Quote:
Originally Posted by Hells Kitchen
Sydney doesn't get much in the way of extreme heat in summer. A lot of the days are mid 20's with cloud and onshore winds, sometimes bringing drizzle. They do get mild 18-20C lows for a good 3 months though, but again, it's cloudier than one might expect.
Melbourne gets stronger hot spells (e.g. in Jan we got 5 days over 40C, while Sydney Airport maxed out at 37C). But Melbourne also gets more crappy cold spells that Sydney avoids.
|
All of these are valid points, both Sydney and Melbourne have a relatively shallow summer peak by world standards. What I'm getting at though is the length rather than severity of summer (or winter).
The annoying thing about Sydney's climate is that there's next to no 'proper' seasonal gradation, for example October can have more 30C days than January at least on the coast and a lot sunnier to boot. Melbourne is a little bit better in this regard with a more logical seasonal progression and heat is basically confined to December-March. The same goes for Canberra as well, though the heat there is much more intense.
Having said all this, I wouldn't mind the heat so much if there was a decent shot at some snow in winter, however brief. By contrast, all the main cities in Canada get a shot at some 30C+ heat and it's long lasting in some spots (Toronto, Windsor). Even Vancouver gets 1-2 days of 30C in an average year.