Heavy rain and storm activity has been affecting different parts of Sydney for the last few hours. The Northern Beaches and suburbs further north on the Central Coast have seen strong falls with well over 50mm in only a couple of hours.
Sydney Airport and surrounds have also received big falls. From 10pm to midnight 58.2mm fell. If we look at long term averages for November at Sydney Airport, we can see that the average monthly rainfall is only 81.2mm. So more than 70% of the average monthly rainfall fell in just 2 hours!
Currently the rainfall total in the 4 hours from 9:45pm to 1:45am stands at 75.0mm with rain still falling. These falls have been rather isolated though as Observatory Hill, not more than 10km to the north, has received a much lower total of 21.2mm since 3pm. On the other hand, from the Rainfall since 9am view of the Sydney rain radar on the BoM site, it looks like Sylvania and surrounding suburbs in Sydney's south have received over 80mm.
Most of the rain is now off the coast of Sydney and is moving out to sea. The forecast for Saturday predicts further falls though with the chance of storms.
Friday, 15 November 2013
Thursday, 14 November 2013
An uneventful few days
The showers and cloud returned to Jyväskylä after the sun on Monday. Only a couple of millimetres fell across Tuesday and Wednesday though. Today has been dry, although the sun hasn't been sighted at all.
Temperatures are still holding above zero for the time being. In terms of daily maximums, the past 5 days have been quite similar to the same time period in the 2011 and 2012 editions of November, with temperatures hovering between 2C and 6C. Minimums on the other hand have continued to be quite warm as I mentioned in a previous post.
There are no real signs of snow for the coming week with the warmer temperatures. Large areas of Lapland, on the other hand, have well over 10cm of snow on the ground. It has also been a little cold in the north. Temperatures have been below -10C and -15C in many locations across Western Lapland for the last 24hrs. The forecast for Pello predicts -21C for later this evening.
Sun and warmer temperatures returned to Sydney in the meantime. Maximums of 29.7C and 28.6C were recorded for yesterday and today. Cooler weather should return for the weekend though with the chance of some showers. Currently the 7 day forecast doesn't show any days above 30C. Actually only one day has a predicted top over 25C, so the cooler spell of weather will continue for a bit longer.
The low pressure system that was the cause of the rain earlier in the week in Sydney moved south to the Bass Strait by midday on Tuesday. It felt like winter again in Melbourne yesterday as it only reached 14.1C in the Victorian capital. The coming weather for Sydney is mainly due to a persistent high pressure system, which has been sitting in the Great Australian Bight for the few last days, moving east towards Tasmania as the weekend draws near.This will generate southerly and southeasterly winds for most of NSW over the weekend.
Temperatures are still holding above zero for the time being. In terms of daily maximums, the past 5 days have been quite similar to the same time period in the 2011 and 2012 editions of November, with temperatures hovering between 2C and 6C. Minimums on the other hand have continued to be quite warm as I mentioned in a previous post.
There are no real signs of snow for the coming week with the warmer temperatures. Large areas of Lapland, on the other hand, have well over 10cm of snow on the ground. It has also been a little cold in the north. Temperatures have been below -10C and -15C in many locations across Western Lapland for the last 24hrs. The forecast for Pello predicts -21C for later this evening.
Sun and warmer temperatures returned to Sydney in the meantime. Maximums of 29.7C and 28.6C were recorded for yesterday and today. Cooler weather should return for the weekend though with the chance of some showers. Currently the 7 day forecast doesn't show any days above 30C. Actually only one day has a predicted top over 25C, so the cooler spell of weather will continue for a bit longer.
The low pressure system that was the cause of the rain earlier in the week in Sydney moved south to the Bass Strait by midday on Tuesday. It felt like winter again in Melbourne yesterday as it only reached 14.1C in the Victorian capital. The coming weather for Sydney is mainly due to a persistent high pressure system, which has been sitting in the Great Australian Bight for the few last days, moving east towards Tasmania as the weekend draws near.This will generate southerly and southeasterly winds for most of NSW over the weekend.
Monday, 11 November 2013
Weather swap
Sun sighted in Jyväskylä! That's almost a headline itself as the sun shone all day in Jyväskylä today. This was the first time that has happened since I arrived back in Finland on October 17. I guess that gives a pretty good indication of the weather that is typical for this time of year.
Temperatures were cooler today thanks to the clear sky. It is currently the coldest it has been for almost 3 weeks with the temperature dropping below -2C. It'll probably drop a little further later this evening as well. If not for the cloudy and warmer early hours of the morning, the maximum would only be 1.2C for the day.
The early hours of Sunday saw heavy rain in southern Finland. Once again Jyväskylä escaped most of the falls with 5.8mm recorded throughout yesterday. This is compared to recordings at southern locations such as Espoo with 16.4mm and Lohja with 18.9mm.
As beautiful blue skies were visible in Jyväskylä today, Sydney faced its second day of rain. Rain started falling on Sunday morning with showers coming across the city from the north. 6.4mm fell on Sunday, with a further 22.6mm falling today.
Strong southerly winds continually around 50km/h for the last 48hrs have kept temperatures down with the mercury just managing to hit 20.0C yesterday. It was cooler still today with 17C or less for most of the day. The daily maximum of 18.6C came later in the evening during a break in the rain.
Rain and showers should continue tomorrow with the chance of a storm before the sun returns with warmer temperatures on Wednesday.
Temperatures were cooler today thanks to the clear sky. It is currently the coldest it has been for almost 3 weeks with the temperature dropping below -2C. It'll probably drop a little further later this evening as well. If not for the cloudy and warmer early hours of the morning, the maximum would only be 1.2C for the day.
The early hours of Sunday saw heavy rain in southern Finland. Once again Jyväskylä escaped most of the falls with 5.8mm recorded throughout yesterday. This is compared to recordings at southern locations such as Espoo with 16.4mm and Lohja with 18.9mm.
As beautiful blue skies were visible in Jyväskylä today, Sydney faced its second day of rain. Rain started falling on Sunday morning with showers coming across the city from the north. 6.4mm fell on Sunday, with a further 22.6mm falling today.
Strong southerly winds continually around 50km/h for the last 48hrs have kept temperatures down with the mercury just managing to hit 20.0C yesterday. It was cooler still today with 17C or less for most of the day. The daily maximum of 18.6C came later in the evening during a break in the rain.
Rain and showers should continue tomorrow with the chance of a storm before the sun returns with warmer temperatures on Wednesday.
Saturday, 9 November 2013
Back to 30C+ in Sydney, still mild and wet in Central Finland
Today in Sydney was the third consecutive day above 30C. The mercury hit 31.8C at 11:15am before a southerly change saw temperatures slowly drop during the afternoon. This was after Thursday's top of 30.3C and Friday's 34.0C.
Overnight temperatures have also been warm. Yesterday's minimum of 19.1C is the warmest of the month so far. Temperatures held steady above 21C last night, although the southerly change has dropped it below 20C this evening and it is likely to drop further before midnight.
Today's 31.8C was easily above the forecasted 27C. The forecast had also predicted showers and the chance of thunderstorms. By looking at rain radars around NSW, however, it appears that rain activity has stayed clear of Sydney, and instead it has been mainly affecting coastal areas from the Central Coast to the Mid-North Coast of NSW.
Sydney shouldn't escape the rain for too much longer though as a low pressure system is forecast to settle right off the coast of NSW in the next couple of days. Tomorrow's forecast is for showers increasing to rain, with rain also predicted on Monday and Tuesday.
Despite a few glimpses of sun, Jyväskylä has remained mostly wet for the past few days. Not as much rain has fallen as earlier in the week, but persistent showers, drizzle and grey cloud has started to feel a little tiresome.
With the increased cloud cover and continuing winds from the south, conditions have remained humid and temperatures mild. The days of November 6-8 didn't see the temperature rise above 5C but minimums haven't gone below 0C either.
If the temperature today does not fall below zero (which I wouldn't bet any sum of money on happening) then that will make 9 days of November gone with only one day dropping into the negative. 2008* saw 7 of the first 9 November days drop below 0C, all 9 days went below in 2009, 6 in 2010, 2 in 2011 and 5 in 2012. The forecast at the moment doesn't show any sharp drops to freezing temperatures, although -1C and -2C are predicted for Monday and Tuesday mornings.
* I actually started recording weather in November 2008 for Jyväskylä only, so I have data for November and December 2008 in addition to 2009-2013 for both locations.
Overnight temperatures have also been warm. Yesterday's minimum of 19.1C is the warmest of the month so far. Temperatures held steady above 21C last night, although the southerly change has dropped it below 20C this evening and it is likely to drop further before midnight.
Today's 31.8C was easily above the forecasted 27C. The forecast had also predicted showers and the chance of thunderstorms. By looking at rain radars around NSW, however, it appears that rain activity has stayed clear of Sydney, and instead it has been mainly affecting coastal areas from the Central Coast to the Mid-North Coast of NSW.
Sydney shouldn't escape the rain for too much longer though as a low pressure system is forecast to settle right off the coast of NSW in the next couple of days. Tomorrow's forecast is for showers increasing to rain, with rain also predicted on Monday and Tuesday.
 |
| A bit of morning sun and blue sky in Jyväskylä on November 9 |
Despite a few glimpses of sun, Jyväskylä has remained mostly wet for the past few days. Not as much rain has fallen as earlier in the week, but persistent showers, drizzle and grey cloud has started to feel a little tiresome.
With the increased cloud cover and continuing winds from the south, conditions have remained humid and temperatures mild. The days of November 6-8 didn't see the temperature rise above 5C but minimums haven't gone below 0C either.
If the temperature today does not fall below zero (which I wouldn't bet any sum of money on happening) then that will make 9 days of November gone with only one day dropping into the negative. 2008* saw 7 of the first 9 November days drop below 0C, all 9 days went below in 2009, 6 in 2010, 2 in 2011 and 5 in 2012. The forecast at the moment doesn't show any sharp drops to freezing temperatures, although -1C and -2C are predicted for Monday and Tuesday mornings.
* I actually started recording weather in November 2008 for Jyväskylä only, so I have data for November and December 2008 in addition to 2009-2013 for both locations.
Wednesday, 6 November 2013
Wet weather for Jyväskylä, cool in Sydney
The last few days in Jyväskylä have seen quite a bit of rain. Almost 30mm fell over Monday and Tuesday. While this might seem quite low in comparison to rainfall in Sydney, if you look at averages for Jyväskylä it is quite high. In 2011 only 26mm fell during the whole month of November, and 36mm fell in 2012. The 1981-2010 monthly average stands at 54mm so we're on target at the moment to match or beat that mark.
The rain late yesterday was part of an intense low pressure system that moved north across the western part of the country. Along with the rain, strong winds were felt in many locations. I noticed a highest gust of 13m/s (about 47km/h) for Jyväskylä while monitoring observations on the FMI website. I may have missed a stronger gust though as FMI doesn't give daily recordings in the same way as BoM. Despite that, 13m/s is pretty strong for inland parts of Finland and a strong wind warning was in place yesterday. The strongest wind gust in Finland was at Kokemäki in the country's south west where a 23.3m/s (84km/h) gust was recorded.
Meanwhile in Sydney, it was the third coldest November morning since 2009. Around 6am this morning it was only 11.9C. Only November 2010 has seen lower minimums with two successive days at the start of the month dropping to 11.5C.
The start of the week was rather cool as strong southerly winds kept daily maximums below 20C with 18.4C and 19.6C recorded on Monday and Tuesday respectively. This was after the equal 6th warmest day of the year on Sunday. Temperatures peaked at 34.9C before a southerly change in the afternoon. Rain has stayed away for the time being although the current forecast shows the chance of a storm on Friday followed by showers and rain from Saturday to Monday.
The rain late yesterday was part of an intense low pressure system that moved north across the western part of the country. Along with the rain, strong winds were felt in many locations. I noticed a highest gust of 13m/s (about 47km/h) for Jyväskylä while monitoring observations on the FMI website. I may have missed a stronger gust though as FMI doesn't give daily recordings in the same way as BoM. Despite that, 13m/s is pretty strong for inland parts of Finland and a strong wind warning was in place yesterday. The strongest wind gust in Finland was at Kokemäki in the country's south west where a 23.3m/s (84km/h) gust was recorded.
 |
| November 6 in Jyväskylä was a showery day with hints of sunshine. Clouds cleared by late afternoon allowing the sun to briefly show itself again before setting. |
Meanwhile in Sydney, it was the third coldest November morning since 2009. Around 6am this morning it was only 11.9C. Only November 2010 has seen lower minimums with two successive days at the start of the month dropping to 11.5C.
The start of the week was rather cool as strong southerly winds kept daily maximums below 20C with 18.4C and 19.6C recorded on Monday and Tuesday respectively. This was after the equal 6th warmest day of the year on Sunday. Temperatures peaked at 34.9C before a southerly change in the afternoon. Rain has stayed away for the time being although the current forecast shows the chance of a storm on Friday followed by showers and rain from Saturday to Monday.
Sunday, 3 November 2013
October 2013 Review - Jyväskylä
October 2013 started in typical fashion with some of the last days of the year above 10C and a few nights below zero. The second half of the month was started with a hint of November when temperatures didn't climb above 3.5C for a week. However, warmer temperatures did return towards the end of the month with 11.7C and 10.4C being recorded on October 24 and 28 respectively.
Jyväskylä actually saw the highest number of October days over 10C for the last 5 years. A total of 10 days in the month were above 10C compared to 0 days for 2009, 5 for 2010, 7 for 2011 and 6 for 2012. This year also saw the highest October temperature of the last 5 years, 14.4C recorded on October 7. Despite that, the average maximum for the month was still below 2011's mark.
The table below compares averages from the last 5 years for the month of October in Jyväskylä.
The average minimum was in the middle for the 5 year period as shown in the table above. A monthly low of -7.4C on October 20 was also in the middle, with the 5 year low of -10.1C recorded last year. The highest minimum for the month was 9.9C, second only to last year's 10.3C.
While the average minimum was in the middle, the timing of the higher temperatures was quite different. As shown in the graph below the minimum of 8.4C recorded on October 28 was the latest time in the year for such a high during the last 5 years. If not for the cooler period in the middle of the month the average minimum probably would have been the highest.
In terms of rain, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute the monthly rainfall of 60mm was well below last year's total of 103mm and also below the 1981-2010 average of 66mm. The cooler period mentioned above also brought the first real snowfall. Places around Jyväskylä received up to 10cm of snow on October 18. It slowly disappeared during the week that followed but disappeared completely afterwards.
Jyväskylä actually saw the highest number of October days over 10C for the last 5 years. A total of 10 days in the month were above 10C compared to 0 days for 2009, 5 for 2010, 7 for 2011 and 6 for 2012. This year also saw the highest October temperature of the last 5 years, 14.4C recorded on October 7. Despite that, the average maximum for the month was still below 2011's mark.
The table below compares averages from the last 5 years for the month of October in Jyväskylä.
Jyväskylä
|
2009
|
2010
|
2011
|
2012
|
2013
|
Average Min.
|
-3.0
|
0.2
|
2.0
|
1.0
|
0.5
|
Average Max.
|
4.1
|
5.7
|
8.3
|
6.0
|
7.7
|
Monthly averages for October in Jyväskylä for the period 2009-2013
The average minimum was in the middle for the 5 year period as shown in the table above. A monthly low of -7.4C on October 20 was also in the middle, with the 5 year low of -10.1C recorded last year. The highest minimum for the month was 9.9C, second only to last year's 10.3C.
While the average minimum was in the middle, the timing of the higher temperatures was quite different. As shown in the graph below the minimum of 8.4C recorded on October 28 was the latest time in the year for such a high during the last 5 years. If not for the cooler period in the middle of the month the average minimum probably would have been the highest.
 |
| October minimums in Jyväskylä for the period 2009-2013 |
In terms of rain, according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute the monthly rainfall of 60mm was well below last year's total of 103mm and also below the 1981-2010 average of 66mm. The cooler period mentioned above also brought the first real snowfall. Places around Jyväskylä received up to 10cm of snow on October 18. It slowly disappeared during the week that followed but disappeared completely afterwards.
Friday, 1 November 2013
October 2013 Review - Sydney
Sydney saw very warm maximums for most of the month of October. There were 7 days above 30C, with a monthly maximum of 37.8C recorded on October 10. This was the 4th warmest October day since 1939. The highest monthly minimum of 20.2C recorded on October 23 was the warmest in the last 5 years and within the top 90th percentile for records since 1939. Bushfires affected areas around Sydney for more than a week in the middle of the month on the back of these warm temperatures.
The table below compares averages from the last 5 years for the month of October at Sydney Airport.
The table below compares averages from the last 5 years for the month of October at Sydney Airport.
Sydney
|
2009
|
2010
|
2011
|
2012
|
2013
|
Average Min.
|
14.0
|
14.7
|
14.2
|
13.5
|
14.4
|
Average Max.
|
21.9
|
22.5
|
22.1
|
23.8
|
26.2
|
Monthly averages for October at Sydney Airport for the period 2009-2013
Of the last 5 years this October was easily the warmest in terms of daily maximums. In fact, looking at Bureau of Meteorology records, this October was actually the second warmest since 1939. Only 1988 was warmer with an average maximum of 27.0C. It's also worth pointing out that only 2007 besides 1988 and 2013 had an average maximum above 25C.
Another interesting observation is that the average maximum was actually 27.2C with 8 days remaining in the month. If not for the cooler final 8 days of October, which had an average maximum of 23.3C, the record would have been broken.
Minimums, on the other hand, were fairly normal compared to the previous 5 years. A steady increase of average minimums since 1939 means 2013's average was above the overall average of 13.2C. The lowest overall temperature of the month, 9.7C on October 17, was similar to previous years, while the lowest maximum of 17.7C on October 16 was the warmest in the last 5 years.
As I mentioned in a recent post, the highest wind gust in more than a year was also experienced, 95km/h on October 29. In terms of rain, the monthly total of 16.2mm was well below the long term average of 70.1mm.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)