Victoria: Day to Day Weather Talk

[droughtbreaker]

Some half decent Cu has developed here late. Hopefully the change stalls tomorrow because we could be in for a smashing here if it does.

33.4C in Melbourne today so I guess BOM just takes out the honours, I was expecting something between 32C and 33C.

Max of 30C here today.

[norfolk]

Someone summed up Melbourne's weather simply with the phrase,

It's hot enough in summer that you can head to the beach, wear light clothing and sit out on a balmy night with a cool drink, and cold enough in winter that you can sit in front of a nice warm fire, drinking a nice warm drink with the one you love.

The great thing about Melbourne's weather is that we very rarely have extended periods of extreme weather, the extremes are there, just usually not for a very long time. And so when the extremes do become extended, we really notice them, more so than in other places I think.

Oh and Karl.....you don;t speak for the western suburbs when you say we don't live in a desert!
However I must say, I have actually started seeing more green around than I have in a very very long time. The storms we had last week I think finally had an impact and caused green grass to grow!!

[Karl Lijnders]

Your quite right and I just joke about it being a desert. My brother lives out in Taylors Hill and he has got grass too for the first time after that 70mm a week or so ago. So it can be just as lush when things go right!!

It is another stunning evening with temps on the decline, however cloud will ensure a lid on temps. Should resolve towards 23C overnight. Any precip overnight could see that become sharply lower towards 18C

[droughtbreaker]

Yeah, it's hardly a desert out in the western suburbs but it is pretty dry, particularly in summer when the temps rise. In an average year though it is usually very green right through the western suburbs in winter and spring due to lower temperatures and thus lower evaporation rates when you need less rain for grass to grow.

Must admit though, the area in a triangle from Melton/Werribee/Geelong does resemble something like an African safari tour for a lot of the year. You almost expect to see elephants and giraffes roaming the plains there. Perhaps that's a reason why they put the Werribee zoo where they did.

[norfolk]

these past few years have turned this area into a semi-desert with rainfall between 300-400mm a year. And yes the werribee zoo was put out this way due to similar dryness to savannah type areas of Africa.

[Dez]

So true norfolk. I have never seen grass get impacted that much this summer besides that storm two weeks ago, and maybe during NYE but i missed out on that and was overseas at the time.

[Jake Smethurst]

Another fine and sunny start here, though some cloud here this afternoon increased as the trough approached. Some nice convection as well, some mid-sized Cu, which continued to grow towards night. Temperature today reached above 30 degrees, but I currently do not have the exact temp with me.

Was at Deb training earlier and coming home I could see distant flashes from the cells near Stawell.

[Jake Smethurst]

Mostly cloudy today. No rain after 9am. Fresh southerly winds tended southeasterly and become locally strong at times.

[norfolk]

Overcast all day. There was some mizzle about lunch time but for the most part remained dry. Also much cooler as well. Remained in the high teens low 20's all day.

[droughtbreaker]

Sunny here until mid morning. Temp got to around 22C and then the change came through with middle level cloud at first but then low stratus came in very quickly and drizzle was pretty much continuous from about 11am. A few heavier showers of drizzle in amongst it. 3mm in total.

Temperatures dropped to 15C-16C and stayed there for most of the afternoon. Currently 13C.

[Macedonian]

Freezing end to February at Mt Macedon today, blowing a gale and a top of 12C. Goodbye summer

[Jake Smethurst]

I think it reached around 20 here today, certaintly was a lot cooler! I could feel that! Some showers occurring on the way back from Deb training, may see a mm or so overnight, otherwise the day was fine.

[droughtbreaker]

10C here, awaiting showers as the airstream tends more S/SE. Should be fairly decent overnight and early tomorrow morning.

Classic autumn week ahead. Nice to see given some shocking March periods we've had to endure over recent years, some of which have been worse than the summer months. 2008 was horrific.

[Blackee]

Fire Weather Briefing for Victoria
Issued at 10:45 am EDT on Monday 1 March 2010.

Estimates Today:
Estimates for today look good. Light rain in the Gippsland region should be
clearing by this afternoon.

Observational Network Status:
Mt Hotham Airport AWS has not reported winds since 6pm Friday. The AWS network
appears to otherwise be in working order.

Note that the Laverton radar may not be operational until later this month due
to an unresolved technical issue. The backup radar at Melbourne Airport will be
used until further notice.

Weather Situation:
A strong high pressure system south of the Bight will move only slowly
eastwards today and Tuesday as cold fronts move from the Southern Ocean, across
Tasmania to the Tasman Sea. The high will reach the Tasman Sea Wednesday as a
trough of low pressure moves from western Queensland towards South Australia.
The trough should then move to western Victorian on Thursday.

24 Hour Rainfall to 9am:
Light precipitation fell generally south of the Dividing Range. Rainfall totals
range from 1-2mm across the Central and West Gippsland districts and 3-5 mm
across the far East Gippsland region. The highest total was over 11mm at
Mallacoota.

Weather Today:
Fine apart from scattered showers over Gippsland. Cool to mild with moderate to locally fresh southerly winds.

[johnno]

Strangely enough the past 3 March's have been good here and in Melbourne 2007 we had 42mm, 2008 70mm, last year 47mm. So all this talk of March being duds looks to have little subtance this way the past 3 years, perhaps we are caught up in the fact of the heatwave in March 2008? And we remember it being as hot and dry? Was a hot month but the last week of that month 70mm fell so it ended up being a good month in the end. Octobers have been far worse than Marches interms of rainfall the past few years this way.

[Karl Lijnders]

I am quite guilty of that, I do think the hot weather in March has overriden the rainfall. Thanks for the stats John and making sure the facts are stated. I think we will be looking at another good month then.

March 2008 killed me. That heat was full on.

Opposite today with strong S winds and quite dry air.

[norfolk]

welcome to Autumn! cool, windy and mostly cloudy! 20c and clouds lingered most of the day. And the wind chill factor I am sure was in the low teens!

[Jake Smethurst]

Was another cool and mostly cloudy day, although partly cloudy this afternoon and the sun felt sooooooo good!! Temperature remained in the low 20's all the day and yes, the wind chill factor was in the teens, for here anyway. 0.6mm to 9am this morning from showers last evening.

[droughtbreaker]

16C maximum here today after a minimum of 8.8C. Classic early Autumn weather with warmer days ahead but then a major rainy period with very cool temperatures to follow again.

With the decreased evaporation thanks to cool temperatures, watch how rapidly things green up in the next fortnight. Autumn colour will also get a big kick along. Already started here.

[Blackee]

Fire Weather Briefing for Victoria
Issued at 11:11 am EDT on Tuesday 2 March 2010.

Estimates Today:
Estimates for today look good.

Observational Network Status:
Mt Hotham Airport AWS has not reported winds since 6pm Friday. The AWS network
appears to otherwise be in working order.

Note that the Laverton radar may not be operational until later this month due
to an unresolved technical issue. The backup radar at Melbourne Airport will be
used until further notice.

Weather Situation:
A strong high pressure system south of the Bight will move slowly eastwards on
Tuesday then cross Bass Strait to reach the Tasman Sea on Wednesday. A trough
of low pressure over western Queensland will move southwards across eastern
South Australia and into western Victoria on Thursday then deepen into a low
pressure system to the south of Victoria on Friday. An upper level trough will
also be approaching from the Bight on Friday.

24 Hour Rainfall to 9am:
Light precipitation fell generally south of the Dividing Range and into the
Gippsland Region. Rainfall totals range from 2-5mm across that region. The
highest total was over 15mm at Boosey Creek along the Broken River.

Weather Today:
Fine after isolated light showers and fog patches in East Gippsland clear
during the morning. Cool to mild with moderate to locally fresh southerly
winds. A mostly sunny day across the north and west.