Old Weather Forum

Thanks Morgan. I had forgotten that.

The summer solstice falls between December 21 and 23 in the Southern Hemisphere each year. This year, it's Friday, December 22. But while we usually think of solstice as referring to a whole day, there's actually a specific moment when the Southern Hemisphere is at its closest tilt towards the Sun.16 hours ago. This year, that exact moment will be 4:50pm AEST. While the solstice falls at the same point in time across Australia, the dates of when the earliest sunrise and latest sunset fall vary by location, but more specifically by latitude. See chart in ABC article.

https://amp.abc.net.au/article/103249746

For the our Northern Hemisphere friends, Happy winter and shortest day. ( According to this article.)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nat ... 1959727007


FYI and to muddy the waters a bit more. https://www.almanac.com/content/first-d ... r-solstice

It's not looking good for Christmas on our east coast.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-23/ ... 103257550?

Hang in there...

Here's a summary of our weather for the last ten days.
Our average temperature was 2.5 degrees above normal and our precipitation was only 13% of normal.

I walk the 2.5 km to the YMCA for a fitness class three times per week. I've had to wear rain gear only once since February!

We had 0.5 inches in the rain gauge this morning. (1cm) Twice what we had 2 days ago. Enough for a good start watering the weeds. I swear the weeds and grass, even in the winter months, can grow before a light rain stops! There are some fantastic rouge waves just up the coast from us. Long Beach in a "south facing " beach - as opposed to a westerly Pacific shoreline, and we have a breakwater- so no surfing for us. https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/28/weather/ ... index.html

It has been a fairly mild winter, but NOT that mild.
We have just a slight dusting of snow on the ground this morning.

I saw some cherry blossoms a couple of weeks ago, and we have snow drops and some kinds of yellow daisies already in bloom. With the month of December being 1.6C above normal, and the last two weeks being about 2.5C above normal, it's not surprising.

Hope you weren't expecting fruit from those cherry blossoms. It is a cruel trick when the blossoms set and a freeze comes. It was a bad year for the Georgia peach last year. Good news- if you do manage to get a few, they are usually the best there is to be. Happy New Year!

I got peaches here in Pennsylvania at the farmer's market last summer.
They tasted pretty good to me

We had a pretty normal year temperature wise, but we had only 65% of the normal precipitation.

The normal annual maximum temperature is 31.8.
The highest temperature for Fernwood in 2023 was 32.1.

The normal annual mean temperature is 11.0.
The mean temperature for Fernwood in 2023 was 11.2.

The normal annual minimum temperature is -5.6.
The lowest temperature for Fernwood in 2023 was -5.9.

The normal amount of precipitation is 649.9 mm.
The total precipitation for Fernwood in 2023 was 422.2 mm.

The normal number of days with precipitation is 163.
The number of days with precipitation for Fernwood in 2023 was 146.

Randi wrote: ↑Mon Jan 01, 2024 5:57 pm I got peaches here in Pennsylvania at the farmer's market last summer.
They tasted pretty good to me

My wife has the skin like a peach.
Have you ever felt the skin of a 75 yo peach? (Just joking)

From the BBC:



The Met Office has warned people to stay away from the water as strong waves batter the coastline in southern England, such as in Newhaven in East Sussex

Obviously this man was not listening.

Queensland storm disaster to cost more than $2 billion, state treasurer says, as extent of damage grows.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-05/ ... /103282712
( Queensland is the next state up from me and is quite a distance away, Queensland/Population 5.185 million (Sep 2020)



Bureau of Meteorology reports Australia's eighth warmest year on record in 2023. (Posted 19h ago, updated 13h ago)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-05/ ... /103284292

Strange, that in an article on Friday 8 Dec 2023 at 11:53am, updated Fri 8 Dec 2023 at 12:42pm
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-08/ ... /103205324
They claim that "Scientists have confirmed 2023 is the hottest year on record, with a month to spare"

That's quite series of storms. I'm glad they missed you.

Randi, Are you hatches battened down? I see the the temperatures on the map headed your way are pretty chilly.

I'm trying to get up my courage to make a quick trip to the grocery store....

Safely back!
There is not much snow, but I fear that it will melt this afternoon and then turn to ice this evening.
I swept the snow off my steps (wood slats ) on departure and on return, but I think they have accumulated a very thin coat of ice in some places.

Last three days, coldest 17.7c @05:30
Highest 29.6c @ 13:00

and its Muggy.

We continue to warm up slightly from having a low of -11.3 just 26 hours ago.

Summary:	12	24	Hrs
Maximum:	-3.4	-3.4	deg C
Minimum:	-7.4	-9.2	deg C
Precip:	0.0	0.0	mm
Max Wind:	16	22	kmh

oooh, thats getting cold.