Winter 2013

[Stanley]

Turned out nice again yesterday after that early shower. I was talking to Mick in Perth and he said it was over 45C there, everyone was staying close to the AC unit! Too hot for the pool even. In Barlick this morning it's dry, clear, calm and a sharp frost. Glass is up again at 29.2". Forecast is for a dry day with an increasing chance of a shower after dinner. East wind and wind chill will be down to -5C this morning. An acceptable January day on the whole. We are getting through this winter very lightly here in Barlick. Nearer heaven than Gloria.....

[Stanley]

Damp morning but no frost. Clear sky so it may freeze shortly. Glass is down a bit at 28.7" which probably signals some more rain. Forecast is very similar to yesterday, a bright morning and then rain in the afternoon. Still good weather for the time of year!

[Cathy]

42C today and absolutely awful. 7.15pm and it's still 39C. For the rest of the week we will swelter in the 40C's.
It's going to be a hot night, but not in a nice way

[Gloria]

Bright, clear morning here, nearer the sea than Barlick. Felt as though there ought to have been a frost.

[LizG]

4.45pm and it just reached 45.5 degrees here. 3 more days of this to go before we get a cool change.

[Stanley]

Margaret told me on Sunday that she had brought the pet bird inside. Too hot for it out on the patio even in the shade.
Cold and wet here this morning. Glass is down to 28.5", there's another low coming through so more rain. Forecast is similar to the last two days, bright forenoon, rain coming in later. High of 4C but with wind chill even this is reduced to 1C. So, a bit of sun mid-morning but wet underfoot and cold.....

[Cathy]

43C today in Adelaide. Shocker!! Saw footage of (I think) SES guys giving Koalas in residential areas drinks of water, very sweet. I only went outside today 3 times to top up the water for the wild birds that visit my back garden to have a drink and a bath. We had no forecast of a thunderstorm for today but we had one this afternoon... don't they know?? 45C for Wednesday, I won't be going anywhere.

[Stanley]

It's raining and about 4C outside this morning, we are being treated to another Atlantic low. Glass is down a touch at 28.5" and forecast is for a high chance of rain most of the day. Good day for staying indoors if you can, bit like Oz in that respect but for different reasons!

[Cathy]

About the only productive thing I have done today is (hopefully) to give some of our native birds a bit of an easier time by making sure they had plenty of water to drink and bath in. All day i have had pigeons, honeyeaters, sparrow families and others together relaxing under the shade, drinking and bathing themselves. It's been hard picking the moment to refill the water containers so that they didn't get spooked and fly away.

46C for Thursday... goodbye world. This is verging on the inhumane.

[Moh]

I see the bush fires have reached South Australia - caused by a lightning strike - hope they keep to the hills and don;t reach Adelaide.

[Stanley]

We were very lucky yesterday and missed most of the showers, overcast but dry day. Glass is down a bit this morning at below 28.3". Not raining outside and forecast is for a bright morning and temperature reaching 7C. Bit of a southerly breeze will drop this a bit with wind chill but not a bad day at all.

[Cathy]

We have survived the day Whenever i had to nip outside (bin, mail, birds only) it was like stepping into a fan-forced oven.

We will be trying to sleep in 31C tonight, then it's 42C for tomorrow. Cool change to 28C should come thru for us sometime on Saturday.

[Moh]

Those temperatures are hard to imagine, especially when we are sitting watching tv with the curtains closed and the central heating on.

[Stanley]

They are bad Moh. Far easier to keep warm than cool! We are so lucky. Yesterday was another reasonable day and we missed most of the showers. Birds singing and mating.... Glass falling rapidly this morning, almost down at 28". It was dry outside at 04:00 but is raining now. Forecast is for another mild day with a gentle S or SW breeze and a high chance of rain until mid afternoon when it will clear up for a while. Not the most cheerful of days but far better than hard winter weather. One thing is certain, our friends in Oz would love it!

[LizG]

You are so right Stanley. We've just had our 4th day around 44C. Unbelievably hot. It's 5.15pm in Melbourne and a cool change has finally hit. The temp has dropped to 34 very quickly but it seems to be stuck there. Looking forward to a top of 23C tomorrow.

A town in a National Park in Victoria has been evacuated today due to bush fires. This is the 3rd time they have been affected by fires in 10 years and in between times they have been evacuated due to floods.They can't win a trick. One fatality to date.

[Stanley]

And I saw a report that the electricity supply was struggling to keep up with the AC load. Voltage reductions and power outages in some cities. What happens when the next El Nino event hits Oz?

[Cathy]

Adelaide here...Our cool change has come thru early We are now down to 28C with 19C overnight, 29C and rain tomorrow. About **&^%$# time!!

[Stanley]

Good to hear that Cathy, enjoy and get ready for winter! It's dry and colder here this morning. The glass almost reached 28" yesterday morning but has risen to almost 28.4" this morning. (The met office reading suggests it should be nearer 29") I've always known that my barometer was inaccurate at each extreme end of the scale but we have had so much low pressure of late that I begin to wonder if something has moved in the mechanism. Not crucial because it's the movement that does the forecasting and not the actual reading. Yesterday wasn't as bad as forecast and today is a slightly brighter forecast but cooler.

[PanBiker]

As a reference Stanley, mine says 29.1 I have always thought mine was a little high. It needs a trip to the seaside to set a proper reference from a coast guard station. As you say it's the change that dictates the weather not the actual reading. For amateur radio though its nice to know when its above 30.5, this pressure is an indication of potential tropospheric ducting for signals and other temperature inversion effects.

[Stanley]

Must need adjusting Ian. I'll consider it when we have the next good reading UK wide but adjust it for altitude. Damp this morning like yesterday, n heavy rain but a gloomy day. Glass is just over 28.3" so little movement. Forecast is for a dryer but overcast day with light wind and no frost at all. Noticeable that the days are lengthening a bit....

[Tizer]

The floods here in the Somerset Levels had started going down but are back up again after more rain. After the previous winter's bad floods (2012/13) the Environment Agency said it would restart dredging the rivers which was always done in the past. It should have been done in summer when the river levels were low but they didn't start until October, managed about a week of work then had to stop because the rains came and made it too dangerous. I reckon the Agency is as good at looking after the rivers and drainage as the bankers are at looking after our money!

[Stanley]

Commiserations Tiz, and we are now sure that they have cut the funding and 500 jobs in flood defence. You're on your own Peter!
Nice morning here in Barlick, high scattered cloud, dry cool and a light breeze. Lovely moon in the West. Glass has risen to 28.8" and the signs are for a brighter better day. Forecast nothing special, little chance of rain, bright overcast and a high of 4C with a light breeze. Knowing Barlick we will have some sunny spells, being on the boundary between East and West seems to serve us well.

[Moh]

Lovely Springlike day - there is more heat in the sun through the windows.

[David Whipp]

Blue sky tempted me out for a walk this morning. Here's a canalside pic (more on www.visitbarnoldswick.co.uk in explore section).

[Stanley]

That sums up the middle of the day exactly. Calm and a totally clear blue sky over Barlick! Glass almost up at 29" this morning and dry and calm outside with a hint of mist. Looking good. The forecast is similar to yesterday with a wind chill temperature at 09:00 of -2C, chance of a shower later in the afternoon but it feels better than that outside at the moment.