Is Christmas in the summertime in Australia and New Zealand? (stats, to move)

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by Vichel

A scorcher at Christmas would be found south of the Tropic. Probably Perth's the most likely, along with Adelaide. Last ten years I've been here, about half of our Chrissies have been mid 30's and up. 42 a couple of years ago. First one in '99 was near 40. I remember that one, as we'd just moved into this house with no aircon, and shockingly no ceiling insulation. Roasted the turkey with two fans going, me spritzing myself with water, and downing buckets of water, beer and anything else cold and liquid. Installed insulation, then the next summer was a bit hotter but far more tolerable, especially with aircon.

Every Christmas Day I remember (probably starting from about 1991) has been hot and sunny. Given that Perth averages about 3 days with measurable precipitation in December, that's 3/31, slightly less than 10% chance of rain on Christmas Day. Or another way of looking it, one Christmas every 10 years.

Daniella made a comment about Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide being hottest. By averages Darwin is still the hottest city in December, but you're much more likely to encounter torrential rain there and in Brisbane. If you don't want rain during your barbeque on Christmas day, Perth would be your best best. Sydney and Melbourne have a more than 1/3 chance of a wet Christmas, and Brisbane nearly 1/2 chance.

[ColdCanadian]

Thanks to all of you for your input to "Christmas Scorchers."

Originally Posted by §AB

OMG WRONG!!!!1

Melbourne is not even remotely the hottest capital on Christmas, the last 5 christmases here have been overcast with crappy 19-21C temps

Darwin, Brisbane and Perth are most likely to be hot on Christmas.

The reason I asked is that none of their averages seem to be "scorchers" imho,
but many parts of Oz have a high degree of variability in temps, even in summer, including Melbourne.

When I think "scorcher," this comes to mind:
- mainly-sunny to cloudless skies (unrelenting sunshine)
- formidable temperatures (36+ C/97+ F highs?)
- the humidity is not very noticeable (RH under 40%?)

Alice Springs, NT likely gets this, but there aren't that many people living there, or in similar climates.
Places like Darwin and at least north QLD should have "steamy" weather; hard to feel "scorched" if you're covered in slime.
What about Canberra? It seems to get a lot of days with big daytime and nighttime temps? Too high in altitude?

[Vichel]

Originally Posted by ColdCanadian

When I think "scorcher," this comes to mind:
- mainly-sunny to cloudless skies (unrelenting sunshine)
- formidable temperatures (36+ C/97+ F highs?)
- the humidity is not very noticeable (RH under 40%?)

Then Perth fits the bill. Adelaide too but I've only been there once on an all-day stopover. 37 degrees. Dry as dust. Hence, a scorcher.

Same for Perth. Most of our hot days are crackling dry. Scorchers. Literally, as that Boxing Day a couple of years ago when I returned from the beach to find my front lawn looking like somebody had taken a big blow-torch to it. It was close to 45 that day.

Originally Posted by ColdCanadian

Alice Springs, NT likely gets this, but there aren't that many people living there

For a good reason, I suspect Middle of bloody nowhere. Perth's bad enough but at least it's got beaches.

Originally Posted by ColdCanadian

*What about Canberra?
It seems to get a lot of days with big daytime and nighttime temps? Too high in altitude?

Festering with politicians, I wouldn't be surprised if it suffered a lot of high hot winds

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by Vichel

Then Perth fits the bill. Adelaide too but I've only been there once on an all-day stopover. 37 degrees. Dry as dust. Hence, a scorcher.

Same for Perth. Most of our hot days are crackling dry. Scorchers. Literally, as that Boxing Day a couple of years ago when I returned from the beach to find my front lawn looking like somebody had taken a big blow-torch to it. It was close to 45 that day.

Interesting.

For a good reason, I suspect Middle of bloody nowhere. Perth's bad enough but at least it's got beaches.

Alice Spring's summer temps look fine by me, but their highly-variable winter temps with a record low of -7.5 C left me unimpressed, as does the record lowest highs of 6-7 C from May-Aug. And then yes, over a day's drive to an ocean and the nearest big city would be annoying.

Festering with politicians, I wouldn't be surprised if it suffered a lot of high hot winds

.

[jacq63]

Originally Posted by Colddiamond102

Just to test my knowledge, cricket is a bit like baseball is here, only the bat is flat and the rules are slightly different??

Everytime I hear of it I think of croquet.. But I know it isnt that..

Cricket is the result of the English trying to learn baseball.
(if you like to watch a bunch of people standing around watching the grass grow, it's the game for you!).

[minibrings]

Originally Posted by Vichel

Then Perth fits the bill. Adelaide too but I've only been there once on an all-day stopover. 37 degrees. Dry as dust. Hence, a scorcher.

Hey vichel

how bad is asthma in Perth? Wondering if you know, its quite bad in Adelaide as its surrounded by the Adelaide Hills and the pollens settle down.. at least this is what my doctor told me..

[Derek40]

Originally Posted by jacq63

Cricket is the result of the English trying to learn baseball.
(if you like to watch a bunch of people standing around watching the grass grow, it's the game for you!).

With respect to cricket, it's like any sport, the ones you have grown up with are the ones you enjoy.
Baseball is only a very minor sport here, and dead boring on TV for most Australians, if it is on TV on Austar or Foxtel -ie Pay TV..
I for one would change the channel almost instantly if I saw it was on the tele.
Most of us here grew up watching and playing cricket for the whole of summer, then played footy in the winter.
In football codes, there is Aussie Rules, soccer and the 2 Rugby codes.
If you grew up in New South Wales or Queensland you like rugby league, if you are from Victoria, SA or WA you like aussie rules.
They are basically "never the twain shall meet", and many people that move interstate, cite this as a reason to move back to where they came from. (Although this has improved dramatically with the advent of Pay TV).
Cricket is a great backyard, park and beach sport in this country, and much more sociable than baseball.

[Vichel]

Originally Posted by minibrings

Hey vichel

how bad is asthma in Perth? Wondering if you know, its quite bad in Adelaide as its surrounded by the Adelaide Hills and the pollens settle down.. at least this is what my doctor told me..

Actually I hear of a lot of asthma cases here in Perth, way more than I ever heard in Vancouver. I keep getting surprised all the time by the people I know who I find out have asthma. Most of them healthy and fit. Loads of kids. It was always an unusual thing when I lived in Vancouver.

I don't know what it is, perhaps it's the pollen like you said. My husband and I have never suffered allergies to pollen but we do have a lot of eye and nasal irritation and sometimes it borders on what we think could be construed as allergies, with watering eyes as well. It's worse if we go for walks in the bush.

[Vichel]

Originally Posted by Derek40

Cricket is a great backyard, park and beach sport in this country, and much more sociable than baseball.

Might be great but I rarely see it being played here. Not nearly as common as I saw, and played, baseball and its variation of softball, in Canada and the US.

Overall, I find Australians just don't seem to play as much casual, social games of sport at all. Might be why we're so up there in the obesity stats. I'm not talking about organised kids' sports, that's a different story. I never see a bunch of adult or teenaged friends (men & women) out in a park playing a social game of cricket, like I saw, and played, social games of baseball or softball in Canada. Or touch football. Or soccer. Or frisbee.

At my workplace in Canada, we were in a casual softball league and played other departments and companies every Friday after work. It wasn't an official, organised type of league, like the young kids do through schools and clubs. Just something we networked together. This was common in Canada and my friends say the same for their workplaces in the US. I've never heard of that here in Perth, for cricket. When I suggested it, I got odd looks & giggles, especially from the women. People would rather just go for drinks after work on Friday. In Canada, we'd play ball, then go for drinks.

So I'd have to disagree with your opinion that cricket's more sociable, as I haven't experienced that myself here. In fact, I feel quite excluded from it. Any games I do see being played in parks seem like rather blokey events, with few, if any, non-players watching. Probably because it takes so long, who has the time? Even watching a game at the WACA. I lasted 4 long, boring hours. Never again. Just a lot of loud, obnoxious drunks, predominantly male, in the stands. And some of the few women there were even louder and more obnoxious. The type who feel they have to out-bloke the blokes. Not my idea of "sociable" either. Every baseball game I've ever attended had a much more fun vibe to it. Even the games with few hits. But like you said, it's what you're used to.

[minibrings]

Originally Posted by Dean-Melbourne

That's fair enough. There's ignorance everywhere you go. Not just in the United States. Perhaps i was a little harsh.

Good on you for acknowledging this! i would equally bristle when people make judgement statements about Australians.. what will get me going is when I hear people make "Australians are racist" comments... I hate those and get ready to do battle via keyboard.