A few interesting weather stations around Australia (Part 1)

While I follow weather more closely for Sydney, there are also a few other locations around Australia that I find interesting to look at. Here are a couple.


Mount Wellington, Tasmania

Mount Wellington in Tasmania overlooks the capital of Hobart. Not only can it get quite cold, but it is also an extremely windy location. When I went there myself several years ago I remember almost being blown away by the wind gusts. In the first 21 days of October there have been 12 days with wind gusts exceeding 100km/h, with a top of 137km/h. The record wind gust stands at 200km/h recorded on March 20 1998, although there is currently only 10 years of data.

Temperatures on Mount Wellington can also change dramatically. January 4 was responsible for the yearly maximum of 29.5C this year, while only a few days later on January 9 the temperature only rose to 5.3C. Overnight minimums during winter are often below zero with -7.3C the 2013 yearly low recorded on August 21. February is typically the warmest month with averages of 5.3C to 13.7C, while July and August hold the lowest averages with -1.6C to 2.3C and -1.7C to 2.7C respectively.


Marble Bar, Western Australia

In almost a complete opposite to Mount Wellington, Marble Bar in Western Australia's Pilbara region is one of the hottest locations in Australia. Marble Bar is a small community with only a few hundred residents but dates back to the 1890s. It currently holds the world record for the longest period where the temperature rose above 100F (37.8C). There were 160 days straight from October 31 1923 to April 7 1924 above the 100F mark. More information about the record can be found here.

During last summer (December 2012 to February 2013) there were only 6 days where the temperature did not exceed 35C. There were 53 days out of 90 above 40C with a top of 45.3C recorded on December 2. It's quite remarkable to think temperatures can be that high for such an extended period of time.

Marble Bar can also be affected by cyclones that strike the Pilbara coast and head inland. As a result strong wind gusts can be recorded as well as high levels of rainfall. February 27 2013 saw a wind gust of 115km/h and 69.2mm of rain fell in the 24hrs prior to 9am on February 28.

Jyväskylä's first day not to go above zero, grim forecast for Sydney

Temperatures didn't rise above 0C in Jyväskylä yesterday for the first time since March 26. Two minimums around -7C for October 20 and 21, with a maximum right on 0.0C for the latter, presented that familiar chill of winter in the air for those in Jyväskylä.

Only in 2010 out of the last 5 years was a maximum of 0C or lower experienced this early. October 15 was the occasion that year. There is a still some snow around in Jyväskylä from last week's fall although it looks as though it will disappear in the coming days. Temperatures are predicted to rise to 9C by tomorrow evening and up to 10C or maybe 11C on Thursday.

A large band of precipitation is currently building over central Sweden as part of a warm front and will move east towards Finland overnight. Weather warnings are in place across Finland including strong winds and waves in coastal areas, strong winds for inland bodies of water and dangerous road conditions, particularly in the north east.

Meanwhile, Sydneysiders are bracing for another hot day. The Bureau of Meteorology currently predicts a top of 35C with those familiar and strong northwesterly and westerly winds to accompany the warm temperatures. That is not a kind forecast for those in bushfire affected regions. Fires are still burning in the Blue Mountains and in many other places around NSW, and with tomorrow's forecast the situation is likely to get worse.

Over the last few hours there has been some rainfall around Sydney though so this may help. Given the radar images I have seen over the past few hours, it's hard to believe more rain hasn't been recorded. At the Airport only 3.2mm has fallen in the 9hrs from 5pm yesterday despite the radar showing rainfall intensities that would typically result in higher measurements than that. Perhaps the smoke haze around the city is still affecting the radar.

It is a little worrying to think that we're only halfway through spring and the fires have already been this bad. Let's hope firefighters are able to take more control of the fires around the state over the next 24hrs.

Bushfire situation worsens around Sydney

The bushfire situation in Sydney has now continued for almost a week. Despite cooler temperatures on Friday and Saturday (20.9C and 23.8C at the Airport) a few fires are still not contained. 28.3C was the top yesterday with today's maximum going a few degrees higher to 32.5C. And while it was that warm near the coast, conditions in western Sydney were worse with temperatures hitting 37.2C at Penrith.

There are three fires that are currently of great concern. The major one started just east of Lithgow in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, and has mostly been burning east towards the town of Bilpin. Another fire is burning at Springwood, also in the Blue Mountains, and the third is south-west of the city at Balmoral.

While these fires are not in what is typically considered Sydney, the reality of the fires is clear with a haze of smoke blanketing the city. Had I not come to Finland I would have images of my own but there are a few galleries on various news sites out there including this one on the ABC website.

Weather forecasts are not too good for the next two days with warm temperatures and stronger winds on the cards. Hopefully the chance of showers tomorrow becomes a reality and helps in putting the fires out. The situation can be monitored using the NSW Rural Fire Service website.

First snow in Jyväskylä, high temperatures and bushfires for Sydney

So I've arrived in Jyväskylä after more than 13 months and I've been greeted with the first real snow for the winter. If we disregard that previous questionable snowfall from September 25, then this marks the first snow for the season.

A strong low pressure system moved east across southern and central Finland late yesterday bringing northerly winds and dumping rain, wet snow and snow to different parts of the country. Temperatures dropped from 2.2C around midday in Jyväskylä to just above zero before wet snow began to fall mid-afternoon.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute yesterday issued warnings across the southern half of Finland for dangerous road conditions, areas of strong winds and large waves for coastal regions. There were predictions for some areas to locally receive up to 15cm of snow. In Jyväskylä a few centimetres can be seen outside, although it looks quite wet as shown in the images below.

Snow in Jyväskylä city centre on the morning of October 18

Snow in Jyväskylä city centre on the morning of October 18

In Sydney two days of high temperatures and strong winds helped to fuel bushfires in locations around the city. Bushfires raged in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney destroying several homes and a man was killed on the Central Coast, north of Sydney, where more buildings were also destroyed. A haze of smoke could be seen over the city as the northwesterly winds pushed it in an easterly direction from the Blue Mountains.

Temperatures at the Airport hit 28.5C on Wednesday and 33.9C yesterday. Yesterday's temperature was the 5th day of the month so far above 30C. Winds were also strong once again, topping 81km/h. A southwesterly change dropped temperatures later in the evening and today has been much cooler with a top of only 20.9C at the airport.

The spring so far has been a routine of warm days with northwesterly winds, followed by strong southerly changes and cooler temperatures, and it looks as though this will continue for the time being.

Jyväskylä has warmest start to October in 5 years, hot again in Sydney

Jyväskylä has had its warmest start to October in the last 5 years in terms of average maximums. Including yesterday's maximum of 9.7C the average maximum so far stands at 10.7C, 1C warmer than 2011 at the same date and 4.5C warmer than 2009.

There have been 8 days above 10C so far with a maximum of 14.4C on October 7. This is compared to no days above 10C in 2009, 5 in 2010, 7 in 2011 and 5 in 2012. The monthly maximum also topped the previous highest maximum for October since 2009, the 14.1C measured last year.

Not only has it been the warmest start in terms of the average maximum, it has been the second coldest for average minimums. Only 2009's chilly average minimum of -3.3C after the first 13 days is colder than this year's 1.1C. Last year's 4.9C was the warmest in the 5 year period. Currently it's hovering between -4C and -5C in Jyväskylä though and the next few days are forecast to be much cooler than the previous week also. A prediction for only 1C on Thursday and Friday currently stands with snow forecast on Friday.

I'm heading back to Jyväskylä arriving Thursday morning, so I guess I'll get to experience it myself. It'll be a big change from the 36.2C recorded at Sydney Airport yesterday. Strong northwesterlies bringing warm air from north and central Australia were again responsible. Another strong southerly change hit just before 8:30pm dropping temperatures. A maximum gust of 82km/h was recorded.

There was some storm activity up and down the coast of NSW yesterday evening as a low pressure trough and cold front moved east across the state. I didn't pick up any lightning or thunder in Sydney, but 0.2mm fell just before midnight, with a further 3.0mm in the early hours of this morning.

Sydney Airport records 4th warmest October day since 1939

Temperatures soared in Sydney today. The 37.8C measurement at Sydney Airport was easily the highest temperature recorded for October 10 since 1939, and it was also the 4th highest October temperature recorded since 1939 (the record stands at 39.1C on October 4 2004).

After a warm day yesterday when temperatures reached 29.5C, the forecast for hot weather today brought with it warnings about the potential for catastrophic fire conditions. A few small bushfires burned this afternoon in Sydney's west and south-west, but were brought under control before significant damage.

The 30C mark was already crossed by 10:30am and temperatures continued to climb across Sydney peaking at 37.8C at 2:38pm at the Airport. Temperatures stayed high until a strong southerly change swept through the Sydney area in the late evening. The change brought wind gusts up to 80km/h at 10:56pm and dropped temperatures 10C within half an hour.

In the period 2009-2012 there were only 3 days in the second half of the year that were warmer than today; November 3 and November 22 2009 with respective maximums of 39.2C and 42.5C and November 14 2011 with 37.9C.

Tomorrow will be much cooler with forecasts predicting a top of 24C. Another warm day on Sunday is forecast though with a predicted top of 32C.

A reversal of temperatures

It was a cool day in Sydney today after the recent warm weather. Cold south and southwesterly winds blew for most of the day while showers affected parts of the city around midday. A maximum wind gust of 61km/h was recorded at the Airport along with 1.0mm of rain. Higher levels of rainfall were recorded elsewhere including 5.0mm at Observatory Hill and 7.6mm at Sydney Olympic Park.

The daily maximum actually came in the early hours of the morning with 19.9C. It was cooler during the day though, especially at 1pm when it was only 13.2C.

Scattered showers swept through Sydney around midday on October 3

Meanwhile in Jyväskylä it has gone above 10C for the first time since September 22. It won't happen too many more times this year. In fact, in the last 5 years it has never gone above 15C after September. It's kind of sad to think temperatures most probably won't climb above 15C again until April next year, 6 months away.

Overnight temperatures were much higher thanks to cloud cover last night. Today's current minimum of 5.1C is much warmer than the chilly -4.5C from early yesterday morning.