wilson01

OMG! Im gonna freeze arnt I

ozzieeagle

Aint that the truth... I'm not sure why that is either. Just a simple case of acclimatisation maybe, or the fact that the houses here generally are a lot colder ?

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mpgrewal

Yes, its very cold here. Yesterday I missed my bus so I had to wait around 30 mins at an unsheltered bus stop, while cool breeze was blowing (gust is stronger near the Bay area) and freezing droplets were falling from the sky. And there was I suffering for 30 mins out in the cold luckily the bus (which always comes 10 mins late) arrived. My ears and legs became numb.

I never thought of Melly as a cold place. Its really difficult sometime

ozzieeagle

Whereabouts in West Moreland are you.... near Melville Rd ?

Trams come a lot quicker... if you are around those of course.

mpgrewal

Yes, there only. But my office is near Frankston, so need to travel a lot and wait a lot in the open Waiting at stop is when you are exposed to winter the most because your body is stationary as opposed to a jogger and cyclist whose body is warmed up and doesn't feel chill.

ozzieeagle

You travel from Coburg/Brunswick to Frankston every day ?

mpgrewal

Yes mate, its quite easy here as compared to India. Just 2.2 hrs each way in the wonderful public transport. Need to do this for another month or 2 before my office gets shifted to South Melb.

This is nothing - my collegues drive from Point Cook everyday - 50 kms one way through city traffic. But still its superb here as compared to traffic in my original country

dave99

whats all this buisness about people throwing things and shouting at pedestrians? seriously, that happens?

wilson01

I'm concerned about the weather I can't believe that people are freesing cold in 12 degrees cel! Is it that people acclimitise? i can understand if you have lived in a country where it exceeds 20 degrees cel everyday but surely not everyone is from thse hot countries. I would think that 12 degrees cel would be lovely for the winter

bcworld

Many winter days are perfectly nice...and I've had the benefit of living in Brisbane for 4 years first to become a climate wuss!

Yesterday was beautiful for example...sunny and 17C, I walked out the door in the morning and thought, 'oh it's quite warm today'. Today it was pissing down in the morning and quite miserable, although I wouldn't have said cold.

Some winter days have a cold wind blowing, are overcast and are in the low teens and then you feel it. It perhaps becomes more noticeable because it can be so cold indoors! I came back yesterday after thinking how nice it was outside and was sat in my living room freezing!

Generally though, even having gone sub-troppo for 4 years, I still think many people complain too much about Melbourne winters. People are prone to wildly exaggerate about some aspects of the Australian climate I notice; examples - how cold it is in Melbourne, the unbearable heat & humidity in Brisbane, etc etc etc.

IndieG

Arriving from desert climes, we really appreciate the cold and rain My daughter was so excited when she saw the downpour this morning! I hope I never get over this....

Just saw my gas bill for 2 months - $250 and we are not even in the thick of winter yet

mpgrewal

True. Indoor heating is not inherent in Oz homes as in Canadian/US homes, even if you have heating applicances put in your walls/roof they are not as effective as the Americas. That's why it increases the chill effect more.

Other thing which I noticed about Melly winters as compared to winters in my region (North India) is that, its always windy here and pours a lot in the winters, which also increases the intensity of freeze whereas we get a lot of fog and sunshine in winters, so its pleasant.

moneypenny20

It comes down to personal opinion. I now consider 20 chilly and anything below downright cold but that's how my body reacts. My head tells me not to be daft and it's actually a reasonable temperature but my body disagrees and there's damn all I can do about it. Even in the height of summer up here my hands and upper arms are cold. I'm not exaggerating and I'm not saying it's how it will be for anyone else. It's how it is for me.

DownUnderPaddy

hahaa....give it a chance MP. You're only into your first winter here....
I have been here 8 years now and found the Winters in Melbourne generally dry and mild (and I am from Ireland, a notable wet/windy/chilly country).

It's just been unusually wet/windy/cold so far this season, but I can see how if you don't know any different, you could assume that's how it is every year ;-)

By the way, there's a lot colder to come. You just wait for August

ProudVIC

Hello everyone. I am Australian and thought I'd join up as I have a lot of local knowledge about the country that I can share with the members on here. I hope I can help a lot of you out with your questions and queries.

Compared to most of Europe, winters in Melbourne are pretty tame. I live in the ranges NW of Melbourne at 500m above sea level and winters are pretty cold here, getting very close in temperature to some of the milder parts of England and occasional snowfalls, particularly up higher at 1000m asl at the top of the local mountain. We average between 8C and 9C for maximum temps in July and it is pretty wet from May-December. Wind chill is very bad on quite a few days also.

I work in Melbourne and the contrast between there and here is pretty stark. Even in the middle of winter you get some days where you feel a bit warm wearing a jumper. Whilst Melbourne can get spells of low teens maximum temps and even as low as high single figures on some days the average maximum of around 14C for the winter is very mild compared to England.

We are at 37 degrees latitude here and the southern hemisphere equivalent of southern Spain, southern Turkey, northern Iran and San Francisco. UK's latitude of 50 degrees to around 60 degrees is a major contributor to it being a pretty cold place and cool in summer. Continental Europe has a continental climate so winters can be very cold where as in Victoria, particularly on and south of the Great Dividing range it is an oceanic climate and moderated by the proximity of the sea, similar to England in that respect.

A lot of people in Melbourne will rug up in heavy coats, scarves and beanies when the temperature is in the low to mid teens which I have always found slightly amusing personally because where I live it really is cold by Australian standards and I never wear more than a jumper.

I wouldn't worry about Melbourne's winter climate if I was moving from England, it is quite pleasant most of the time. It is very cloudy and drizzly though and can be very drab and wear on you in that way. The major feature of the climate here is the changeability, it can take you by surprise sometimes, even for the locals. It does snow occasionally in the Dandenong Ranges which is just 40 to 50km from the city centre.