Summer in the south (and winter in the north)

[amazondk]

Tyrone,

I was out in traffic about that time. At least I made it to the office before the sky opened up.

dk

[ariscott]

Some weather nerd here thinks it might be cat 2 by the time it crosses... I hope for your sake it would be far enough away. Good luck, Tyrone...

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

Some weather nerd here thinks it might be cat 2 by the time it crosses... I hope for your sake it would be far enough away. Good luck, Tyrone...

Regards, Ari

Yikes. That would wipe us out. That's 160kph winds isn't it? We don't have cyclone coded structures so a cat 2 would likely paralyse Perth. I don't know if Perth has ever had a direct hit from something that big in recorded history. Normally the weather here is quite benign, though hot and dry.

A cat 2 cyclone would probably bring my gum tree down. I always said to my wife that if it falls down across the property I'm leaving it where it is, as a feature across my fishpond.

I'm keeping an eye on this system. It still looks angry on the IR and it's forward direction has slowed which is not a good thing.

It's dead still outside at the moment, and the ants are going crazy. Very warm and humid out there too. Great growing weather.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

It's down to cat 3 this morning 185kph winds near the eye. It's crossed the 26th parallel and is reportedly in a low shear environment (The BOM said it would be in high shear by now). The eye is still easily visible on the IR. The BOM believes the shear will pick up strongly today as a high moves in and will take the energy out of the system. However if the shear is less than expected it will continue reasonably strongly as the SST's will allow it to keep going. Now they have the track coming slightly closer to Perth but crossing as a Tropical Low nearly smack bang on Mandurah. Lots of boats down there in the canal homesites. A tidal surge may break mooring ropes etc

Overnight was beautiful and warm with a min just under 24C and dewpoints up past 22C. I watered lastnight as well and everything has responded to the warmth and moisture.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

Got to 41.6C today with dewpoints around 16C so very sticky. Then the heavens opened up and we got around 21mm of rain in 30 minutes, which is more than our average for Jan which we've already had. Flooded the street, my driveway my back patio, nursery area, my dry creekbed rain furiously and filled my fishpond and also my top fishpond filled up just from runoff around it. Everything is drenched. I'm delighted. More to come as well. This wasn't even from the cyclone, just a big heap of cloud dragged in from the Kimberley. Everything is drenched. We went from 37C to 26C and 23.3C dewpoints in 30 minutes. The gardens going to go crazy. Now let's see what the cyclone dumps on us.

Best regards

Tyrone

[philinsydney]

The heatwave in inland Australia is unusual: 46c at Uluru, 47c at Birdsville, 48c at Roxby Downs. At Uluru there have been nine days running above 42c.

[ariscott]

Thank goodness my weather nerd friends are wrong so far, Tyrone... It did look promising and then disintegrate. I hate cyclone myself - have been in 2 myself over my 7 years in the Territory. The houses are coded to cyclone category 3.5, so anything above 4 is anyone's guess.... Hopefully it would never make landfall - that way you only get the rain & not so much the damaging wind...

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

It looks like it's fallen apart now. Supposedly still a category one but I can't even see it on the radar now. All the moisture has been stripped from it and gone SE. The low itself is now projected to go directly over Perth but without any moisture is kind of a useless thing. Oh well. At least nothing got damaged.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

What a fizzer. At noon it's blue skies with a mild breeze and some low level clouds in the air. Quite humid (20C dewpoints) and 35C. No rain forecast except for some early morning drizzle tomorrow. A storm surge is forecast for the coast today.

Now the attention turns to TC Anthony which is forecast to impact the coast between Bowen and Ayr as a cat 1. Also there is a much bigger system brewing out near Fiji which is tipped to turn into a monster and head for north QLD.

Best regards

tyrone

[Tyrone]

Light rain all night brought nearly 5mm to my place. Mins around 23C and 98% RH all night. It was probably more of a sea mist after the low moved through from ex TC Bianca. The leaves of my mini forest were capturing all the moisture and condensing them into rain drops. Real rainforest action. Beautiful.

So all up for Jan my area has officially had 46mm (nearly 2 inches) for Jan which may not sound much, but compared to the average for Jan of 9mm for my area that's 5 times the average or 500% of the normal rainfall figure. You've got to be positive.

Best regards

Tyrone

[amazondk]

It has been mostly cloudy all day with a few sprinkles. A nice tropical rain is falling right now though.

dk

[Tyrone]

It has been mostly cloudy all day with a few sprinkles. A nice tropical rain is falling right now though.

dk

Don, that sounds beautiful.

I wish I could have grown those E precatoria through winter. They'd have loved this weather we're having right now. E edulis is going nuts though.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Miccles]

It's nearly 9.30pm and it's 25C outside... overcast and muggy as anything.....the garden loves it....now if it would just rain...

High 20's and low 30's the next few days.

Regards

Michael

[amazondk]

It has been mostly cloudy all day with a few sprinkles. A nice tropical rain is falling right now though.

dk

Don, that sounds beautiful.

I wish I could have grown those E precatoria through winter. They'd have loved this weather we're having right now. E edulis is going nuts though.

Best regards

Tyrone

Tyrone,

That would have been nice. The E. edulis are better suited for your area for sure. I planted another group of E. precatoria a few weeks ago. They should be well established before the dry season comes. The Negro River is still below last years lever, about 1.2 meters less.. But, over the watershed it has been raining well so this could change as the season evolves.

dk

[Tyrone]

It has been mostly cloudy all day with a few sprinkles. A nice tropical rain is falling right now though.

dk

Don, that sounds beautiful.

I wish I could have grown those E precatoria through winter. They'd have loved this weather we're having right now. E edulis is going nuts though.

Best regards

Tyrone

Tyrone,

That would have been nice. The E. edulis are better suited for your area for sure. I planted another group of E. precatoria a few weeks ago. They should be well established before the dry season comes. The Negro River is still below last years lever, about 1.2 meters less.. But, over the watershed it has been raining well so this could change as the season evolves.

dk

Don, I'm hoping my Bactris setulosa seed will germinate and grow here. Ceroxylon amazonicum is doing fine though, and my Polyandrococcus caudescens (I know it's name has changed but I like the old one) that I got hold of as an old neglected specimen has perked right up and is looking great too.

Back too cooler drier weather now after all the monsoonal stuff went with TC Bianca. Yesterday we got cloud and drizzle. Today is blue skies. A min of 18C and a max today of 31C. Nothing over 34C for the week and mins between 18-21C. I can get some work done without melting away in a humid sweaty puddle.

Best regards

Tyrone

[philinsydney]

We're having a pretty amazing spell of hot weather, especially hot nights. The low on Wed morning was 25c in the city. This morning it got down to 24c, but by 8am it was back up to 29c with high cloud and a sweltering humidity.

By day the air has been drier but up to 41c at Liverpool on Tuesday, and in the high thirties today all over the city as the westerlies were a bit stronger.

[ariscott]

Things might fire up again for us with Yasi has hit land.... Only 7mm yesterday, but I hope it is a start of something wonderful, like the monsoon trough or even convection.

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

I hope you get some rain Ari, although I'd be happy with 7mm down here.

Back to average dry weather here now. Blue skies. Nights around 20C, days in the low to mid thirties, seabreezes by 1pm. Non eventful. Hoping for another tropical disturbance to bring down some rain but Eldersweather is saying nothing of the sort for Feb. Sigghhhh.

Best regards

Tyrone

[philinsydney]

Today should be the climax of our heatwave: 40c at Observatory Hill and 41c at Liverpool and Bankstown.

Some overnight minimum records have been set this week including 26c at Bankstown and 3 nights above 24c at Observatory Hill. More like Tokyo than Sydney!

[Tyrone]

Hottest February Sydney day in 85 years I heard today with 41C. Also had high dewpoints for a temp in the 40's too. Around 17C which would make it very uncomfortable.

Had a similar day just before TC Bianca came into our area last Friday. 42C with dewpoints from 18-20C.

Best regards

Tyrone

[philinsydney]

..... and this morning it's 27.7C at Observatory Hill at 6am!

[Tyrone]

Blowing dry gusty easterlies over here at the moment almost to gale force at times. The sub-tropical ridge has increased and the highs are pumping up, so the wind from the east has increased because ex TC Yasi is squeezing the isobars together between itself and the high. I think they call that a strong pressure gradient. It's really annoying because it's blowing all my bamboo leaves into my cleaned fishpond, and I just hate wind. It dries everything out. They forecasted damaging easterlies in the hills and foothills.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

Bushfires are burning out of control around Perth at the moment with houses lost in the Hills south of Perth. Sounds like arson to me. The strong winds will make fighting these fires difficult at best. The Roleystone area is heavily wooded with some massive eucalypts and vast areas of bushland and forest.

http://www.theage.com.au/environment/weather/bushfire-rages-out-of-control-in-perth-suburbs-20110206-1ai22.html

Best regards

Tyrone

[ariscott]

That is just wrong, Tyrone!!! Bush fires while the rest of Australia is flooded?? I hope it is nowhere near you...

Regards, Ari

[Daryl]

It's certainly a land of contrasts...flooding, cyclones and bushfires all in the same week...

The weather has been very humid here lately...dewpoint not falling below 23C for the last few days, and up to 25C...combined with no air movement at all in my gully makes it very sweaty!

Daryl

[Tyrone]

That is just wrong, Tyrone!!! Bush fires while the rest of Australia is flooded?? I hope it is nowhere near you...

Regards, Ari

I'm nowhere near the area about 20km away but we'll get smoke haze tomorrow. I'm about 5 minutes from the CBD so no corridor of bushland to jump into my bit of suburbia. The biggest bit of bushland near me is the airport, and if that went up it would cause major havoc.

When Nat and I were first looking at buying a house we liked the feel of the Roleystone area and there was a lovely Jarrah wood cabin on stilts on a side of a hill surrounded by acres of fruit trees on the property, and it was well within our price range, but we decided against it because it was too far from work, and also the fire risk. There are some beautiful valleys and tall forests of Eucalypts all through that area. It doesn't feel like Perth at all, more like NSW or Queensland and the soil is red gravelly clay, not sand. At every valley bottom there's a stream, and it's just beautiful. Now I'm into palms I wouldn't consider it because the altitude makes it just a bit more chilly in winter and I couldn't attempt a coconut or Areca catechu up there. I could grow the usual palms though in the right microclimate, but the higher altitudes are the sort of areas they grow stonefruit, apples and pears that need that winter chill to fruit well.

I feel for the people who's houses have gone up. I know some people who live up there. I hope they're OK.

Hasn't Australia copped it hard this year. The west hasn't had anywhere near the havoc of the east, but is their anywhere in Australia that hasn't been touched this season by something. I can't think of one.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

It's certainly a land of contrasts...flooding, cyclones and bushfires all in the same week...

The weather has been very humid here lately...dewpoint not falling below 23C for the last few days, and up to 25C...combined with no air movement at all in my gully makes it very sweaty!

Daryl

Enjoy it. I'm envious.

Today dewpoints dropped to 3C and the wind was hot dry and unrelenting. It makes me cranky. Everything just dries out before your eyes when it's like that. Dewpoints are tipped to get back into the 18-20C zone in a few days and temps from 20C min to 36C max.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

They are thinking that 60 homes have gone up in the Roleystone/Kelmscott area. Winds have been unrelenting overnight. Aerial water fighters were stopped overnight as well. Water bombers have had trouble in the difficult terrain and high winds hitting the targets, as the high winds just spray the water elsewhere. Friends of ours evacuated around 1pm yesterday but have not been able to find out whether their house is gone. They believe it has . They just finished renovating it. The main bridge on Brookton Hwy that crosses the Canning River collapsed overnight after it's supports burnt away. This would impede firetrucks from getting around the area. They would now have to go along way around to get back to the main Albany Hwy. Also another fire has started further south in State Forest not far from the town of Jarradale. The easterlies aren't due to drop until this arvo. This situation may get worse with the fire in Jarradale. Lots of fuel.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Miccles]

Good luck Tyrone !

You're right - I can't think of a season across the country that's had such active weather. Maybe there has been, or maybe I am just focussing more closely on it...dunno, but it's been a strange one for sure.

Regards

Michael

[ariscott]

Wouldn't it be perfect if ex-Yasi head across your way, Tyrone and dump a lot of rain. Hence stop the fires naturally... Oh well, things don't always turn out the way that you want to....

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

The rain would be good for the fires, but the gale force winds preceding it would make it worse I think.

Number of houses burnt is up to 64 now in the Roleystone fires.

Personally I'd love about 100mm of rain even if it fell in 1 hr. It's SOOOO dry. Everything is just drying out in front of your eyes and everything is drinking so much water as the air is so dry. You flood your pots at night and then the next day dry as a bone.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

The hill fires are being called the worst fires in WA history. Worse than the "Dwellingup fires" 50 years ago which destroyed Dwellingup. It looks like an off duty police man started the fire by using an angle grinder that hit grass and away it went. In a total fire ban environment that is quite a serious offence.

http://www.watoday.com.au/environment/weather/as-the-smoke-clears-the-bushfire-devastation-is-revealed-20110208-1akku.html?from=watoday_sb

More easterlies today.

Here's the forecast.

Forecast for Tuesday Partly cloudy. Moderate E/NE winds, shifting moderate to fresh S/SW in theafternoon.Precis: Partly cloudy. City: Max 33 Mandurah: Max 30 UV Alert: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 13 [Extreme] Fire Danger: Coastal Plain: HIGH Hills: HIGH Wednesday Mostly sunny. Min 21 Max 34Thursday Mostly sunny. Min 22 Max 35Friday Sunny. Min 21 Max 34Saturday Sunny. Windy morning. Min 20 Max 32Sunday Partly cloudy, windy morning. Min 19 Max 32Monday Cloudy. Min 20 Max 33

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

Some fire pics.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/gallery-e6frg1vc-1226001564556

Best regards

Tyrone

[ariscott]

The rain would be good for the fires, but the gale force winds preceding it would make it worse I think.

Number of houses burnt is up to 64 now in the Roleystone fires.

Personally I'd love about 100mm of rain even if it fell in 1 hr. It's SOOOO dry. Everything is just drying out in front of your eyes and everything is drinking so much water as the air is so dry. You flood your pots at night and then the next day dry as a bone.

Best regards

Tyrone

I hope you get your rain, Tyrone.... It is just not fair!!!

[philinsydney]

I hope we get some rain rain soon as well. Even though there are floods to the north, south and west, New-Syd-Gong has been unusually dry over the last month or so. Most of the lawns are looking brown; even the Gymea lilies have dead tips.

[Daryl]

Same here Phil..even my plumeria are wilting

[Tyrone]

Phillip and Daryl, I can't believe you are complaining about no rain after you wanted it to stop a month ago. Mind you, a month is a long time for the ground to dry right out in summer.

Still hot and dry here although RH is back up to 18,19C dewpoints. Rain on Mon Tuesday with temps of around 33C and nights around 21C. Perfect.

Best regards

Tyrone

[ariscott]

Still raining here on and off. Waiting for the next monsoon.... after Yasi took our weather away...

Planted 4 mauritias at the back on the weekend. I have to investigate on Friday how they go... They should do well back there as it stays moist longer than the rest of the block. Time to put the irrigation in though to prepare for the dry...

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

Been dry with medium humidity levels here. Back to the easterlies again. Been 20-22C minimums and mid thirties max for the last few days, and for the forseeable future. Nothing below 31C during the day and nothing below 20C at night. Very stable temperatures actually with only a couple of degrees variance from one day to the next. Maybe some rain coming Sun - Tuesday but still max's in the low to mid thirties so humidity should jump right up then.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

When will these blimmin easterlies ever stop. I'm sick of the easterly winds which at times are gale force. It's getting me cranky.

Best regards

Tyrone