Australian Weather (fog, winter, rain, march)

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by §AB

Port Headland is extremely expensive. It is one of the most expensive cities in the WORLD! It's $700,000 for a residence that resembles a Bangkok slum. That is NO JOKE. I've seen it with my own eyes. Plus..... Port Hedland is at extreme risk from Hurricanes. Only last year they were hit by 300km/h winds. The summer heat is devastating, even for the most die hard heat lover. It is often 40C with 90% humdity and temps of 50C are common. Not a recommended place.

Broome is also very expensive, but it's a very modern town with fantastic homes (most on stilts!), but it is a truly modern town, with really awesome homes most with pools, BUT a typical home usually commands above $400,000. Also be vary of the climate. It's actually the COOLEST place in the Pilbara and Kimberly's, BUT it is EXTREMELY humid and heat indexes above 50ºC are common. That place averages summer dewpoints above 28ºC. Seriously, Broome is one of the most god-foresaken humid towns on the planet. The humidity there has to be expeirenced to be beleived. It expreiences some of the highest average summer lows in the entire country (28ºC average from Nov to March). It is LITERALLY up there with Kuwait, Bahrain and Dubai. It is freaking unbelievable. Forget Houston or Miami, this is the real deal!!!!!!!!! Also, the airport is right in town, and as such airciraft are only a few hundred feet above the town center as they come in. I've got som interesting pics of Flickr if you're interested. It's like a mini Kai Tak!!!

Alice Springs is okay, youcan get a decent home for $300,000, but there is a high crime rate thanks to drunken unemployed aboriginies, however the climate is incredibly dry and one of the sunniest on this planet! Mid winter sunshine averages 10 hours per day

Townsville is a noice place, it is the driest and hottest town on the Queensland coast, you are guaranteed atleast one 40C day a year. Prices are not as exhorbant as the Pilbara or Alice Springs. However, you better like rain, as the summer sees alot of rain and cloud.

That's surprising.
From what I saw, Port Hedland looked like a hot and boring town so far from anywhere I thought that would make it cheap to live there; perfect for a guy like me. But it sounds like Ft. McMurray if the housing price is double what it is elsewhere. Still... Ft. McMurray is only 4.5 hours drive from a major city and Port Hedland looks like a full day drive.

Let me guess, you're not a fan of high humidity SAB?
I can handle lows from 27-30 C easily. They're not very comfortable, but I'd prefer a low of 30 C with 100% humidity over an overnight low under 4 C.

My gym's sauna had a measured temp of 52 C with a dewpoint of 31 C (it's a dry sauna, but near the showers) or 25% humidity and I did not find that "brutal". All I'd need to handle that is light coloured clothing and a steady supply of cold drinks. That's a lot nice than dressing for -20 C and needing 5 kg of extra layers.

Alice Springs sound like it might be annoying for me... (high crime/drunks) so I'd need a sweet job offer to consider that.

Townsville sounds nice...
Australia as a whole is a dry and fairly sunny country;
extra rain and cloud might not even be a noticeable difference from Toronto.
Is there any industrial activity happening around there, maybe away from the coast?

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by ausweatherman

Hey CC, there are many reasons, Perth used to be very cheap! so many investors from the eastern states bought investment properties over here, also Perth has a great climate probabley best in Aus! Mining boom and Homes for sale shortages also made it more expensive. But that was before...now the home prices average has dropped by $30,000 and there are so many homes for sale that homes stay for sale for months!
hope that answered your question
.

What's better about Perth's climate?
("better weather" is different for different people)

-less storms or disasters?

If it's just lower humidity, that doesn't matter to me. I'm fairly insensitive to high humidity. The actual temperature matters more to me.

I appreciate your response by the way... Very informative.

[ausweatherman]

the amount of warm sunny days in summer, on average 60 days over 30 degrees! Also the mild winters average 18 degrees max with some sunshine but also some great cold fronts which have some great storms with them! Have a read of this it explains Perth's climate: About Perth - Climate - Perth, Western Australia

here is the weather forecast:

Perth Forecast
Issued at 4:50 am WST on Sunday 20 July 2008

Warning summary
Nil.

Forecast for Sunday
Fine and cool. Light to moderate E/SE winds.

Precis: Fine.
City: Max 16
Mandurah: Max 16

UV Alert: Nil , UV Index predicted to reach 2 [Low]
Fire Danger: Coastal Plain: NOT RATED
Hills: NOT RATED

Monday Fine, partly cloudy. Min 3 Max 17
Tuesday Fine, partly cloudy. Min 4 Max 18
Wednesday Showers developing. Min 7 Max 19
Thursday Shower or two. Min 8 Max 18
Friday Few showers. Min 5 Max 17
Saturday Mostly fine. Min 7 Max 18

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by ausweatherman

the amount of warm sunny days in summer, on average 60 days over 30 degrees!

Also the mild winters average 18 degrees max with some sunshine but also some great cold fronts which have some great storms with them! Have a read of this it explains Perth's climate: About Perth - Climate - Perth, Western Australia

I don't understand...

Australians are looking for more days above 30 C in summer?
*That's what I like, but most other people here and in the U.S.A. seem to prefer 24-29 C, or even cooler.


60 days above 30 C (86 F) is nice, but not impressive for me, especially considering Perth's latitude.

Nearly the entire southeastern U.S. has monthly averages at 30+ C (30-34 C in most parts) for June, July and August. Even cities 38 degrees north of the equator can be this hot. A city like Atlanta or Nashville would probably average 80-100 days at or above 30 C. The "hot" cities like Orlando or Houston would average 120-150 days at or above 30 C. And I can drive to a southeastern U.S. city in 8-12 hours and see summer temps an average of 5-6 C.

That afternoon breeze sounds like it'd be good at keeping smog levels down.
Also the rains being heavy and short, followed by sun sound nice.

[Power Storm]

I'll stay out of the above conversation since its not mine... LOL!

Anyway. Heavy rain and showers finally developed last night with some lightning, but not a lot. 11.2mm in the guage to 9am this morning.
Should fine up now for most of this week apart from a shower about tomorrow. Next chance of rain seems to be on the weekend, but nothing much. I am watching early-mid next week when we could see better rainfall/storms.

[Power Storm]

Showers through today, but mostly light. 4.6mm to 9am this morning.

Just some isolated-scattered showers easing overnight and generally clearing very early morning.

Expect some frosts through the northern and most western areas also in the morning.

[ausweatherman]

fine and mostly cloudy here, heavy showers on the way tomorrow!

[ausweatherman]

Originally Posted by ColdCanadian

I don't understand...

Australians are looking for more days above 30 C in summer?
*That's what I like, but most other people here and in the U.S.A. seem to prefer 24-29 C, or even cooler.


60 days above 30 C (86 F) is nice, but not impressive for me, especially considering Perth's latitude.

Nearly the entire southeastern U.S. has monthly averages at 30+ C (30-34 C in most parts) for June, July and August. Even cities 38 degrees north of the equator can be this hot. A city like Atlanta or Nashville would probably average 80-100 days at or above 30 C. The "hot" cities like Orlando or Houston would average 120-150 days at or above 30 C. And I can drive to a southeastern U.S. city in 8-12 hours and see summer temps an average of 5-6 C.

That afternoon breeze sounds like it'd be good at keeping smog levels down.
Also the rains being heavy and short, followed by sun sound nice.

Hi CC, I dont like the heat very much but i have got used to 30 degree days and they are fairly nice if there are storms around! I think Perth is one of the more sunnier major cities in the world with good ranfall averaging 850mm a year to keep the grass nice and green in winter!
It suits people who like the outdoors alot as there are very few days that we dont see blue sky at all during a day!

Here are the weather observations for July: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/ID...1.latest.shtml
and for February (middle of summer) : http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/20...1.200802.shtml

by the way: we rarely get smog at all! we only get sometimes smoke if there is a bushfire around!

[Power Storm]

Originally Posted by ausweatherman

fine and mostly cloudy here, heavy showers on the way tomorrow!

Yeah. Your in for some afternoon/evening heavy showers mate. Would not rule out the chance for an afternoon or evening thunderstorm either.

[Power Storm]

How did those showers and storms go? Fine and cloudy here today. No rain apart from overnight to 9am when we got 2mm.

Weekend looking alright for thunderstorm chances at this stage.