Cooler end to summer predicted
The overnight minimum in Mount Gambier was five degrees. That’s the usual winter average minimum and six degrees lower than the January average.
For the period from February to April, the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting cooler than average daytime temperatures in the southeast of the country.
After last year’s heat wave, most people will welcome that.
According to the bureau, the pattern of seasonal temperature odds across Australia is due to higher than average temperatures in both the Pacific (El Niño) and Indian Oceans, with the Pacific influence being dominant.
The chance that the average February-April maximum temperature will exceed the long-term median maximum temperature, is between 60 and 85 percent northeast of a line from Derby in northern WA to Sydney, and between 60 and 65 percent in western WA (see map). This means that for every 10 years with ocean patterns like the current, about six to eight February to April periods would be expected to be warmer than average over these areas, while about two to four would be cooler. (more…)
Summer snow
It snowed on Mount Hotham overnight. I would have taken the kids up this morning if I’d known earlier.
Snow and Mrs Robinson
There are two amazing stories coming out of Britain at the moment.
The affair between the First Minister of Northern Ireland’s wife, Iris Robinson, and Kirk McCambley is extraordinary. She was 59 and he was 19.
According to The Guardian: “Mrs Robinson’s transgression was the more astonishing given the controversy generated last year when she described homosexuality as an abomination on a par with paedophilia that made her nauseous. As the BBC program coyly noted, the passage in Leviticus that she quoted contains similar sentiments about adultery.”
And there was money involved too. She helped him to establish a business.
I wonder if Kirk is familiar with this scene from The Graduate:
Or if Mrs Robinson is a fan of the Simon and Garfunkel song and its lyrics: “God bless you please Mrs Robinson. Heaven holds a place for those who pray.” (with thanks to Wendy).
Another hot year
According to the Weather Channel, a warm end to 2009 has seen it become the third hottest year on record for Australia.
The winter of 2009 was the country’?s hottest on record, with the average winter maximum temperature 1.6° above average. The July to December period was also the warmest six-month period ever recorded.
2009 was Adelaide?’s second warmest year on record behind 2007, with an average maximum temperature of 23.4 compared with the long-term average of 22.2.
Overall, it was Adelaide?’s wettest year since 2005, with a rainfall total of 518.2mm compared with the average falls of 545mm.
I haven’t seen the final figures yet, but I believe that Mount Gambier finished the year with above-average rainfall.
Cool and windy
It’s cool and windy in Mount Gambier now. What heat wave?
November heat wave
Slightly cooler today, just 30 degrees, but the nights are more pleasant. Much better in Mount Gambier than elsewhere in South Australia.
Typical spring
The next two days promise a typical spring forecast for Mount Gambier: Monday 32 degrees, Tuesday 17.
