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I'm surprised those parts of Australia get so regularly affected by cold fronts in summer. Compare that to places which are largely further from the equator in the northern hemisphere, like Portugal or Spain. Much relatively dryer and sunnier and also hotter max temperatures with nothing like the level of variation.
That's the unfortunate consequence of not having any landmass to the south and also having the world's coldest ocean to the south allowing unimpeded travel for cold fronts. That is the ultimate cause of Melbourne's defective climate and cold summers. Sydney's summers are much better, atleast overnight lows are around 20C and a few miles inland from the coast it gets quite hot for more extended periods than Melbourne could ever dream of.
That's the unfortunate consequence of not having any landmass to the south and also having the world's coldest ocean to the south allowing unimpeded travel for cold fronts. That is the ultimate cause of Melbourne's defective climate and cold summers. Sydney's summers are much better, atleast overnight lows are around 20C and a few miles inland from the coast it gets quite hot for more extended periods than Melbourne could ever dream of.
Western Australia also has that.
Is the difference merely having a south coast at 35 S rather than 38 S?
Or is the water shallower off WA's south coast so it has less oceanic influence?
Western Australia also has that.
Is the difference merely having a south coast at 35 S rather than 38 S?
Or is the water shallower off WA's south coast so it has less oceanic influence?
The West Coast gets what they call "humid changes" during summer, that break hot spells.
The change though is nowhere near as significant as the East Coast.
It should be remembered that Perth at 31S is equivalent to about Taree on the NSW Mid North Coast - a point where NSW definitely becomes subtropical.
A lot of people think that Perth is the same latitude as Sydney, but that is not the case.
Southerly Changes become significantly weaker after Taree, by the time you get to Coffs Harbour at 30S the warm subtropical current meets the southern current, and the effect of southerlies have petered off - before they officially end at Wooli in the lower Northern Rivers.
The West Coast gets what they call "humid changes" during summer, that break hot spells.
The change though is nowhere near as significant as the East Coast.
It should be remembered that Perth at 31S is equivalent to about Taree on the NSW Mid North Coast - a point where NSW definitely becomes subtropical.
A lot of people think that Perth is the same latitude as Sydney, but that is not the case.
Southerly Changes become significantly weaker after Taree, by the time you get to Coffs Harbour at 30S the warm subtropical current meets the southern current, and the effect of southerlies have petered off - before they officially end at Wooli in the lower Northern Rivers.
Is the main difference between Newcastle and "subtropical" NSW is the intensity of the cold fronts?
Many days our weather forecasts look similar.
I just noticed this morning that the sun's halo must be smaller.
I noticed less "shadow unsharpness" when my shadow was 4 metres long, I extended my hand and spread my fingers, trying to find at what distance of finger separation are my fingers clearly defined. We now easily have 1/2 the unsharpness from before...
Is this a consequence of the "Winter Westerly" pattern picking up western dust (nearby coal mining?) causing winter sun to be more diffused,
but now that the strong westerly winds are gone, strong southerlies off the sea replaced them, clearing out the air
now the sun is stronger at all sun angles?
The sun definitely feels hot even at 7am with clear skies.
This I believe is because of the smaller halo/ lesser shadow-unsharpness.
Well, we're like a desert meets the cold antarctic influenced ocean (remember, there isn't a big piece of land between southern Australia and Antarctica - so cold air can quickly reach us).
Melbourne is the worst offender btw - 45C today and 17C tomorrow.
Sydney at least drops from 40C to 23C.
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) then followed by a week in the high 20's C. 
