Sydney/NSW: Day to Day Weather Talk

[johnno]

Earliest frosty spell in 39 years ices Canberra

Press Release, Tuesday May 10, 2011 - 11:57 EST
Canberra residents have woken up to six consecutive mornings of sub-zero temperatures, the longest frosty spell this early in the season since 1972, according to weatherzone.com.au.

The very cold mornings began last Thursday when it chilled to minus 1.8 degrees, since then each morning has been even colder, getting as cold as minus 4.0 on Friday morning, eight below average.

The bitterly cold starts to each day have all warmed up to the mid teens in the sunshine.

"We've had very dry air over the region since a cold front moved through the region mid last week. This dry air together with light winds and clear skies has allowed it to become cold overnight, making the start to each day very icy," Weatherzone meteorologist Brett Dustchke said.

And the cold is not over yet.

"There's at least another week's worth of below-freezing mornings and days will also become chilly. It will struggle to warm past 10 degrees on both Wednesday and Thursday, the wind chill making it feel even colder," Dutschke said.

"A strong cold front will arrive tonight bringing another burst of cold winds. Initially, the cold winds will be too strong for frost but they will bring a few showers. The wind will be so cold that small hail is possible and snow is a chance on the Brindabellas on Wednesday night."

Wind should ease enough by this weekend for morning frost to become a feature until the following weekend under mostly clear skies.

- Weatherzone

[apocalypse]

-8.1C at Goulburn Airport!! Must be a record.

[apocalypse]

It sure was cold this morning!! We dipped down to -2.9C at 6:31am after a slight drop in humidity, -1.9C colder than forecast. Taking a look through the statistics it seems this is our coldest morning this early in the year on record, while Canberra fell to -6.9C, also their coldest morning this early. And for the second time this month, the coldest on record for May at Goulburn with -8.1C!!

[apocalypse]

My kind of weather too (the t-shirts and shorts kind ... )!!! A lovely negative 2.6C this morning and a max of 11.2C at 1:24pm to top it off. Looking forward to some rain later in the week as it's looking browner than Spring and Summer, and normally it's the other way round!

[apocalypse]

Into the negatives again this morning, with -1.7C at the airport and and -2.0C at home, which makes the last 3 days all daily records.

[apocalypse]

Not as cold this morning, with high cloud ahead of the front keeping in some of the heat. -1.0C at the airport which is 3C lower than forecast.

GFS is firming on some nice totals with the front on Sunday and Monday, with around 25mm+ each run and more further to the south and east. I will give it a shot and say we'll end up with 20mm by Monday.

[Lily]

Hello, hello Sorry, I've been a slacker and haven't been in to see you lately

Looks like it's been mighty cold up there, heater getting a work out? Neill Mitchell (3aw) is tripping around Victoria this week, he was commenting I think yesterday or the day before about how cold it is a little further up north, yet some of the locals were wandering about in shirtsleeves and shorts Brrrrrrr!

Are you getting frosts?

[apocalypse]

Don't worry Lily, I've been a bit slack too and haven't posted much lately, so there hasn't been much to see!

We've had the heater on twice so far to try and save as much money as we can (stupid electricity prices!!). A nice, warm thick blanket always does the job, so we'll survive. Or I will anyway, seeing as I'm one of the locals wandering around in short sleeve t-shirts and shorts.

Yep, we've been getting frosts for the last four days, and 8 out of the last 11 days. Haven't been too heavy to do much damage, but I'll have to start moving my little Mango trees under shelter before the frost gets them.

This month we've had 13 days with mins below average, with anomalies of -2.0, -2.3, -2.8, -3.6, -3.6, -4.1, -5.7, -6.3, -6.3, -6.9, -7.6, -8.5, -8.8!!!

[Lily]

Slackers'R'Us

Mmmmm, mango. They grow well up there do they?

Speaking of heaters, I came home from work today to find my (stooopid) husband had left the heater on - ALL DAY! That would be the one that I said, before I left at the crack of dawn for work, "Do you want me to turn the heater off?" to which he responded, "No, that's ok, I'll do it."

Uh huh, yuh, good one

[apocalypse]

I suppose they will do well when it gets hotter, but will have to wait and see how they do this winter (I only planted them last year and so they are only small). Hopefully in a few years or so they can grow some mangoes for me!!!

Thats sounds like my brother and sisters leaving their electric blankets on all day, on the highest setting. Yikes!

[apocalypse]

Sydney getting some of the action after a dry year for them last year.

Flash flooding hits inner Sydney
Monday May 30, 2011 - 16:03 EST
Heavy rain has led to local flooding in inner Sydney.

State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers and police have been involved in flood rescue operations at Alexandria and Zetland.

The rain hit properties on Bourke Road, Elizabeth Street and O'Riordan streets.

Emergency Services also received a call to help release a driver whose car has been caught in flash flooding at Barker Street in Kingsford.

- ABC

© ABC 2011

[Lily]

Was just reading that, getting nasty up there.

[apocalypse]

Heaviest rain in four years for Gosford and Sydney’s suburbs
Press Release, Tuesday May 31, 2011 - 08:17 EST
Gosford has just seen its highest 24-hour rainfall total in four years, with 113mm pouring down since 9am Tuesday, according to weatherzone.com.au

Sydney and surrounding suburbs didn’t escape the deluge either. Sydney CBD has seen 65mm in the past 24 hours, taking the two-day total past the 100mm mark.

“This late surge of heavy rainfall has taken Sydney’s monthly total past 130mm, which is around 10mm more than the May average. Additionally, we have had more than 530mm through March, April and May, making it the wettest autumn in eight years” said Alex Zadnik, Senior Meteorologist at Weatherzone.

“While the city picked up heavy falls of over 60mm, there were torrential falls of close to 100mm around Parramatta. For Parramatta this is the heaviest daily total in four years,” he continued.

“The Hunter coastline didn’t escape either, with Merewether seeing over 80mm, adding to the massive 144mm that fell less than one week ago,” said Mr Zadnik.

“The recent rain over Sydney and Gosford was due to a deep and slow-moving low pressure system off the NSW coast, which focused heavy falls over the same general area between Sunday night and this morning,” said Mr Zadnik.

“The low is also producing wind gusts of over 60km/h along the coastline, which are in turn whipping up large seas and swells. Average wave heights had climbed past 3 metres along the Sydney coastline this morning, with maximum wave heights reaching 6 metres further offshore,” continued Mr Zadnik.

The low is expected to produce more rain for Sydney, Gosford and the Hunter through Tuesday, before the heavier falls contract to the northern half of the NSW coast on Wednesday.

“The showers will ease right back along the NSW coast on Thursday, as the low drifts further east over the Tasman Sea. Dry conditions are then expected in Sydney on Friday,” said Mr Zadnik.

“Dry weather will persist for Sydney into the weekend, although strong winds around the low will continue to send large and dangerous swells pounding onto the coastline. Therefore conditions will remain hazardous for coastal activities such as swimming and rock-fishing until at least Saturday,” concluded Mr Zadnik.


- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2011

[apocalypse]

Ended up with 15.6mm in the manual gauge and 13.2mm in the Nylex. Nice little top up for the lawn.

Looks around and wonders what has happened to all the rain ... ... only 44.4mm the last 2 months!!

[apocalypse]

State Water defends higher dam levels in the Murrumbidgee system
Monday June 6, 2011 - 13:26 EST
State Water says it is passing inflows into Blowering and Burrinjuck Dams into the Murrumbidgee River system, to mitigate against winter floods.

The authority says it will not be reducing Blowering or Burrinjuck Dams to 93 per cent capacity, as the Murray Darling Basin Authority has done with the Hume Dam on the Murray River.

State Water says it has passed inflows through the system for the last four or five weeks, but it it is keeping both Murrumbidgee dams at 97 per cent capacity.

State Water Manager of Water Delivery Dan Berry says a fine balancing act is needed.

"The impacts of drought are certainly at the front of everyone's mind at the moment," he said.

"But also because of the flooding in December, people are aware of the damage floods can cause. So we as dam operators are stuck with that dilemna. We need to guarantee that we can fill the storages at the start of the irrigation season but create as much airspace as possible. We need to assure people we are doing those calculations based on the conditions occurring in the catchment each day," said Mr Berry.

State Water says while it sets the level in Burrinjuck Dam, Snowy Hydro is asking for Blowering Dam to remain at 97 per cent capacity.

Mr Berry says Snowy Hydro sets the airspace for Blowering in line with its electricity generating priority.

"That has always been in their discretion to request what level of airspace they want in Blowering," said Mr Berry.

"I suppose the recent change at least the change in the last few years is that Snowy are asking for a different level of airspace in Blowering and presumably that's a reflection of a different changes in the risk profile of the eastern grid. The eastern rgid has got a lot a bigger and perhaps the variations aren't as large as they used to be," said Mr Berry.

Mr Berry says the communication between State Water and Snowy Hydro over airspace in the Murrumbidgee dams is fine.

But he says the airpsace in Blowering can change depending on Snowy Hydro's daily needs.

"The dilemma though is everyone would like to know what is going to happen next week or the week after, have a longer range forecast both we and the Office of Water and the Snowy would all like to have a better forecast so we can schedule our releases and schedule out operations.

"It is just unfortunate the nature of the beast that with our own catchments and rainfalls on those and then the combination of the operation of the power grid makes it very difficult to do those forecasts," he said.

Mr Berry says Blowering's air space is set by Snowy Hydro and it's only asked for 50 gigalitres, not the 190 gigalitres it's allowed.

"For us us river operators and as dam operators it is difficult for us because we can't then forecast, can't really forecast reliably what is going to happen next week or next week or the month after. But it is largely as a result of the operation of all those generators across the eastern seaboard," he said.

Mr Berry says in the event of a flood in the Murrumbidgee River, releases from Burrinjuck Dam and not Blowering Dam are the major contributor.


- ABC

© ABC 2011

[apocalypse]

This is something you don't see often, snow forecast in the Riverina!!

Cloudy. Areas of morning frost. Isolated snow showers in the southeast above 500 metres in the morning. Isolated showers and the chance of thunderstorms in the southeast from the late morning. Winds west to southwesterly averaging 15 to 25 km/h, reaching 35 km/h at times. Overnight temperatures falling to around 1 with daytime temperatures reaching around 12.

[apocalypse]

Just started raining, that was a surprise. I have blue sky above me!

[Lily]

Odd!

[apocalypse]

Courtesy of the Bureau of Meteorology


Riverina - Wednesday 8 June

Cloudy. Areas of morning frost. Isolated snow showers in the southeast above 500 metres in the morning, contracting to above 900 metres by the end of the day. Isolated showers with hail and the chance of thunderstorms in the southeast from the late morning. Winds west to southwesterly averaging 15 to 30 km/h. Overnight temperatures falling to around 1 with daytime temperatures reaching around 11.

[apocalypse]

The line coming in from the WSW looks to have become more organised. The winds should pick up a bit with it, and maybe we can even get a mm or so.