Melbourne shivers through coldest winter in 26 years, no warm start to Spring in sight
Updated about an hour ago
PHOTO: There were more than average grey days in Melbourne although rainfall totals were below average.(Flickr: Gavin Haberfield)
MAP: Melbourne 3000
If you thought Melbourne's winter was colder than usual, you are not wrong.
It was the coldest winter in terms of maximum temperature in Melbourne for 26 years, the Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed.
The maximum winter temperature was just under 14C for the first time since 1989, about 1 degree Celsius lower than normal.
Key points:
- 2015 the coldest winter since 1986
- Average temperature was just under 15C
- More rain days but below average rainfall
- No days above 20C in August
But that one degree made a big difference, said senior meteorologist Richard Carlyon from the weather bureau.
"It doesn't sound much, but in winter that's a big difference, because it's an average," he said.
"In summer, temperatures vary more than in the winter.
"[In the winter] we don't see too much variation. [It's] normally 9-15 degrees, so a departure from the average is never as great."
It was also drier than normal, despite a higher than average number of rain days.
"Actual rain in Melbourne was below average, but in terms of number of rain days, we had a higher than average number of days," he said.
He said there were a lot of days with light rainfall that did not add up to much in total.
There was about average snowfall for the winter of 2015 but it was colder than normal.
"It started around Queen's Birthday weekend, falling in early in June, but never huge amounts," he said.
"Maximum temperatures were generally colder by about a degree or so."
The rainfall varied widely across Victoria - it was dry in the west, below average in central regions and close to average or just above in the eastern part of the state.
Summer also finished abruptly in March, a month when there are normally quite summery conditions.
"Summer didn't last as long and then the winter has kept going," Mr Carlyon said.
And with summer officially set to begin on Tuesday there are still no 20C days in the forecast, Mr Carlyon said.
It will be around 17C next weekend, which is well below the normal 20C for this time of year.
"On this day last year it was 22C and year before [it was] 22C and it's 12.5C today," he said.
PHOTO: The blooms on the trees are the only signs of spring in Melbourne. (Flickr: Greenstone Girl)
Tasmania's winter coldest in nearly 50 years, Bureau of Meteorology says
By Sallese Gibson
Updated about 3 hours ago
PHOTO: Snowfall in early August reached sea level for the first time in several decades. (Audience submitted: Tsering Dhondup)
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MAP: TAS
The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed what many Tasmanians already suspected, it has been the coldest winter in nearly 50 years.
With winter coming to a close officially ahead of the first day of spring on Tuesday, the bureau's Debbie Tabor revealed it was the sixth coldest winter on record.
"It's been below average temperature and rainfall for Tasmania during this winter," she said.
"Preliminary analysis is all indicating that it's the sixth coolest on record, that's resulting in the coolest winter since 1966."
Heavy snow in August reached sea level for only the seventh time since 1986.
The dump in early August closed several schools and roads and stranded people in their cars.
Snow fell again in late August again closing roads and creating traffic chaos.
The snow was a welcome boost for the ski season at Mount Field and Ben Lomond but made it
difficult for supplies to reach the community in the lakes area.
Debbie Tabor said the winter had also been dry, particularly across the state's north.
"We've had several places in terms of the rainfall across the northern half of Tasmania that's been below average and very much below average in the north-east, but some central and southern parts of the state have seen totals closer to average for the season," she said.
"Burnie and Deloraine have had around 100 millimetres below average, Launceston and Devonport around 80 below, Smithton 50 below, Bicheno 60 millimetres below, St Marys - quite a lot, 150 millimetres below."
"[It's been] a little bit less so at places like Ross and Hobart that have been 30 millimetres below the winter average and Bushy Park and Ouse have been close to average."
Low rainfall affecting dam levels
Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association president Wayne Johnston said the dry conditions were affecting farmers across Tasmania.
"There's isolated pockets around the state that are certainly getting more than their average rainfall but across the board I'm hearing that down towards the Midlands and towards the east coast they haven't been getting any run off at all," he said.
"It's a fickle business this weather business so we'll just have to wait and see."
He said some farmers were having to rethink their plans.
"It all comes into the planning part, especially when you're cropping and you haven't got the dams as full as you'd like them to be," Mr Johnston said.
"You've got to start thinking 'well how much water am I going to use on particular crops?' and 'can I actually afford to put those particular crops in?'"
"It's not doom and gloom by any means, it's just a watching brief I suppose.
"You've just got to plan for these events and we do that regularly. We look and we can change at the drop of the hat with the crops we put in."
Coldest start to June recorded in Adelaide for 30 years - ABC
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-02/coldest-june-morning-in-adelaide-for-30-years/6515712
Adelaide records coldest July in almost 20 years
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-01/adelaide-experiences-coldest-july-in-almost-20-years/6665260
