Tag Archives: rainy

November 2008 cool and very wet

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by

The daily weather log

Weather log November 2008

This November was like last November, but wetter. Again, a sunny dry week separated times of overcast rainy days.
Sudden cold changes, which had come twice in October, came again on the 8th, 17th, and 22nd. The last was severe. The maximum on the 23rd was nearly 12° below normal. The temperature that day did not rise above 15° until 5 pm!
Steady soaking rain on the 3rd amounted to 44 mm. A long spell of six rain days from the 17th brought another 48 mm. It began as persistent drizzle but included storms (one with 15 mm size hailstones). These days had low cloud and high humidity. Extremely low humidity (Dew Point 0.1°) came with the cold change, but dew points rose to a peak of 17.4° on the 29th. Over 26 mm of rain fell that day.
Manilla missed two heavy rainstorms of 80 mm each that swept through Tamworth at 10 am and 10 pm on the 28th. There was flooding at Tamworth, at Carroll Gap, and on the plain east of Gunnedah. The Namoi River at Manilla also rose due to rain near Bendemeer.

 Comparing November months

Climate November 2008

Days were the coolest in ten Novembers. However, the mean daily minimum was high, making the daily temperature range (12.4°) even narrower than last November. This agrees with high values for cloudiness and dew point.

The rainfall total, 132 mm, is far above the long-term November average of 67 mm, but that is now common. Five of the last ten Novembers had 110 mm or more. This month and November 2000 were equal ninth wettest on record, and November 2001 (133 mm) eighth wettest.
The rainfall totals for groups of months get higher and higher. The total for 2 months (October and November) is in the 94th percentile, 3 months in the 92nd, 4 months in the 86th, 5 months in the 80th, and 6 months in the 81st percentile. Totals are now above the median for periods up to 72 months with only one exception: that for 9 months is in the 47th percentile. The six-year total rainfall is now 100 mm more than in six average years.

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.

 

June 2008 warm, with rain

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by

The daily weather log

Weather log June 2008

Most of June was very warm. The 7-day average temperature stayed three degrees above normal for the first three weeks. All five rain days came during that time. The first, with 38.2 mm, was the wettest June day in a decade. By the 4th of the month the average rainfall for June (44 mm) had already been beaten. Sadly, the total rose only to 65.2 mm, the same as last year. Around the rainy days the nights were about 7° warmer than usual, and humidity was high (morning Dew Points near 10°). There were frequent fogs, including one on Saturday the 7th that was widespread and thick, and lasted a long time.

The fourth week saw a return to normal June temperatures, with sunny cloudless days. Frosts came back, but there were only eight altogether instead of the usual thirteen.

 Comparing June months

Climate June 2008

This June was warm and humid. However, due to the cool, dry change in the fourth week, it was no warmer or more humid than June of 2005. The graph shows that June 2005 had very high rainfall. It was the sixth wettest June on record.

While this month had more cloud than usual, June last year was much cloudier, and had bitterly cold days – nearly five degrees colder! By contrast, sunny June 2006 had very cold nights, including 21 frosts.
The rainfall total of 65 mm is high. It is in the 78th percentile for June, and nearly twice the median value (36 mm).
The rainfall total for this May and June together (79 mm) is in the 38th percentile of two-monthly totals, while the three-monthly total (99 mm) is in the 23rd percentile. Being above the tenth percentile, these do not count as “serious” shortages of rainfall. The four-month total (101 mm) is a serious shortage: it is only in the 9th percentile. The five-month total is much better (in the 35th percentile). Rainfall totals for longer periods are all normal, that is, near the median.

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.

 

Cold, cloudy wet February 2008

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by

The daily weather logWeather log February 2008

Reading the 7-day mean temperatures, the month started near normal, but cooled to unusually low figures by the end of the first week – five degrees down! For a week from the 19th it was only two degrees below normal, then back to four degrees down at the end of the month.
Days were particularly cool, running about 29° instead of 33°.  However, the coolest days were not extreme.
The warmest day, Friday the 22nd, reached only 35.5°. The following morning was the warmest at 26.1°.
Dry air arrived from the south on the 24th, with a Dew Point of only 5.8°.
Rain fell frequently until the 19th, with the 6th being the wettest day (32 mm). The 29th was also very wet. There were nine rain days, totalling 115.6 mm. This is nearly twice the long-term February average of 66 mm.
Very few mornings were “Fine” (with no cloud).

 Comparing February months

Climate February 2008

This was by far the coldest of the last nine Februaries, by day and by night. The mean daily maximum of 28.8°, the mean daily mean of 22.2°, and the mean daily minimum of 15.6° were all well below average, by 3.7°, 3.1°, and 2.5° respectively.
The contrast with the last two years is stark: the days in February 2007 were 4.5° hotter, and those in February 2006, 5.2° hotter than this month. (Note added: This cooling was global.)
With 58% of mornings exceeding 4 octas of cloud, this February, along with December 2007 (58%) and June 2007 (60%) was one of the cloudiest months in nine years. Most months in Manilla have about 30% cloudy mornings.

This month’s rainfall of 116 mm is in the 81st percentile of February totals. (Last February’s 128 mm was the seventeenth wettest February on record.) Taking rainfall totals for more than one month, every total up to 12 months is very high: above the 70th 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.

 

December 2007 cool, humid, cloudy, rainy

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by

The daily weather logWeather log December 2007

Only four days, early in the month, had daily maximum temperatures warmer than normal. Decembers average five days over 35°, but there were none this month. The 22nd was nine degrees cooler than normal, at 24.2°. Daily minimum temperatures varied around the normal values (16°). The 7-day daily average temperature stayed below normal most of the time.

The graphs include the humidity of the air, using the Dew Point idea. All air contains moisture. If it cools to its Dew Point temperature, it gets so moist that cloud or fog forms, and dew appears. On humid days when the Dew Point is above 17°, most people find the weather unpleasantly sultry or sweaty. They find air with a low Dew Point, such as 5° or 10°, very pleasant and refreshing. The Dew Points shown on this graph are the early morning minimum values. Morning Dew Points this December were often between 15° and 18°: too humid for comfort. They never came below 10°.
Many mornings this month were overcast, and there were never two fine mornings together until the 29th.
There were fourteen rain days, with a total rainfall of 129.4 mm. The wettest day was the 4th, with 25.2 mm. There were only two runs of four days without rain, beginning on the 18th and 28th.

 Comparing December monthsClimate December 2007

The average daily maximum temperature this month, 29.4°, was far below the average for the last nine Decembers (31.7°). Only December 1999 had a slightly lower value (29.2°). The daily mean temperature (23.0°) was below average (24.0°), and the daily minimum temperature (16.6°) was near average (16.4°). As a result, the daily temperature range this month was only 12.8°.

The mean morning Dew Point for December 2007 is 14.2°. This high value, (meaning high humidity) seems to be about 2° above normal, but my record is short.
This was one of the three cloudiest months in nine years. The other two were also in 2007: November (50%) and June (60%).
The rainfall total of 129 mm makes this a very wet month. Only 14 Decembers since 1884 were wetter.
The year 2007 was wet: the total rainfall amounted to 741 mm. This is on the 68th percentile, meaning that higher rainfall has occurred roughly one year in three. The rainfall was 90 mm above the average (651 mm). It was the highest total since the strange wet year of 1998 (919 mm). That year nearly 400 mm more rain than usual fell in the six months that are normally the driest: from April to September.

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.

 

June 2007 had two very cold days

Posted in Manilla NSW, Monthly weather by

The daily weather logWeather log June 2007

This month had two remarkably cold days: 8.8° on Friday the 8th, just before Queen’s Birthday, and 8.3° on Wednesday the 20th. (Note added: in 2014 these stand as the coldest on the record from 1999.) Nearly all days were cooler than normal. Nights varied, with one above 10 degrees and 10 frosts. The weekly mean temperature was below normal except on the first and last days.
Nine days were completely overcast, and rain fell on 10 days (usually 6) with the highest reading 14.8 mm on the 4th.

The first very cold day was related to a severe “East Coast Low” (990 hPa) that caused widespread damage and major flooding in the Hunter region. Gales and high seas caused the freighter “Pasha Bulker” to run aground.

 Comparing June monthsClimate June 2007

The mean daily maximum (14.3°) and mean (8.8°) temperatures this month were much lower than in the previous six June months. The daily minimum (3.4°), however, was higher than last year (1.3°). (Note added. The maximum and mean temperatures stand in 2014 as record low values for June.)

The mean daily temperature range this June month (normally 15.0°) was extremely narrow: only 10.9°. (Note added. In September 2014, this stands as a record for any calendar month. The only other months with a mean daily temperature range narrower than 13° were all in late 2010 (expressing that La Niña event): July 2010, 12.3°; August 2010, 11.9°; November 2010, 12.4°; December 2010, 11.8°.)
With 60% of mornings having more than 4 octas of cloud, this was a very cloudy month. (Note added. The only month much more cloudy than this has been June 2013, with 75% cloudy mornings.)
The total rainfall of 65 mm is in the 78th percentile for June (June 2005, with 109 mm, was in the 96th percentile). Rainfall totals for more than one month show no shortages.

Note: Although there were brief reports in the “Manilla Express” dated 10/7/07 and 17/7/07, this report in standard format was written in 2014, with the benefit of hindsight. In particular, it uses normal curves that are based on data for the decade from March 1999 to February 2009.

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.