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I'd take Sydney in a heartbeat over Atlanta. The winters in Sydney are way milder. Also FWIW regarding hot summers in Atlanta vs. Sydney and Melbourne, both Sydney and Melbourne can get quite hot during heatwaves. A few summers ago, Melbourne hit 46.4°C (115.5°F) while the outer suburbs of Sydney regularly hit 35-40°C every summer with a record high of 45.6°C (113.5°F). I think this also should be taken into consideration.
The winter avg high/low for this location is 58.3/36.8F vs 54.7/36.1F at Atlanta. The large N. American landmass with a direct path from the arctic makes the diff here with regard to the record lows.
Also, this location in Australia averages 35 days a year with a min temp below 32F, while Atlanta area averages 40. Much closer temp wise in winter than with Sydney. Elevation and the inland location play a significant part in the diff between Atlanta and Sydney besides latitude.
I chose Sydney, it's both milder and cooler than Atlanta.
Sydney does have a much better climate for growing palms,
however some "hardy" palms will grow in Atlanta.
Weird thing I noticed is Columbia, the capital of South Carolina
has noticeably more palms than Atlanta and is at the same latitude.
And Columbia is "inland" too. The South Carolina state Capital Building features a number of nice looking large Palmetto palms.
The Palmetto tree is the state tree of South Carolina and is even featured on the state flag!!
I'm no palm expert but I think the Palmetto is a slightly cold hardier version of the Sabal Palm that is native to Florida. Palmettos are native to the south east coast as far north as southeast North Carolina.
Farther north in Virginia Beach, the city planted some to give the city a "tropical" look, but they are covered every winter to ensure survival.
Yes, Australia IS "lucky", when compared with North America,
particularly anywhere east of the Rocky Mountains, strong cold fronts with very cold air, sometimes as far south as Florida. Look at the record lows anywhere in the southern states and you find temperatures that are way colder than anyplace in Australia, strangely nobody on this forum seems to mention Australia's capital, Canberra, but it is "inland" near mountains and IS quite cool by Australian standards, with some chilly lows and record lows. Maybe it should be "compared" with US cities?
What I've always found strange is that one of Atlanta's nicknames is
"Hot 'lanta" , but it's average summer temps aren't much hotter than Philly and are noticeably "cooler" than many places in the south ....Memphis....Dallas....Little Rock....Houston.....Oklahoma City
...you name it ...they're all hotter on average than Atlanta.
Yeah and IMO Sydney has a weird climate ...has cooler average high temps than places in southern Ontario Canada has in summer but a mild winter rivaling southern California but also has
humid summers However, still better than Atlanta.
Last edited by philobeddoe; 02-02-2012 at 04:43 PM..
Cowra is pretty toasty in summer, but anywhere west of the Great Dividing Range doesn't get the coastal humidity-the mean min of 15.6C/60F for Cowra in January is an indication. Of course, when tropical rain systems affect inland NSW the humidity rises but this is the exception.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei
33 days the entire year. My guess is Sydney would be at most 5, maybe even 0.
Winter days that fail to hit 10C/50F are rare in Sydney. The record low maximum is 7.2C. My estimate is it's a once in a decade event. In all my years living here, the lowest maximum I recall here in Perth was 10C. Sydney gets slightly cooler maximums.
The winter avg high/low for this location is 58.3/36.8F vs 54.7/36.1F at Atlanta. The large N. American landmass with a direct path from the arctic makes the diff here with regard to the record lows.
Also, this location in Australia averages 35 days a year with a min temp below 32F, while Atlanta area averages 40. Much closer temp wise in winter than with Sydney. Elevation and the inland location play a significant part in the diff between Atlanta and Sydney besides latitude.
Frost is fairly common in most of inland NSW during the winter. Stable, high pressure air and clear skies dominate. It's even fairly routine in the Western suburbs of Sydney, which usually get a few pretty severe frosts every winter. Amazingly, Observatory Hill has never recorded a ground frost in it's history.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stumbler.
Sydney has impressive record highs far from it's normal, even though it's not arid/desert and in fact wetter than Atlanta.
I wonder on how many days, Sydney gets temperatures hotter than Atlanta's averages (such as in the 30s C)?
Perhaps they only happen rarely each summer?
Compared to the trio of Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne (the cities most prone to heatwaves, 'ironically' the southern capitals) extreme summer heat is less common in Sydney. Sydney's summers are noticeably cloudier, more humid and more 'tropical feeling' than those three, which often have searing dry heat in the summer months.
Average no. of days above 35C/95F annually:
Perth: 24.7
Adelaide: 19.8
Melbourne: 10.0
Sydney: 3.0
From BOM. Stats for Observatory Hill in the CBD, and all the other main CBD stations for the other cities.
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