Bix

I got me some woolly car seats from the aisle trader though

So when is mid winters day in Aus ?

Womat

Opposite of the northern hemisphere's solstices:-
Winter solstice - around 21st June
Summer solstice - around 21st December

Have you begun putting on a winter coat or are you still molting?

Bix

Ah thanks, I thought it must be.
I better put a note in my diary so I remember to shiver.....just for old times sake.

I think the coat must be thickening up for winter as I haven't even felt chilly yet.

wanderingwombat

So that would make mid winter about 4-5 am on June 21 and then it's onwards to summer.

Think of it as hump day.

WW

moneypenny20

how can June 21 be mid winter when June 1st was the first day of winter. Even I know winter lasts more than 42 days

I'm wearing a jumper not worn since I was in the UK and we have the wood burner going. BUT it's still raining so it's not all bad

BadgeIsBack

Semantics.

June 21st is the date where the shortest day falls, with some variation. As seasons are caused by the angle of the sun, it probably is midwinter from the sun's point of view.

Also, just because you have the shortest day does not necessarily mean it's the coldest too - the lag effect of the solar heating and the buffering of the oceans means that peak temps might happen consistently towards the end of the season...in the same way its often coldest around dawn - even scientifically an hour after dawn....local effects notwithstanding. I'm guessing that the seasons thus observed and named follow the ''effect'' of the sun.

In Australia, they happen to divvy up (justifiably) the months into 4 loads of 3 months which works out quite well. (I've always considered the reverse to be the case in the UK too though you don't seem to hear it officially as much).

In the UK you'll hear references to British summer starting when BST kicks in. It's still the end of the first month of Spring, in my books.

The good thing about Victoria is that warm weather coincides with long evenings, in milder Europe it is getting darker in August...just when its getting hot.

Vin 'n Bin

In my 36 winters here, I can honestly say that I've never been as cold as I have been for the last couple of weeks ...must be my age

Bix

That'll be to do with the temperature.

moneypenny20

Someone's bored and been googling

MartinLuther

Should the Australian Mid Winters day coincide with the UK's Mid Summers Day which falls on the 24 June?

smiling4

talk about climatising!!! It's that over here n we think its hot!! Mind you would help if wind died down today, quite overcast! Bix, I'd go get your woolies if I was you, think you might be in for some snow myself!!!

BadgeIsBack

Probably. It's all about the sun, basic trigonometry explains the angle of the sun's rays hitting the surface of the planet.

Due to precession of the planet, there will be variations in the solstice and climate.

The Earth reaches perihelion in January, so not only is it summer in the southern hemisphere, it's closest to the sun. Double whammy.

I sit on the train next to a PHD scientist who models and programs the systems which predict the weather for the Bureau of Metereology - he roughs out his equations to solve that day in a little notebook as we go in. He's also a firefighter in my brigade.

What's so straightforward about it all is the way all the weather prediction is all largely Newtonian physics - none of it is extreme rocket science.

BadgeIsBack

Nope. It's all common sense, if you think about it, and anyhow, it's been reinforced by stuff I've been taught for various jobs I've had,and direct experience. Now my other post *has* been gleaned from talking about it - and *has* just been checked online. (In as far as you can trust what you read - online....)

Who do you think I am - a cut and paste merchant?

MartinLuther

It's worth noting that at perihelion the earth is whizzing past the sun faster than at aphelion (which occurs during the northern hemisphere's summer). This makes the southern hemisphere's summer shorter than the northern hemisphere and consequently southern hemisphere latitudes are cooler than their northern hemisphere counterparts. The closeness to the sun has only a minor effect in comparison. So not quite a double whammy.

BadgeIsBack

Cheers - actually I was aware of the fact that the distance to the sun was not a big factor. The double whammy comment was an attempt to dum it down for general consumption. After all, people don't want to have to work too hard.