SE Australia heat

[janewaystv]

Auckland is sandwiched between 2 harbours with plenty of sea-water & in a more N position -this could be why hard frosts are rare in Auckland.

[Storm Struck]

I do recall reading on WZ last year of some record overnight lows in NSW, and Sydney dropped to 32C as an overnight low.
The maximum temperature during that day reached about 44C there.
Puts our 23C today to shame .
Cheers
Jason.

[Bazza]

Nah, Sydney's record is 26.6C as Janwaystv said. Rather it may have been the temp at a certain time of the night. Here, you can get alot of nights when the temp stays above 30 for most of the night but quickly drops to 22-23C as the wind does down, or a seabreeze occurs or cloud clears etc.

Places in West NSW, may have had widespread 30+ lows that night. I know that Broken Hill recorded 33C and Mildura around 30C on that night.

[janewaystv]

Some Sydney members of WZ have their own weather stations ( although not aligned with BOM) around various suburbs, but I dont believe that a min of 32oC has been ever been recorded anywhere over the Syd. Metro. Area and certainly not on that night as the S swept thru around 11pm - must have been referring to a country area outside the SMA - temps of 30oC, 31oC etc are experienced more so in those areas.

[Bazza]

you're certainly not going to get a 30C night after a southerly change, that applies for the vast majority of AUstralia as a matter of fact.

Seeing as most larger towns in West NSW and NW Vic have their AWS at the airport, it would be interesting how much hotter a reading within the town would be (urban heat island, concrete, asphalt, heat radiation at night) especially in a larger center like Broken Hill and Mildura. Surely you'd see 2-4C warmer temps day and night than out on the prairie 10km out of town. So frankly, the town itself may see temps nudge the high 40's while the airport records the low-mid 40's and nights may well be hotter aswell. The 30C min at Mildura airport in Feb 2004 could've been 32-33C within town for all we know.

Relocation of all the AWS to the airports is one critical factor in all the highest temps occuring in the early 1900's.

[janewaystv]

Updated information from BOM today:-

"Very high temps. were recorded in the Oz inland as settlers went further inland during the 19th & early 20th centuries. Temp. records that astonished the world especially Europe, were set, giving rise to many myths, but now it seems some of the data was not correct. By the middle of the 20th century, the standard measurement was being made in a Stevenson screen. It is likely that reflected light contributed to many of the earlier temp. records.

On 17th January 1877, the newly established weather station at Bourke recorded a top temp. of 52.8oC - accepted for a long time as a NSW record. 12 years later, Cloncurry in NW QLD reported a temp. of 53.1oC, accepted as an Oz record for a long time.

On both occasions, other centres in the area reported nothing like those extremes and it is now believed that they were affected by mismeasurement.

Nowdays the accepted Oz top temp. is 50.7oC at Oodnadatta in N SA on 2 Jan. 1960 and the NSW record is 50.0oC at Wilcannia on Jan. 13th, 1939".