Daily weather in Australia

The capital in my country is Canberra, and I am covering three days of forecasting of the weather in this city. The days I am covering is Friday 10/31, Saturday 11/01 and Sunday 11/02.

The forecast high on Friday is 86° F and the forecast low 57° F. The precipitation is estimated to be 0 %.

For Saturday the forecast high is 73° F and the forecast low 37° F. The precipitation is estimated to be at 8 %.

For Sunday, the last day the forecast high is 68° F and the forecast low is 40° F. The precipitation is estimated to be at 0%.

The average pressure over these three days is 29, 80 inches and the average pressure increased from Friday to Sunday. The average wind speed over this three day period is 11, 25 mph. From Friday to Sunday, the average wind speed increased.

The picture above is a satellite image taken from http://www.wunderground.com/. It shows that there are no clouds over Canberra when this picture was taken. The red arrow shows where Canberra is located. There are very few clouds at area, but far southeast of Canberra there are a few clouds, mostly low warm clouds with the color gray/white. The blue dot, far southwest on the image indicates some cold clouds. There are no precipitations in this area. The surface of the capital city is gray, which indicates cities. There are also some green areas which indicate parks and forested areas. Canberra is located beside a lake, which has a color light blue. Outside of the capital there are some textured patterns which indicates mountains.

Here is a picture taken from http://www.intellicast.com/. The image show pressure patterns along the southeastern part of Australia. From this image you can see a stationary front located west on the image, also u can see a cold front far southwest. There are no low and high pressure zones in this area, but you can tell that a low pressure zone is located southwest, out of the picture and a high pressure zone northeast out of the picture. You can tell that by looking at the pressure pattern and see where it increases and decreases.

This image is also taken from http://www.intellicast.com/. Here is a zommed out image of Australia. We can see three low pressure zones located over New Zealand, south of Australia, and one over southwestern part of Australia. There are also two High pressure zones, one located west for the country and one at the east. There are two cold fronts south of the country with the color blue, and both of them are moving northeast in the same direction. There is also one warm front located south of the country moving south, with red color. Two stationary fronts can be seen at this image. One is located over part of the continent at the southern part, and one is located over New Zealand. 

Global and Local winds in Australia

Australia is a huge country located in the Southern Hemisphere. It stretches from 10° - 40° south and 109° - 155° east. Most of the country is located in the Hadley cell, which goes from 0°-30° North/South. The southern part of Australia is located in the Ferrell cell that goes from 30° - 60° North/South. Since most of the country is located in the Hadley cell, most of the country is influenced by trade winds with southeast direction. The southern part, located in the Ferrell cell is influenced by westerlies with northwest direction. Australia is located in a High pressure belt at 30° south, the boundary between trade winds heading towards equator and westerlies heading towards the pole. At this region you have sinking air, which divergent at surface, usually leaving clear skies and sunny weather. This region is called the horse latitude.

The picture above show how the global winds influence Australia. The blue line at 30° south indicates a subtropical high pressure zone, between tropical trade winds from Hadley cell and prevailing westerlies from Ferrell cell. At this point, rising air from equator traveling both north and south, and subsides here. The subsiding air is very dry because it has dropped the moisture and precipitation over the tropics before it reaches this point. Because of the high pressure zone the subsiding air leaves sunny weather with almost no clouds. And the result is a very warm and dry climate, and this is the reason for the Australian desert at the subtropical zone.

The weather in Canberra is usually very dry, but that is not only because of the warm and dry climate from the subtropical high pressure zone. Which I also talked about earlier in one of my blog posts, Canberra is located in a leeward zone. That means the winds usually comes from inland heading towards the coast (see map above). Because of this you get very little precipitation at this area and also a factor for very warm summers and cold winters.

Above is a topography map of Australia. Australia is actually very flat, but there is some mountains as the map shows. The most famous is the Australian Alps, the ridge located southwest on the map. There are several winds associated with mountains like, Foehn and Chinook winds, mountain and valley breezes and Katabatic winds. Mountain and valley breezes are very common at the Australian Alps. At daytime, sun warms the slope of the vallay, causing air to rise and making a valley breeze. The reverse process happens at night, when the same slope cools. Then you have subsiding air going down slope and you have a mountain breeze.

Australia has a coastline all the way around the continent where land and sea breezes are common. Sea breezes are common at daytime, when sun warms the land, making a low pressure zone there. The temperature difference between land and ocean makes the pressure difference. Usually a higher pressure occurs over the ocean, where the temperature is lower than the land. Then the wind goes from high to low pressure as usual, and you have a sea breeze. The reverse process happens at night, when the land cools more quickly than the ocean. Then you have colder temperature at land surface, makes the pressure higher at land than the ocean. Now you have a land breeze going from higher pressure at land to lower pressure over ocean.

Sources: 

ttp://www.geo.arizona.edu/geo5xx/geo527/NewEnglandOrogen/neoindex.html

Typical Weather and Tourism in Australia

Australia is located on the southern hemisphere which means the winter month occurs in June, July and August. That is reversed from what we in the northern hemisphere is used to. The winter Solstice occurs on June 21, but can also occur between 20 and 22. Winter Solstice is the day in the year that has smallest amount of daylight. During this month the average maximum temperature is 12, 3 °C, while the average minimum temperature is 1, 4 °C. These measurements are considered for the capital Canberra. June is also the driest month in the year with least amount of precipitation. During the winter solstice, light rain is the most likely type of precipitation in Canberra. There are very few incidents where snow is occurring, and that is more likely to fall in the Australian Alps at higher elevation.

The summer solstice occurs on December 21. But can also occur on 20 and 22. During this month the average maximum temperature is 26, 3 °C and the average minimum temperature is 11, 9 °C. It is important to remember that this is for the capital city: Canberra. Australia is a huge country with huge differences in climate. On the summer solstice is moderate rain the most likely precipitation type to fall, because of high temperatures. There are no records of other types of precipitations during this day.

In Australia the spring equinox occurs on September 23. This is also reversed to what we are used to and it’s because the country is located on the southern hemisphere. During this month the average maximum temperature in Canberra is 16, 2 °C, and the average minimum temperature is 4 °C. In this month light rain is most likely to fall in Canberra. September is also the month of the year with most light rain.

The Autumnal equinox occurs on March 20, but can also occur on 19 and 21. In Canberra the average maximum temperature during this month is 24, 7 °C, and the average minimum temperature is 11, 5 °C. During this day it is most likely to fall rain if precipitation occurs. Both light rain and moderate rain are common. Snow is highly unlikely, and it usually never occurs in any month of the year in Canberra. 

Tourism

If you have ever been thinking about visiting Australia, I would recommend you to go in the summer season (December – February). But if I should recommend you one month I would aim for December, around the summer solstice. This is one of the warmest months, and has less precipitation then January and February. During this month I would definitely recommend you to go surfing. Australia is known for their super great surf spots all around the coasts of the country, especially on the East and North coast. Even if you are not quite into surfing I still recommend you to try it because Australia got one of the best surf spots in the world. If you prefer staying on the land I would recommend you to go hiking. This is a great way to explore the beautiful country of Australia, and try look for the kangaroos, which are very famous in Australia. You cannot miss this while you are there.

In December there are some weather hazards you should be aware of. Bushfires are very common all over the country, mostly inland where the climate is drier. But December is the month of the year where most bushfires occur, so you should keep that in mind if you choose to travel this month. You should also be aware of thunderstorms which is very common in the summer season, from December to February. Thunderstorms provide useful rainfall and it can also cause damage. Usually it occurs very frequently through the whole summer season, so this is something you definitely should keep in mind. Especially if you are out surfing, then I would recommend you to stay inside and wait for the thunderstorm is over. 

                        Come visit this paradise, where the only
                   dilemma is choosing the endless opportunities 
                   for what to do.

                                     I found this picture on: http://www.liztourism.com/top-things-to-do-when-you-are-in-australia/

Sources:

http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/astronomical/summer-and-winter-solstice¨

http://www.australia.com/about/key-facts/weather/canberra-weather.aspx

https://weatherspark.com/averages/34084/Canberra-Australian-Capital-Territory

http://www.australia.edu/Travel/top-outdoor-activities-in-australia.html