Tag Archives: arid

September 2017 even more arid

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by
Trellised vine photo

Blooming Wonga-Wonga Vines

Despite more cloud, September was even more arid than August. Weekly temperatures remained normal until the last week, which was remarkably warm. There were some notable events. The 13th, the first 30°-day of the season, was followed by a day more than 16° cooler. Extremely low humidity early on the 20th made the dew point (-8.8°) almost as low as the record set last month. Among minimum overnight temperatures that were near zero, the one on the 24th (22.8°) set a record by being 14.7° higher than normal.
The number of frosts (below +2.2° in the screen) was 13 (a September record), almost as many as in August. Perhaps the frost on the 20th was the last of the season. That is the normal date for it.
There was 5.2 mm of rain on the 14th, and an estimated 0.3 mm on the 29th. (The automatic gauge at the Museum was down by then.)

Weather log

Comparing September months

The mean daily maximum of 25.0° was rather high, fully 5° higher than last year. With a mean daily minimum (5.7°) that was rather low, the daily temperature range reached the record wide value of 19.3°.
Extremely dry air was shown by a mean early-morning dew point of 2.7°, the lowest September value, 8.1° below normal.
The total rainfall of 5.5 mm (estimated) was very far below the September average (41 mm), at the 8th percentile. That is a serious rainfall shortage. The current rainfall totals for four months (95 mm) and for six months (175 mm) are also serious rainfall shortages. Even worse are the totals for two months (19 mm) and for three months (33 mm): they are severe rainfall shortages.
Similar severe shortages occurred in October 2013, May 2008, and May 2005. Extreme shortages last occurred in the six-month drought of 2002.

Climate graph for September

Data. A Bureau of Meteorology automatic rain gauge operates in the museum yard. From 17 March 2017, 9 am daily readings are published as Manilla Museum, Station 55312.  These reports use that rainfall data when it is available.  The gauge last reported on 24 September 2017.

All other data, including subsoil at 750 mm, are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

3-year trends to September 2017

Posted in 3-year climate trends, Manilla NSW by

More arid

3-year climate trends to September 2017

September raw anomaly data (orange)

In September 2017 all moisture indicators except cloudiness showed even greater aridity (high up on the graphs) than in August. Daily maximum temperature anomaly (x-axis in all graphs) had now risen very high, but that of the subsoil (lower right graph) had fallen. Daily minimum temperature anomaly (lower left graph) remained extremely low.

 Fully smoothed data (red)

The latest fully-smoothed data point is that for March 2017.
At that time, the climate was warm and almost static, after a minor peak in aridity. Although later anomaly values (only partially smoothed) are subject to noise, three of them have raced away towards aridity: dew point fell, daily temperature range rose, and daily minimum temperature fell.

Note:

Fully smoothed data – Gaussian smoothing with half-width 6 months – are plotted in red, partly smoothed data uncoloured, and raw data for the last data point in orange. January data points are marked by squares.
Blue diamonds and the dashed blue rectangle show the extreme values in the fully smoothed data record since September 1999.

Normal values are based on averages for the decade from March 1999.* They appear on these graphs as a turquoise (turquoise) circle at the origin (0,0). A range of anomalies called “normal” is shown by a dashed rectangle in aqua (aqua). For values in degrees, the assigned normal range is +/-0.7°; for cloudiness, +/-7%; for monthly rainfall, +/-14 mm.

 * Normal values for rainfall are based on averages for the 125 years beginning 1883.

August 2017 arid and sunny

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by
Photo of a honey-eater feeding

Noisy Miner in Emu Bush

Very few days in August were cloudy, and only one day, the 4th, had some rain: 13.6 mm. Extremely dry air produced a 21st-century record low dew point of minus 10.0 degrees on the 20th. The dry air and clear skies dried out the soil, and also made for wide ranges of temperature. Twelve days were more than 20° warmer than their nights. The actual temperatures, however, were not extreme. Weekly average temperatures remained normal until falling to 3.3° lower in the final days.
Frosts (below +2.2° in the screen) happened on 17 mornings, just two more than normal.

Weather log

Comparing August months

Arid August months like this occurred in 2012 and 2013, but not since then. The mean early morning dew points in 2012 (-2.2°) and this time (-2.8°) were record values, far below the normal value of +2.2°. This month was also very sunny, had little rain, and had a daily temperature range of 17.9°, a record for August.
Temperatures were close to normal. The daily maximum (19.8°) was a degree above normal, and the daily minimum (1.9°) was a degree below normal.
The total rainfall of 13.8 mm (20th percentile) was far below the August average (40 mm). Added to the low total for July (13.2 mm), the two-month total is only 27.0 mm, which is at the 6th percentile. That makes it the first serious rainfall shortage of any duration since October 2015, when the 30-month total had been at the 6th percentile. For two-month rainfall totals, there has not been such a shortage since nearly four years ago (September 2013).

Climate graph for August

Data. A Bureau of Meteorology automatic rain gauge operates in the museum yard. From 17 March 2017, 9 am daily readings are published as Manilla Museum, Station 55312.  These reports use that rainfall data when it is available. All other data, including subsoil at 750 mm, are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

3-year trends to August 2017

Posted in 3-year climate trends, Manilla NSW by

Arid and sunny

3-year climate trends to August 2017

August raw anomaly data (orange)

In August 2017 all moisture indicators except rainfall showed even greater aridity (high up on the graphs) than in July. Daily minimum temperature anomaly (lower left graph) fell extremely low, but both the daily maximum temperature anomaly (x-axis in all graphs) and that of subsoil (lower right graph) were just slightly above normal.

 Fully smoothed data (red)

Fully-smoothed data points now include summer 2016-17. The daily maximum temperature anomaly peaked in February 2017 at +0.9°, much the same temperature as in the previous two peaks: February 2016 and October 2014. The daily minimum temperature anomaly was just about to peak, but the subsoil temperature anomaly was rising persistently.

Moisture anomaly variables, which had moved strongly towards arid in the spring, peaked in aridity during the summer:

Lowest rainfall, in January, was just 13 mm below normal;
least cloudiness, in February, was still 11% above normal;
lowest dew point, in November, was 1.7° below normal;
widest daily temperature range, in January, was only 0.1° wider than normal.

Although aridity reached peaks, this was not an arid summer. The peak values cited were not far from normal, and the graphs show that more arid times occurred within the previous two years.

Note:

Fully smoothed data – Gaussian smoothing with half-width 6 months – are plotted in red, partly smoothed data uncoloured, and raw data for the last data point in orange. January data points are marked by squares.
Blue diamonds and the dashed blue rectangle show the extreme values in the fully smoothed data record since September 1999.

Normal values are based on averages for the decade from March 1999.* They appear on these graphs as a turquoise (turquoise) circle at the origin (0,0). A range of anomalies called “normal” is shown by a dashed rectangle in aqua (aqua). For values in degrees, the assigned normal range is +/-0.7°; for cloudiness, +/-7%; for monthly rainfall, +/-14 mm.

 * Normal values for rainfall are based on averages for the 125 years beginning 1883.

3-year trends to April 2017

Posted in 3-year climate trends, Manilla NSW by

Parametric plots of smoothed climate variables at Manilla
“Cold-Arid ‘Glacial'”

Climate trends to April 2017

April raw anomaly data (orange)

In terms of anomalies, April 2017 was even cooler than March, but much more arid. Anomalies of both daily maximum and daily minimum temperature fell by more than three degrees from February values, (They plot near the margins of the lower left graph.)
On most of the graphs, raw anomaly values for April plot towards the top left corner. Rather than moving along the top-right-to-bottom-left axis of “Droughts and flooding rains”, they combine low temperature and aridity as happened in ice ages.

 Fully smoothed data (red)

The most recent fully-smoothed data is for October 2016. Following a winter that was cool and moist, October shows a climate becoming steadily warmer and drier.
The smoothed anomaly of daily minimum temperature, which had hit a record high value in May 2016, approached a minimum value that was near normal.
Subsoil temperature anomaly was still falling rapidly, and was certain to reach a new record low smoothed value in November.

Note:

Fully smoothed data – Gaussian smoothing with half-width 6 months – are plotted in red, partly smoothed data uncoloured, and raw data for the last data point in orange. January data points are marked by squares.
Blue diamonds and the dashed blue rectangle show the extreme values in the fully smoothed data record since September 1999.

Normal values are based on averages for the decade from March 1999.* They appear on these graphs as a turquoise (turquoise) circle at the origin (0,0). A range of anomalies called “normal” is shown by a dashed rectangle in aqua (aqua). For values in degrees, the assigned normal range is +/-0.7°; for cloudiness, +/-7%; for monthly rainfall, +/-14 mm.

 * Normal values for rainfall are based on averages for the 125 years beginning 1883.