Tag Archives: dry

August 2009 HOT and dry

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by

The daily weather log

Weather log August 2009

Nearly all the days of August were warmer than normal. While half the nights were cold, some others were very warm. A regional heat wave struck from the 22nd to the 25th, setting records for exceptionally high temperature at Manilla and many other places. The maximum on the 23rd (31.8°) was 11.4° above normal, beating +10.5° set on 11/10/02. The minimum on the morning of the 25th (18.2°) was 14.0° above normal, beating +13.1° set on 23/9/03.
Sixteen minimum temperatures qualified as frosts (usually 15) but the coldest was no lower than -1.4°. Dew Points were low, often far below the air temperature, making the air unpleasantly dry.
Very light rain fell on four days, to a total of 6.8 mm. By the end of the month, there had been forty days without 5 mm of rain.

 Comparing August months

Climate August 2009

Mean daily maximum, mean, and minimum temperatures were far above normal for the month, by 3.1°, 2.5°, and 1.7° respectively. It was the warmest August in the 11-year record, and more than 4° warmer than the previous August (2008).
Manilla is very short of rain. Serious shortages (below the 10th percentile) are found not only in the August total (7 mm) but in totals for the 2, 3, 4, and 5 months to date. Worse, the 6-month total (145 mm) is a severe shortage (in the 4th percentile): it is 163 mm less than the median 6-month rainfall (308 mm). Rainfall totals for longer periods are good. The worst is the 8-year total that includes the 2002 drought: it is in the 24th percentile.

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

 

Settled weather in March 2009

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by

The daily weather log

Weather log March 2009

Sunny, settled weather prevailed in March. By Sunday the 8th several cool nights (9°) had brought the average temperature down to three degrees below normal. It fell no further for the rest of the month. Days were unseasonably warm (33°) from the 18th to the 27th. A little rain (8.0 mm) fell mainly on the 14th, 16th and 31st. By the end of the month there had been no falls over 5 mm for 42 days.

 Comparing March months

Climate March 2009

 

 

The mean daily mean temperature was normal. The mean daily maximum (30.7°) was rather high and the mean daily minimum rather low, taking the daily temperature range to 17.1°.
Humidity and cloudiness were rather low. March last year was even less humid, and had much cooler nights. Both set record lows for the decade.
The rainfall total (8.0 mm) was in the 16th percentile for the month. The most common March reading is 11 mm, and the median 38 mm. Because this is the first month of low rainfall since May, rainfall totals for groups of months remain high. Totals are still above the median for all periods up to 72 months, with the exception of the 36-month total, which has now fallen to the 43rd percentile.

Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Dew point values before August 2005 are from Tamworth Airport 6 am data supplied by the Bureau of Meteorology. Temperature and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

 

January 2009 a bit dry

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by

The daily weather log

Weather log January 2009

January was a bit on the dry side. Otherwise, it was close to normal, like December. Not only were the mean temperatures perfectly normal: there were few hot or cold days or nights.
The percentage of cloudy mornings (39%) was rather high and the number of cloud-free mornings (5) very low.
Four of the five rain days came in one short spell from the 21st, the 22nd having 30.8 mm. This spell was extremely humid, with Dew Points above 17°, typical of stormy weather. The evening of the 24th had a magnificent lightning display. Many storms, far and near, could be seen at once. Every second or two, flashes lit up the towers of cumulonimbus clouds from many different directions, or from inside.

 Comparing January months

Climate January 2009

 

Normal temperatures this month contrast with last January’s low values and the high values of the two before that.
The rainfall total (57.6 mm) was in the 39th percentile for the month. Although this is well below the January average of 87 mm, rainfall totals for groups of months remain very high. The four-month total, for example, is in the 91st percentile. Totals are still above the median for all periods up to 72 months, with the exception of the 36-month total, which has fallen to the 41st percentile.
Some January rainfalls in this decade were extreme. January 2006 (181 mm) was the eleventh wettest ever, and January 2003 (12 mm) was the third driest.

Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Dew point values before August 2005 are from Tamworth Airport 6 am data supplied by the Bureau of Meteorology. Temperature and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

 

Autumn 2008 was dry and cool

Posted in Manilla NSW, Season Weather by

Weather log autumn 2008

The daily weather log

Temperatures were about normal in mid-March and again during parts of May. Otherwise they were low. The daily temperature range was generally higher than usual, but was less on rainy days.
There were nine mild frosts, which is near the average.
Humidity was very low in early April and early May.
There were 13 rain days, which is normal. They were mainly in late April and mid-May, for a very low total of 37 mm. April the 24th was the wettest day, with 12.8 mm.
Cloud varied a lot from day to day. Clear skies were common in March.

Comparing autumn seasons

This autumn was very cool: mean daily mean temperature and minimum temperature are the lowest in the ten year record. Mean daily maximum temperature was lower in 2003, which is one of three autumns sharing the next coolest mean temperature.
This autumn’s very cool nights (8.2°) caused the largest daily temperature range on the graph (16.9°), similar to the 16.8° of 2005. Both came with very low rainfall,
Autumn humidity seems to have decreased through the decade, with this autumn’s Dew Point of 6.4° the lowest.
This graph includes some very dry autumns. Autumn 2005 was the 7th driest on record, in the 6th percentile for autumn rainfall. This autumn was similar, in the 7th percentile. Autumn 2002 was in the 18th percentile, as that year’s drought had not fully developed. By contrast, autumn 2003 and 2007 were wet, in the 72nd and 75th percentiles.
(Contrary to the forecast, this autumn was dry. It was one of twelve autumns on record that had less than one fifth of the preceding summer’s rainfall. Three of the twelve were 2005, 2006, and 2008. This is amazing: something that usually happens one year in ten happened three years in four! Another three of the twelve were 1971, 1973, and 1976. At that time it was three years in six.)
At 26% cloudy mornings, this autumn was normal.

Climate autumn 2008

Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Dew Point values before August 2005 are from Tamworth Airport 6 am data supplied by the Bureau of Meteorology. Temperatures, including subsoil at 750 mm, and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.

Dry, Dry March 2008

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by

The daily weather log

Weather log March 2008

After 115.6 mm of rain in February, March crashed to just 2.2 mm with only three rain days. In 1971 it was worse: that year February had 173 mm and March 1 mm!
This month the air was very dry, too. Morning Dew Points which had been quite low (10°) all month, plunged to zero or less in the last days.
Although there were six cloudy mornings, eighteen mornings were completely cloud-free. The whole of the summer had only thirteen free of cloud!
Due to the dry, fine weather, three-quarters of the days had a range of temperature higher than the normal value of 15.4°. Three days had a range of 21° or more.
The 7-day average temperature began and ended well below normal, but was above normal in the third week. Nights were cold (8° below normal) in the first and last days.

 Comparing March months

Climate March 2008

The mean daily maximum temperature this March (29.9°) is normal, but the mean daily minimum (12.2°) is the lowest in ten years. It is 2° below the average, and 4° below that of 2007 (and 2000).
The mean morning Dew Point, 8.8°, is 3° lower than normal for March. This shows very dry air, which is wilting many shallow-rooted plants.
The total rainfall of 2.2 mm is much lower than the other Marches on the graph. It is not very low compared with Marches in the long-term record: it is on the 6th percentile. In Manilla, rainfall varies more in March and April than in other months.
There must be a lot of water deep in the soil. Total rainfalls for the last 2, 3… 18 months are all above the median. The four and five-month totals are particularly high, in the 83rd percentile.

Data. Rainfall data is from Manilla Post Office, courtesy of Phil Pinch. Dew point values before August 2005 are from Tamworth Airport 6 am data supplied by the Bureau of Meteorology. Temperature and other data are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.