Why are winters so cold in sub-tropical and tropical Australia? (tornadoes, moon)

[ilovemycomputer90]

Originally Posted by theunbrainwashed

I wonder if the Australian Outback around 33°S gets warmer, cooler, or about the same as Phoenix, AZ? Phoenix is usually 70°F-75°F/21°C-24°C in winter

Not to nitpick, but Phoenix's average winter high is 66-70 F, though of course plenty of days get well into the 70s.

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by theunbrainwashed

Yep, we've had almost a week here of sustained high pressure and not a single cloud in the sky. That's almost impossible in the deep tropics,

since most of the time it's partly cloudy during the dry season, and partly cloudy to cloudy during the wet season. Have you been to the Caribbean during the summer? The rain comes down in downpours several times a week. I'm betting that Cairns is the same exact way

And that's almost impossible in Toronto too.

The longest cloudless streak I've seen was maybe 36 hrs in Toronto.
Our clearest days of the year still usually have little white puffs.
(not so in Western Australia )

No I have only seen the Caribbean in winter.
I wouldn't mind visiting in summer, as long as the rain doesn't last several hours, every day.

Caribbean winter helped me feel disappointed by Canadian summer.
Coastal Jamaica in January = hottest 15 days of the year in Toronto

San Juan was never clear, but it was seldom gloomy.
In winter I found it hazy-partly-cloudy most of the time.
That helps make San Juan feel like tropical rainforest

but other parts of the Caribbean feel almost semi-arid. (USVI, Turks and Caicos, Bahamas)
Jamaica was often almost-cloudless, day-after-day.

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by theunbrainwashed

I think it's accurate to say that CC is a living, breathing breadfruit tree If it a breadfruit trees grows somewhere, that place will suit CC just fine. I don't blame him, living in Canada would make people nuts after a while lol (unless you're Russian or Alaska Native/Inuit)

ROTFLMAOcopter.

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by koyaanisqatsi1

I can comfortably say that the arrival of that nasty westerly wind is always guaranteed to make people feel uncomfortable as all it does is howl and scream on endlessly and makes it feel much colder than it actually is and I certainly do not need to hear that horrid westerly wind flapping and whistling on endlessly.

It drives me mad, my ears cannot tolerate it and it’s so cold once it hits your body/face which feels like a thousand knives plunging through your body.

Funnily enough the lowest minimum temperatures, here, has occurred under ugly and cold W-SW airflows! SW airflows sucks for eastern Australia but not much so for the southern half of the country!

I'm perplexed by that last comment. Southwest winds are the worst in winter, ever heard of the roaring forties? Well when when he have a storm/cold front in winter and it's blowing a gale it's usually from a westerly or southwesterly direction. Easterlies generally bring in dry, continental air, same as for Sydney. These are responsible for the scorching dry winds we get in summer, along with northwesterlies. In winter most cold nights occur on still days. Easterlies don't really have much of an affect in lowering temperatures in our climate, and I expect westerlies wouldn't either in the Sydney area. Certainly Melbourne though. Perhaps you're confusing them with easterlies?

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by ColdCanadian

But Cairns is so cloudy, much more than Miami!

I prefer climates with high sun and rain totals vs. lower totals of both.

Cairns isn't that cloudy, it gets about 2555 hours of bright sun a year. Outside the peak of the wet season sunshine feels fairly plentiful.

[ilovemycomputer90]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

Cairns isn't that cloudy, it gets about 2555 hours of bright sun a year. Outside the peak of the wet season sunshine feels fairly plentiful.

According to the BOM, Cairns gets about 2,700 sunshine hours. Miami gets about 3,000 hours, but this is from 1961-1990 data. Not sure if there's a distinct lack of sunshine during the summer in Cairns compared to Miami, but based on the data, Miami receives about 100 more hours in a typical summer month.

[ben86]

Originally Posted by theunbrainwashed

This is where I got my data. History : Weather Underground

Interesting there's a slight divergence. But, I'll take BOM's measurements instead


You don't know what cold really is how cold and strong are these winds? Does it make everything seem like England?

Why would it make it feel like England? Strong winter winds bringing dry, cold air and sunny skies are not the norm here unless we get a strong easterly or northerly. The windiest days in winter here are when the Atlantic lows come, bringing milder, humid air from the SW, which on average happens much more often.

[Asagi]

Originally Posted by ColdCanadian

ROTFLMAOcopter.

Originally Posted by theunbrainwashed

I think it's accurate to say that CC is a living, breathing breadfruit tree If it a breadfruit trees grows somewhere, that place will suit CC just fine. I don't blame him, living in Canada would make people nuts after a while lol (unless you're Russian or Alaska Native/Inuit)

Breadfruit grows perfectly fine in Cairns, CC is more like some sort of ultra-tropical succulent...

[theunbrainwashed]

Originally Posted by Asagi

Breadfruit grows perfectly fine in Cairns, CC is more like some sort of ultra-tropical succulent...

Yes, that's what I meant. You say breadfruit trees are more sensitive to the cold than coconut palms are, and are found only in the most tropical of places. Which is why I compared CC to a breadfruit tree

Or, CC is a heat lover like Kaul is a cold lover. Both prefer the extreme ends of the spectrum.

[koyaanisqatsi1]

Originally Posted by theunbrainwashed

This is where I got my data. History : Weather Underground

Interesting there's a slight divergence. But, I'll take BOM's measurements instead


You don't know what cold really is how cold and strong are these winds? Does it make everything seem like England?

You need to be here to experience it
That bloody icy wind, in the winter, always makes me put on 2 - 3 layers of clothing whenever I dare (or have to) venture outside, normally gusts over 75km/hr AND usually brings the strongest gusts of the year.
Those damn westerlies revved up too much last month but thankfully has, lately, been replaced with winds from the more favourable S-SE quarter
England isn’t really comparable with Australia – it’s more like NZ.
One of my workmates (such a lovely dear) hails from England (Newcastle Upon Tyne) and has found it “too” hot here (we locals roll around with our legs up in endless mirth).
Seeing her in summer attire, whilst us locals are dressed up in winter woolies, is a hilarious sight indeed and I mean this in a nice way