hillybilly wrote:
BTW I for one never wish for summer weather... it almost always comes and often with a bang. I recall December 2008 was a shocker - cold wet and windy and 6 weeks later... Sure that was a freak year but it does show how fast things can change.
The odd thing about that summer is if you took away the freak heatwave we had in January and then the Black Saturday all time record breaker it remained unexceptional for temperatures right through to the end. Those two heat events were pretty much all there was of much note for that summer.
The difference this year lies in central Australia and the fact that the heat buildup is much less extensive and less intense also. It is getting periodically flushed out by cooler air and dissipated by cloud and rain through inland AUS before it rebuilds. In 2008/2009 and last year, the heat bank was there through central AUS the whole time and never eased back, it was super intense as well and basically record breaking. Anyone could see that as soon as there was a decent period of NW winds we would be blasted by record heat. This year (so far) we are not even getting hot in deep and strong NW air streams ahead of strong fronts.
Anyway, back to this system. We are getting a few brief showers back but the main feature is still the cloud, gloom and cold as well as high moisture in the atmosphere creating a cold and dank English summer feel to things. To tell you the truth it is really depressing for this time of year and I could do with a week of drier, hotter and sunnier weather.