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December2019Weather diary page Northern Rivers, Dec 3: After three days of short sharp showers, was wondering if it would be enough to douse the fires but then yesterday was 50kph winds (not forecast), dry, and about 30C, so probably undid most of the good the rain had done. Coming into another heatwave but no big winds forecast. Saw a Pacific buzza perched high in dead branch of eucalyptus tree near house this morning - first time i've seen one. Grass has greened up and grown significantly since rain but not to the point it needs mowing. Evenings are still pretty cool - don't need air con at least. Aomori, Dec 5: The first real winter storm arrived yesterday and it will be snowing for the next couple of days with temps not getting above 1C today, so there will likely be significant accumulation. Near whiteout conditions coming to work this morning. On the bright side, this will only last for 4 months or so... Aomori, Dec 10: It got up to 10C today with southerly winds, and it will be the same for the next couple of days. In fact it's supposed to get up to 14 on the 12th. As long as the weather is coming out of the south, it should feel much warmer outside. Even the same temperature but with NW winds feels much more brutal. At some point, we'll see the last 10C day until early spring. Is this the week? NR, Dec 15: Some storms came through a few nights ago - similar pattern to previous ones - started a couple of days before predicted, either at night or evening. Severe in some places but not here. That's dampened the fires down but the main thing has been the heat. Record hot October and November - now Dec has taken it up another notch. Ave max for Dec is 29.8 - but this year that temp represents a fleeting cool change. Typically it's 6-8C above that - would be well on track to smash Dec record as well. Nights are also significantly warmer. Got some Kiwi guys replacing the roof - i simply couldn't do that in this kind of heat - feel sorry for them and all outdoor workers actually - this is 'brain-fry' stuff, unrelenting, punishing. Suggested a couple of times they cancel but they say they've got a schedule so they have to stick to it. Rain has meant that grass is starting to grow, but not out of control at this stage. Tomatoes in new garden are just starting to ripen, though i did overcrowd them so some disease showing, zucchini still going crazy, lettuce going well - rocket has really 'taken off'! After an absence of a few weeks, wallaby appeared a few metres from house this morning - with a small joey in its pouch. Not sure if it was staying away to protect joey or if it was because cows were removed from driveway paddock a couple of days ago. Can't think why they would not like mixing with cows as they're not aggressive but rarely see them do it. Aomori, Dec 15: Temperatures are more seasonal with lows -2 or so and highs 2 or the last couple of days. It supposed to get in the high single digits later in the week. Woohoo! NR, Dec 16: Some Dec stats: Ave max is 29.4C. Highest ever ave max is 32.7 in 2005. Currently tracking at 33.7 - with a week full of mid-30's coming up. Yesterday was 37 - today is looking at 38-39. So currently running at about 4C above ave over the past few months. Aomori, Dec 17: It's 11C right no, with a predicted high of 12. Will this be the last day of 10C+ weather? Kaohsiung, Dec 26: High today of 27. It hit 28 yesterday. According to everyone, this winter has been much warmer and drier than normal. The Gaoping River was extremely low yesterday. NR, Dec 31: Hottest year on record for Australia - assuming it was the hottest on record for my locality as well - felt like it. Big rain (60mm) came the two days after i left for Christmas break down south (Dec 24) but then back to relentless heat for over two weeks after that. Grass is starting to grow - probably should mow it but wonder if mowing it just makes it grow faster. It possibly seeds at a certain age and then stops growing by itself. Looks a bit unsightly but mowing is such a pointless exercise. Dealing with neighbours cows raiding my paddocks, including the one where i planted the native trees along the creek bank. As the creek is so low the cows are just strolling across. Very hard to get a farmer to take responsibility for ensuring his cows stay on his land when he makes money every time they stray onto my land. Basically grass equals money in cattle farming so when he's greedily overstocked and eaten the grass to nothing on his land then there's a financial incentive in letting them plunder my land. After a few polite chats i gave him the 'direct speaking' version yesterday - see how it goes |