Tag Archives: Manilla

2018-19 summer 2nd driest

Posted in Manilla NSW, Season Weather by
Cumulonimbus and towering cumulus

Storm at Dusk

This summer had 7 very hot days above 40°, and 11 very hot nights above 24°.
The worst heat waves came in January. Around the 17th, weekly temperatures were more than 6° above normal, with days at about 41°, and nights 24°. Near the 28th, nights were even warmer. Episodes of very low dew point came at times of lower temperature.
Thirteen rain days were scattered through the season, the highest readings being 25.0 mm on 16 December and 18.0 mm on 21 January.

Weather log summer 2018-19

Comparing summer seasons

Average temperatures were almost the same as in the hot summer of 2016-17. Days, at 35.5°, were slightly cooler and nights, at 20.1°, slightly warmer. The resulting average, 27.8°, was a new record summer temperature, beating 2016-17 by 0.2°.
Remarkably, the mean subsoil temperature, 25.5°, was not high, but normal.
Similarly, daily temperature range (15.4°) and cloudiness (22%) were normal. (Recent summers have been cloudy.) Dryness was shown only by very low humidity and rainfall.
The mean early morning dew point for this summer (10.4°) was second lowest in the 19-year record. Only that of summer 2013-14 (8.6°) was lower.
The total rainfall for the summer, 70 mm, was equal second driest with 1965, the driest summer being 1930, which had 66 mm.

Climate for summer 2018-19

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. Station 55312 recorded no readings this summer. I used my own readings for the whole season.

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

Spring 2018 warm

Posted in Manilla NSW, Season Weather by
Native vine blossoms

Wonga wonga in spring

This spring was marked by very high temperature in the first week of November. Both days and nights were about five degrees above normal, as hot as expected in mid-summer. Less extreme warmth also occurred in the second half of October and in the second week of September. Periods of very dry air (marked “ARID”) came in mid-September, late November, and at the time of very high temperature.
There were 23 rain days (normally 19), but there was one rainless period of 17 days in September. No day had more than 17 mm of rain.

Weather log spring 2018

The season’s rainfall of 114 mm was at the 24th percentile, about 50 mm below average (166 mm). [The highest rainfall on this graph, spring 2016, is only 45 mm above average.] Other measures of moisture this spring (cloud, dew point, and low daily temperature range) were similar to those of spring 2017 and 2016. They were much moister than those of spring 2013.
The season was warm, with days 0.5° above average and nights 1.5° above average. Spring 2016 had been three degrees cooler. The subsoil temperature was below normal, as it was in the three previous spring seasons.

Climate for spring 2018

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. Station 55312 recorded no readings in spring 2018. I used my own readings for the whole season.

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

Winter 2018 had the driest air

Posted in Manilla NSW, Season Weather by
A gum-tree blowing in the wind

Wind-blown Gum-tree

Temperatures varied widely, especially at night. In both mid-July and mid-August, the weekly mean night temperatures were more than 4° low. At these times, the air was extremely dry.
Early in July night temperatures were nearly 4° high, while late in July it was the day temperatures that were more than 4° high. The daily temperature range was almost 21° in mid-July, having been less than 13° in mid-June.
There were 16 rain days, but the highest reading (estimated) was only 10.2 mm.

Weather log for winter 2018

Last winter’s report had been headlined: “Dry air in winter 2017”. This winter was even drier by all measures. In particular, the mean early morning dew point set a new record of -3.0°. The best match in this century is the winter of 2002. Both had warm days, cold nights, wide daily temperature range, little cloud and low dew point.
The total rainfall of 42 mm makes this the 9th driest winter on record, displacing winter 2002, which had 44 mm. (The year 1888 had the lowest winter rainfall total: 6 mm. However, daily readings are missing. The next lowest was 1946, with 29 mm, then 1972 and 1982, both with 32 mm.)

Climate for winter 2018

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. During this winter season 20 daily readings were missed, including several days with significant falls of rain. I have used my own readings for the whole season.

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

June 2018 in drought

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by
An ornamental stone bridge

Grantham’s Stone Bridge

As in the month before, temperatures remained near normal. The second week was warm. There were 13 frosts: the usual number. The early morning dew point on the 25th was a new low record for June.
There were only two rain days. The wetter registered 4.4 mm (estimated) on the 28th.

Weather log June 2018

Comparing June months

In recent June months, the mean temperature has hardly changed from 11°. However, moisture has varied a lot. June 2013 was very cloudy, and June 2016 very rainy. This month was very dry, not only with little rain, but also with the lowest June early morning dew point (-0.9°). Warm days (18.8°) and cool nights (3.1°) made for a wide daily temperature range (15.7°).

The rainfall total of 5.2 mm was at the 9th percentile. This very low value has carried rainfall totals for two months, three months, and four months down to become extreme shortages. Such shortages have not been seen here since 2002.

Climate in June months

Developing Drought

The rainfall shortages that have now become extreme are covered in other posts, such as “Rainfall Shortages up to June 2018”.

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, which had last reported on 24 September 2017, came on line again on the 16th of March. During the month of June three daily readings were blank, including that on the wettest day. I have substituted my own gauge readings for those days.

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

Rainfall Shortages up to May 2018

Posted in Australian Climate, Climate events, Manilla NSW by

Rainfall shortage Manilla May 2018

Rainfall shortages now

On this graph the black line with black squares shows Manilla rainfall shortages at the end of May 2018. Shortages are shown for short terms down to one month, and for long terms up to 360 months (30 years).

Extreme shortages

There were no extreme rainfall shortages at this date.

Severe shortages

There were severe shortages in rainfall totals as follows:
Total for one month (May): 1.2 mm, at the 2nd percentile;
Total for two months (April and May): 19 mm, at the 3rd percentile;
Total for three months (March, April and May): 45 mm, at the 4th percentile.

Serious shortages

Some other rainfall shortages were not severe, but serious:
Total for five months: 136 mm, at the 9th percentile;
Total for twelve months: 408 mm, at the 6th percentile;
Total for sixty months: 2765 mm, at the 8th percentile;
Total for seventy-two months: 3358 mm, at the 6th percentile.

General shortage

The first comment and reply below notes the fact that no rainfall total for any period reaches the 50th percentile. This has not happened for seventy years (1947).

[Later data

The following graph in this series is in the post: “Rainfall Shortages up to June 2018”. For the much worse situation in June 2019, see “June breaks more drought records”. ]

Comparing May 2018 with September 2017

The graph also has a grey line showing similar rainfall shortages at September 2017 (See the earlier post “A drought has begun”.). In the following month, October, there were no rainfall shortages, because the rainfall, 84 mm, was far above average. November, December and February also had rainfalls above average.
Since March 2018, shortages have appeared again. By comparing the black line (May 2018) with the grey line (September 2017), you can see that the rainfall totals are now lower for nearly all periods of time. Only four totals are now higher, including the 4-month total.

What are the classes of rainfall shortage?

We need to compare rainfall shortages. The best way is not by how far below normal the rainfall is, but by how rare it is. That is, not by the percentage of normal rainfall, but by the percentile value. As an example, when the rainfall is at the fifth percentile, that means that only five percent of all such rainfall measurements were lower than that.
Once the percentile values have been worked out for the rainfall record, each new reading can be given its percentile value. Percentile values of low rainfall are classed as extreme, severe, or serious.
For a rainfall shortage to be classed as extreme, its value must be at or below the 1st percentile.
A severe rainfall shortage is one that is below the 5th percentile.
A serious rainfall shortage is one that is below the 10th percentile.
A rainfall shortage that is above the 10th percentile is not counted as serious.

Long-lasting rainfall shortages

Rainfall shortages sometimes last a long time. The same classes of shortage are used for long periods, such as a year, as for short periods, such as a month. They depend on how rare such a shortage is on the average, and they all use the same percentile values to separate extreme, severe, and serious rainfall shortages.