JoeBoy

Allrighty geezers and geezerettes,

Can anyone advise on the climates for the major towns / cities in Oz. Would like to stay in a place that has top summers but a milder winter. Wouldn't like to stay in a place thats roasting all year round. A wee bit of variety would be good - still love the sunshine mind. Nah screw that give me summer all year long (-;

Any info appreciated and 1 beer token will be earned. Redeemed only on successful migration to OZ.


Joe.
Glesga.

JAJ

http://www.bom.gov.au has the data you need.

Jeremy

mlbonner

This is one of my favourite Aus websites - great for watching the storms coming in one

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/

If you don't want to be roasting all year round, I'd avoid the Far North, quite warm
Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney & Tasmania all have cooler winters (you can ski near Canberra & Melbourne) but very decent summers. Brisbane is warm/roasting most the year (though can rain and be quite windy in the winter months) and I believe Perth can get extremely hot in the summer as well.

mlbonner

must be good if two people suggested it for ya

CPW

The website mentioned above [http://www.bom.gov.au/] is very useful.

As you hint at, what you go for depends on what you want. Here's my take (for what it's worth - but mind you, I wouldn't want summer all year round!).

Brisbane - glorious winters - dry and warm and sunny, but very humid summers with lots of heavy rain. As you head north from Brisbane, the seasonality moves more and more towards just two seasons, and by the time you reach tropical Queensland you have a true two-season climate - the dry (which corresponds to the southern winter) and the wet (which corresponds to the southern summer, and it can be very wet indeed at times - and it is always humid during the wet).

Darwin also has a two-season climate, and the period leading up to the wet can be particularly trying.

Sydney - generally very good climate - late summer (say, February and the first part of March) can be humid, but spring, early summer and much of autumn can be wonderful. Winters are distinctly cooler than in Brisbane, and nights and early mornings can be surprisingly cold if you're away from the coast or the harbour, but truly nasty winter weather is not very common. It can be wet at any time of year (although not recently, it seems!), and windy too.

Canberra - a more continental climate - dry and warm-to-hot in summer, cool-to-cold in the winter. Less rain than most of the coastal cities.

Melbourne - some of the most variable weather in the civilised world. Four seasons in one day is hardly an exaggeration at times. Generally a bit cooler than Sydney in the summer, although during a heatwave it is likely to be hotter. Probably less humid than Sydney. Distinctly cooler than Sydney in the winter, and it can be miserable, although truly cold weather is not very common. Days of cloud and gloom, though, are common. (Remember, too, that Australian houses are often badly heated except in the coldest areas, which are usually in the mountains.)

Adelaide and Perth both have Mediterranean-style climates, with hot dry summers and mild wet winters. Both can be very hot in the summer on occasions.

Hobart is cooler than the mainland cities, with very hot weather a rarity and occasional sleet and snow in the winter (with snow being common on Mount Wellington and not infrequent in the higher suburbs on the slopes of the mountain).

As I say, just my take on things, but it might help when looking at climatic data to see a more human point of view!

Badge

great post.

I was surprised to see that M is on average 4 degrees cooler than Sydney in the winter. I put this down to the fact that the sun doesn't always come out. I recall Sydney being as cold as Melbourne at night.

Sydney is quite a bit more humid than Melbourne in the summer. If you hate humidity, come to Melbourne as we still get 40 degree days, and it can be 27-32 and not feel humid.

It seems to me that no city is thus perfect - maybe Sydney has the best all-round??

BM

JAJ

Very few (if any) places have a 'perfect' year round climate - pleasantly warm in winter often means very hot or humid in summer.

Blame the Earth's tilt for that.

As to which Australian city has the 'best' climate, it depends on the individual. All Australian cities have reasonably good climates, compared to many parts of the world.

Jeremy

bondipom

Melbourne is chiller because it is closer to the Antarctic.

Friday morning I had dew on my car for the first time in a year.:scared: Sydney is extraordinarily dry at the moment despite a few days of rain recently. Seems like the weather knows some friends or relos of mine are on the way over.

Something to consider is the microclimates of the areas you are moving to. Near the Ocean the temperatures in Sydney are much more moderate however head west and instead of an overnight low of 8C it is 0C.

In summer it is the opposite with the Ocean cooling Bondi 5C cooler than Penrith.

Finally you will acclimatise. You will probably still hate the hot days but your tolerance to cold will drop.


Saturday
Cloudy. A little light rain at times. Light to moderate north to northwest winds, fresh at times in the afternoon.


Current Temperature: 14 C
Forecast Max: 18C
Wind Direction & Speed: NNE at 5 knots
Humidity: 73%
Pressure: 1022.2 hPa
3 Day Forecasts:

rain Sunday
A little rain, chiefly morning. Moderate to fresh W/NW winds.
Min: 12C Max: 20C
clearing Monday
Dry. W/SW winds.
Min: 10C Max: 19C
showers Tuesday
Chance or shower or two. S/SE winds.
Min: 8C Max: 18C
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
Mostly dry.

Megalania

Worked with a Pomie bloke (with Aussie spouse) who hated hot weather - used to lounge around indoors drinking all summer.

I suggested he needed to "get out amongst it" to acclimatise. He took up cycling to work in almost all weathers. End of problem.

Exercise in all but dangerous weather improves resilience.

wombat42

A basic weather summary of Oz cities:

If you like hot summers and mild winters then Perth, Adelaide
and Brisbane are the places for you.

If you Prefer milder summers with less hot days, and cold winters
where you can have a fire going or a heater then Melbourne and Sydney are the places for you.

If you like a cold climate like the Uk, with snow in winter and summer days mainly in the low- mid 20c, the Hobart ( Tasmania)
is for you.

JAJ

A fairly good comparison, except that in *winter* Sydney is warmer and sunnier than Adelaide.

The opposite is the case in summer, usually.

The more humid cities in summer are Sydney and Brisbane.

Jeremy