 29th - 14.6ºC/23.2ºC - 5.4mm

Apr 30th - 14.8ºC/21.5ºC - 2.4mm

May 1st - 14.0ºC/22.2ºC - 2.6mm

May 2nd - 15.3ºC/22.5ºC - Nil

May 3rd - 17.2ºC/25.0ºC - 29.0mm

A couple of showers persisted over much of the week. In general, it was a mild week and somewhat cloudy. The 28th was overcast all day, keeping temperatures down in the high teens, but the humidity was quite high (around 90%) so it didn't feel as cool as the temp would suggest. E/SE'lies persisted through until early on the 2nd. Winds turned northerly, bringing warmer temps and a mostly sunny day. On the 3rd, a trough moved through the region, delivering a weak southerly change as it came through. It brought scattered showers with some localised thunderstorms. I was lucky enough to have one develop overhead here just before sunset, with moderate to heavy rain and a good amount of thunder/lightning (some were close). Out of the small number of storms that developed that afternoon/evening, I reckon we got the best one of the day. It persisted for around 40 minutes, then moved out to sea, and for a period became quite lightning active. Not bad for this time of year.

For the upcoming week:

There is the possibility of an isolated shower or storm today with some instability lingering about the region. A low should develop a reasonable distance off the NSW coast overnight, and deepen as it heads SSW through the Tasman Sea. There's a slight chance of a light shower tomorrow morning before the wind turns to the southwest, but it will most likely remain dry. A high pressure system will start to have an influence here later tomorrow. The high should pretty much sit over northern NSW, bringing fine, sunny and mild to warm weather until at least Thursday (May 10th). The relatively dry air should bring cool to cold nights over the northern inland, with a couple of frosty nights expected over the tablelands/highlands. Nights will be warmer along the coast, but still cool to mild.

Maximum temperatures should stick around 22 to 25 degrees over this week. Min temps should be in the low to mid teens. Half-decent chance that we'll experience our coldest night since early October, when we had a couple of 10-11 degree nights.

[Styx]

Big country but not much happening.

Models seem to be predicting a breakdown of the recent situation with weakening high presure systems; a situation of more flux. Very long range forecast maps show huge potential for a prolonged cold outbreak to affect the south east, low pressure systems steaming up from the south without hindrance. Beautiful!

Edited May 7, 2012 by Styx

[NorthNSW]

I'm heading down to the Goulburn area on the Southern Highlands this week (between Sydney and Canberra), so I've reported a day early before I leave tomorrow. Might share a couple of pics on my return if I think they're worthwhile.

Summary here for the past six days (Date/Min/Max/24hrRainfall):

May 4th - 15.5ºC/22.0ºC - Nil

May 5th - 14.0ºC/23.8ºC - Nil

May 6th - 13.6ºC/23.5ºC - Nil

May 7th - 15.0ºC/21.8ºC - Nil

May 8th - 14.0ºC/22.8ºC - Nil

May 9th - 16.0ºC/25.0ºC - Nil

It was a predominately sunny period of days with no rain falling thanks to a high pressure system keeping the majority of the country dry. Nights were cool to mild here, tending cold away from the coastal fringe. Minimum temperatures on the extreme coastal fringe in the region are always moderated by the ocean in the more wintry months (the sea surface temp at the moment is still around 22-23 degrees offshore of here). Though places more than about a kilometre from the ocean in the coastal region usually have overnight temps several degrees cooler.

Armidale, on the Northern Tablelands (a city around 1000m ASL, almost at the same latitude as here), has had five consecutive frosty nights below zero, with the coldest being -2.1ºC (though well short of the May record min of -8.8ºC).

The upcoming week:

It should be a mostly dry week ahead. Thursday and Friday should be fine and sunny. A cold front moving through on Saturday afternoon could trigger isolated showers/storms in the local region. Fine and sunny weather should return on Sunday and Monday. Winds should turn S/SSE'ly on Tuesday bringing the slight risk of a light shower. The high over southern NSW should then move a little further east during Wednesday, turning winds more SE'ly, with the likelihood of a shower or two developing.

Maximums should stay around 25 degrees over the next couple of days, before cooling into the low 20s after the cold front. Minimums should stay in the mid teens, tending into the low teens after the passage of the cold front.

Edited May 10, 2012 by NthNSW

[Styx]

I've just read that the Australian government is about to permit the Australian weather bureau to allow advertisers on to its website. I don't like the idea of that at all, one hopes its done tactfully.

3 billion hits a year at www.bom.gov.au and they have just figured there be the potential to bring in a bit of money

Edited May 10, 2012 by Styx

[NorthNSW]

Good evening, back from my short holiday.

Summary here for the past week (Date/Min/Max/24hrRainfall):

May 10th - 16.5ºC/25.2ºC - Nil

May 11th - 15.8ºC/24.0ºC - Nil

May 12th - 16.1ºC/24.1ºC - Nil

May 13th - 12.0ºC/23.6ºC - Nil

May 14th - 11.5ºC/18.9ºC - Nil

May 15th - 12.0ºC/21.3ºC - Nil

May 16th - 13.3ºC/21.6ºC - Nil

I have been away over the past week, but did keep tabs with what was going on back home. No rain was recorded, though there were isolated storms in the afternoon on the 12th, and there were a couple of showers about the region on the 16th.

Dry weather for May has continued across much of the state. Today will be our 14th day of dry weather. Sydney has had its driest start to May in 130 years, and it could potentially be Sydney's driest start to May on record if it starts dry for a couple more days (since records began in July 1858):

http://www.smh.com.a...0515-1yo7r.html

The upcoming week:

It should stay mostly fine over the next few days. But there is just a slight risk of a shower over the next few days, though shower activity should stay very isolated. A trough is expected to develop over central eastern Australia on Sunday/Monday, and be fed by moist easterlies from the Coral Sea. At this stage, most rain from the system this week should fall in Queensland, with patchy, lighter falls extending into NSW. Therefore, a light shower is possible on Monday, and once again on Tuesday. Light rain periods should develop on Wednesday.

Maximums should stay in the low 20s, perhaps creeping up into the mid 20s on a couple of days. Minimums are likely to stay around 13-16 degrees this week.

Here's a small collection of photos I took about the Southern Tablelands of NSW and the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) over the past week during my short holiday:

Taken at about 4:30pm on May 11th, looking over Goulburn (a city of about 24,000) in NSW:

Some nice autumnal colours at Bowral in NSW (12/5):

Bowral again (12/5):

Looking towards the city centre of Canberra (Population around 360,000) in the ACT. The capital city of Australia, founded in 1913. Taken on the 15/5.

Taken from Mt Ainslie Lookout (15/5). Looking over the Australian War Memorial, up Anzac Parade, Lake Burley Griffin, followed by Old Parliament House, and behind it is Parliament House.

Looking up Anzac Parade, towards Old Parliament House and (New) Parliament House. (15/5)

Old Parliament House (House of Parliament from 1927 to 1988) (Taken on 15/5)

Front of Parliament House (House of Parliament since 1988) (Taken on 15/5)

Parliament House entrance (15/5)

[NorthNSW]

Hey all,

Snowed under assessments at the moment as the University trimester comes to an end, so I'm typing this very quickly and won't have time to proof-read, lol.

Summary here for the past week (Date/Min/Max/24hrRainfall):

May 17th - 13.7ºC/22.0ºC - Nil

May 18th - 14.0ºC/23.1ºC - Nil

May 19th - 14.5ºC/23.7ºC - Nil

May 20th - 12.8ºC/23.7ºC - Nil

May 21st - 13.0ºC/23.2ºC - Nil

May 22nd - 15.2ºC/23.6ºC - Nil

May 23rd - 15.8ºC/23.6ºC - Nil

The week brought cool to mild nights, and balmy, mostly sunny days. There were very isolated showers about the region on some of the days but most areas stayed dry. It's been 20 days since it last rained.

Today (24th), high cloud is gradually increasing from the west.

Upcoming week:

For this final week of May/Autumn, a cut-off low and associated front/trough should move further east, with some light rain developing overnight. Light to steady rain should persist for most of tomorrow, and clear tomorrow night. On the southern ranges of NSW, BOM are currently predicting snow to fall down to 1000m ASL tomorrow night and into the early hours of Saturday. A ridge of high pressure system should bring dry weather here on Saturday and Sunday. As the high moves further east into the Tasman Sea during Monday, it should start directing southeasterly winds onto the coast. As a result, there is the possibility of a shower or two later on Monday, and into Tuesday and Wednesday.

Today is in the mid 20s, though maximums should cool tomorrow under cloud/rain to around 19 degrees. Clear skies and dry air should allow Sat/Sun to get into the low 20s, then Mon to Wed should be around 19-21 degrees.

Minimums should be in the mid teens at first this week, cooling into the low teens, then slightly warming into the mid teens later this week.

[Styx]

Heavy rain and possible flooding for Victoria

A low pressure system centred off the coast of the state of Victoria, with tropical infeed from the north, and cold air moving up in to it off the eastern flank of high pressure to the west.

Flood warnings current, with forecast rainfall of 50-100mm within the next 24 hours - these amounts are also possible for the state capital of Melbourne.

Snowline to 1100m ( 4000ft ) with accumulations possible at higher elevations exceeding 30cm (1ft ). Should produce an excellent base for the opening of the ski season in 2 weeks with a prolonged settled period to follow.

[Styx]

Perth Coldest May temperature in almost 100 years

Perth woke to its coldest May morning for 98 years as the temperature plummeted to 1.3 degrees just after 7am.

But spare a thought for the Great Southern town of Wandering, where the temperature dipped to -3.4 degrees at just after 6.30am.

In the metropolitan area Jandakot dropped into the negatives, clocking -0.6 degrees just before 6am.

Other cold spots around the State included Northam (-2.9), Wickepin (-2.4), Newdegate (-2.3), Bridgetown (-1.7 degrees), Cunderdin (-1.1) and Bunbury (-0.1).

It is the second freezing morning in a row for WA’s south-west.

Weather Bureau spokesman John Relf said the combination of a massive high over the south-west and no wind or cloud cover had created the “perfect†situation for cold mornings.

He said the conditions would continue into the weekend, however temperatures should be a little milder than the past two mornings.

A Farmers Federation spokesman said that because most farmers were seeding the frost experienced in some areas had not affected crops.

He said the problem at the moment was the lack of rain.

No rain was expected in Perth until at least mid next week.

So far this May Perth has had 49mm – the long-term May average is 117mm.

Perth has had 160mm this year, below the January to May average of 202mm.

Perth’s coldest morning on record is a freezing -0.7 on June 17, 2006.

Edited May 26, 2012 by Styx