Tag Archives: dry air

Winter 2014 normal

Posted in Manilla NSW, Season Weather by
Berries on a melia tree

Chinaberries in winter

This winter, there were no very warm or very cold spells. There was one sunny spell with a wide daily temperature range in early August, followed by a week with a narrow temperature range.
There were 38 frosts. While this is below the 16-year winter average of 44, it is near the average for the last seven winters. From 2001 to 2006 the winter average was higher: 47 frosts.
Rain fell on 15 days (normal), with a highest reading of 26.6 mm, which is also normal in winter.Weather log for winter 2014

Seasonal means and totals were all not far from normal except for the dew point. The dew point of 0.7 degrees was more than two degrees low, showing extremely dry air, as in winter 2012. The daily minimum temperature was almost a degree high, reducing the temperature range and raising the mean temperature as well.

The winter rainfall total of 106 mm is just below the average (125 mm) and in the 40th percentile.

Climate for winter 2014

Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Temperature, including subsoil at 750 mm, and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

August 2014 normal but with dry air

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by

The daily weather log

Purple flowers

Early-blooming Hardenbergia

The weekly temperature was normal throughout, but the first half of the month had sunny warm days, cold nights and very dry air. The night of the 3rd (-4.0°) was the coldest August night this century, and the early morning of the 12th had the lowest August dew point (-8.7°). Two brief overcast and rainy spells began on the 16th and 26th, yielding 54.4 mm in five rain days. The reading of 26.6 mm on the 17th was one of the highest for August in recent years.
The number of frosts (12) was a little below normal (15).

Weather log August 2014

 Comparing August months

While August 2008 had been the coolest, and August 2009 the warmest in the 21st century, nearly all averages this month were near normal. As exceptions, the daily maximum temperature was slightly low and the dew point (as in the two previous August months) was very low. Few mornings had dew on the grass.
The total rainfall of 54.4 mm is in the 75th percentile, well above the August average (40 mm). This rain also raised the rainfall totals for periods of more than one month, so that only the 18-month total of 691 mm now remains as a serious shortage (9th percentile).

Climate August 2014  

Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Temperatures, including subsoil at 750 mm, and other data are from 3 Monash  Street, Manilla.

3-year trends to February 2014

Posted in 3-year climate trends, Manilla NSW by

Parametric plots of smoothed climate variables at Manilla

“Drought advanced in winter; now retreating”Trends to February 2014

Raw values of climate anomalies for February 2014 moved positively away from the high temperature and low moisture of “droughts”. Daily minimum temperature increased but this, too, goes with more moisture.
Data points for the three months of winter 2013 are now fully-smoothed. They show a steady progress towards drought in increasing maximum temperature and daily temperature range, and reducing rainfall, cloudiness, and humidity (dew point). Daily minimum temperature and subsoil temperature  peaked already in July.

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.

Warm Dry February 2014

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by

The daily weather logWeather log February 2014.

The month began sunny and dry, with extremely low humidity. The second week brought a warm spell, which became humid and cloudy, leading to rain. There were eight rain days, with 18.8 mm recorded on the 17th. The fourth week was fine, with normal temperatures.

Comparing February monthsClimate February 2014.

Like February 2011, this month was very warm, but not quite as warm as February 2006. February 2008 had been five degrees cooler, and February 2012 and 2013 also very cool.
The humidity, shown by early morning dew point, has fallen steadily for four February months. It was 15.6° in 2010, and is now a record low of 10.3°. February mean relative humidity values, which had been steady from 2006 to 2013, fell sharply to 2014: afternoon values fell from 31% to 16% and morning values from 80% to 58%.
The total rainfall of 37.4 mm is well below the February average of 67 mm and far below that for February 2012 (194 mm), the fifth wettest on record. This is the forty-fourth driest, and in the 35th percentile. Taking rainfall totals for more than one month, the greatest shortages are not serious (i.e. not below the 10th percentile). The two month total (39 mm) and the twelve-month total (452 mm) are both in the 12th percentile. Other totals have higher percentile values, and most totals for 30 months or more are above normal. Pools survive in Greenhatch Creek.

Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Temperatures, including subsoil at 750 mm, and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

3-year trends to January 2014

Posted in 3-year climate trends, Manilla NSW by

Parametric plots of smoothed climate variables at Manilla

“January rain fails”Trends to January 2014

Raw values for several climate anomalies in January 2014 were extreme: daily maximum temperature: plus 2.1°, rainfall: minus 85 mm, dew point: minus 7.3°, and temperature range: plus 1.5°.
Fully-smoothed values for July 2013 move in the direction of “droughts”.
Subsoil temperature reaches a new record for fully-smoothed data of plus 2.36°, beating the record set a month earlier.

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.