Tag Archives: cold days

A cool moist autumn in 2020

Posted in Manilla NSW, Season Weather, Weather extremes by

The daily weather log

[Note.
Due to illness, 45 days of this season, from 23rd March to 7th May, were missed for some Manilla values. No values were noted for cloud or soil temperature; mean values shown for the season are estimates only. Missed values of daily maximum and minimum air temperatures were estimated by regression on values from Tamworth Airport Automatic Weather Service.]

Instead of warm spells as in autumn 2019, this season had several cool spells. Three or four had cool days, but one in mid-march had cooler nights. Cool days in late May came with a very narrow daily temperature range, high humidity and cloud.
There were 18 rain days (normally 14) spread through the season, with the highest reading (20.0 mm) on the 1st of May.

Weather log autumn 2020

Comparing autumn seasons

In contrast to the previous two autumn seasons, autumn 2020 was cool and moist. Days (24.4 deg) were 2nd coolest for autumn in the new century (after 2003). Night temperatures were normal, and the mean one degree low.
The rainfall total, 124 mm, was at the 55th percentile, not far below the mean of 134 mm. Other moisture measures were higher: early morning dew point was 9.0 deg, cloudiness 41%, and daily temperature range 13.8 deg.

Climate for autumn 2020

Data. The Bureau of Meteorology automatic rain gauge, Manilla Museum, Station 55312, recorded no readings from 24th February 2020 until 11th March 2020. I used my own readings for that period. Readings later in autumn are from the Manilla (Museum) gauge.

My estimates of early morning dew point have become anomalously low. From 1 August 2019, I use values taken from Tamworth Airport graphs at the time of minimum temperature.
All other data, including subsoil at 750 mm, are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

October 2016 was cold

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by
Photo of the bark of a Eucalyptus tree

White Box at Sunset

In this month, each of five sunny spells of normal temperature was followed by a cold, cloudy, humid break, generally with rain. Only a few days were warmer than normal, including the 27th. That was the first 30° day of the season, five weeks late.
The average weekly temperature was persistently three or four degrees cooler than normal. One cold week about the 15th was more than five degrees below normal, and the warmest week, about the 29th, was still half a degree low.
Most nights were very cool. I recorded no frosts, but others may have done. My most recent frost was early in September.
There were six rain days, not counting two readings of 0.2 mm. The highest reading was 20.0 mm on the 23rd.

Weather log for October 2016

Comparing October months

This was the coldest October on this record from 1999. That includes not only the maximum, mean, and minimum air temperatures read in the Gill Screen, but also the subsoil temperature at 750 mm. Noting that October 2015 had the highest October temperatures, the sudden collapse is astonishing. Last October was three degrees warmer than normal; this month was almost three degrees colder than normal. Put another way, the seasonal warming is a month late this year and was a month early last year.
Unlike September, there was not an unusual amount of moisture in October. Humidity, cloudiness and daily temperature range were near normal.
The monthly rainfall total of 72.1 mm was above the average of 58 mm, in the 70th percentile.
I have discussed the current drought status (that is, drought-free) in another post.

Climate for October 2016

Data. Rainfall figures are usually from the automatic rain gauge at Manilla, published on the internet by the Bureau of Meteorology as Station 55031. However, the gauge ceased recording on the 8th of October, and later readings are from my non-standard gauge. All other data, including subsoil at 750 mm, are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

September 2016 had near-record rain

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by
Blooms of Acacia paradoxa

Kangaroo Thorn

There were fourteen rainy days in a month that ended no warmer than it began. The month of September normally warms up by nearly four degrees. This time it remained near 14° all month. Some plants encouraged by the plentiful moisture were discouraged by the cold.
The highest daily rainfall reading, 28.8 mm on the 14th, hardly compares with one of 71.1 mm in 2005, or even one of 40.0 mm in 2011.
No days were warm. For the first time in this 18-year record, no September day reached 25°. More days than ever (18) were below 20° but not one was as low as 15°. Temperatures at night were near normal. A frost on the 5th was the only one. It may have been the last of the year, about a fortnight earlier than usual.
Only four mornings this month had no cloud, while seven were totally overcast.

Weather log for September 2016

Comparing September months

For monthly average temperatures, the daily maximum of 19.7° stands out as a record low, 4.1° below normal. Three indicators for moisture reached their extreme September values for the new century: rainfall, percentage of cloudy mornings (63%), and (narrowest) daily temperature range (12.0°). Dew point (6.0°) was just above normal, but very much higher than in September months since 2010.
The monthly rainfall total of 122.4 mm (amended) was one of the four highest ever September readings. The others were: 1917: 124 mm; 1949: 126 mm; 1998: 166 mm.
There are not now any noteworthy shortages in rainfall totals for any number of months, up to 360 months (thirty years).

Climate for September 2016

Data. Rainfall figures for this month are from the automatic rain gauge at Manilla, published on the internet by the Bureau of Meteorology as Station 55031. All other data, including subsoil at 750 mm, are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

Wet August 2016 had two cold days

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by
Photo of knife-leaf wattle blooms

Knife-leaf Wattle

Six days with at least eight millimetres of rain made for a very wet August.
On the average, the temperature was normal until the fourth week, which was cool. However, there were two remarkably cold days. The 3rd, at 10.6°, was the second coldest August day and the 22nd, at 11.6°, the fifth coldest. Most nights were cool, around 1°, but several were much warmer, generally with the rain. Most days were sunny, and eighteen of the mornings were frosty, about three more than usual.

Weather log for August 2016

Comparing August months

On average, the days were cold: as cold as in August 2001, but not as cold as in 2008 or 2010. The average night-time temperature, however, was normal. The dew point, while not high, was higher than in the previous four August months.
The monthly rainfall total of 80.2 mm was twice the average (40 mm), and in the 89th percentile. No rainfall total for any number of months is now below the 19th percentile. That is the 42-month total of 1949 mm, which is a mere 313 mm lower than the median 42-month value. Both Greenhatch Creek and Rushes Creek have flowed in recent weeks.

Climate for August 2016

Data. Rainfall figures for this month are from the automatic rain gauge at Manilla, published on the internet by the Bureau of Meteorology as Station 55031. All other data, including subsoil at 750 mm, are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

September 2015 cold and dry

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by
Photo of native clematis

Native clematis

Few days or nights in September were warmer than normal. The 23rd was a very cold day (17.1°) and the 24th had a very cold morning (-0.1°). The weekly temperature was near normal in the third week, but it had been cool in the first. It was cold (4.7 below normal) in the fourth week, and was rising through normal at the month’s end.
As is usual in September, most days were fine, and they were much warmer than the nights. The afternoon humidity was low (24%), but not nearly as low as in 2013 (15%).
Rain fell on only four days, with the highest reading 8.6 mm on the 4th.

Weather log for September 2015

 Comparing September months

In a dramatic change from August, both days and nights were very cold, as they were in September 2004.
The aridity was not quite as bad as in 2013, when the dew point was lower and there was less cloud.
Such cold, dry conditions are not those of an El Niño event (hot and dry) or of a La Niña event (cold and wet). If more extreme, they would be those of a glacial period.
The rainfall of 15.9 mm was well below average, in the 22nd percentile. There are still no serious shortages in rainfall totals for small numbers of months. A severe shortage (4th percentile) has appeared in the 30 month total (1186 mm). There are still deep ponds in Greenhatch Creek.

Climate for September 2015

Data. All data, including subsoil at 750 mm, are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla. Rainfall data up to 26/3/15 is from Manilla Post Office, Station 055031.