New Year’s Day was a hot one with a maximum temperature of 34ºC. Winds backed to strong south-easterlies by Saturday, bringing a drop of twelve degrees in daytime temperatures and some light to moderate showers.
An extensive high pressure system has remained hovering over the Tasman Sea for the past two weeks and is responsible for our recent inclement weather. The cooler strong counter clockwise winds around the system brought strong maritime winds with showers, heavy at times, on to the Ranges. The same air stream looped south and heated rapidly bringing scorching conditions to South Australia with temperatures in the forties. This is a normal synoptic weather pattern for the time of year but this year it is unusual for the anticyclone to remain so long over the Tasman Sea before dissipating or moving east. The result is record breaking heatwaves in cities such as Melbourne and Adelaide.
January rainfall was 174.2 mm, representing 66 per cent of the 116 year average, with 219 hours of Bright Sunshine recorded.