Some weather advice...

We just moved into a new house 2 weekends ago, and have nice views of Indian Ocean.

This weekend storms hit that were the worst we have seen in 2 years, with 120Kmh winds that scared the be-jeppers out of us for 2 nights running. We lost part of our boundary fence, and neighbours lost roof tiles. The wind didn't just roar, it sounded like the gusts were exploding against the side of our house and garage door. We woke up on Saturday morning with Channel 9 interviewing the State Emergency Services on our front drive!

Perth is one of the top 3 windiest cities in the world, and you will find that even in summer the afternoon winds can make beach life uncomfortable - you need to get there early to get the best out of them. While most winds come from the West (the famous 'Freo Doctor'), a few times each summer it swings around and winds come from the East - and these bring super-heated air from the desert across the city, and being close to the Ocean offers no relief! On these nights expect sleepless nights and temperatures in the 40's even after dark...

This seems to have been a long, wet winter in Perth, so I am very ready for the summer. Remember that Australia has a very distinct winter, and the way in which homes are geared up for the heat makes the winter feel that much colder and long!

My point about the Ocean is that if you build in order to see the ocean - it can also see you and chuck these horrendous winds right at you.

I saw someone on here buying land out at Ellenbrook - this is a really nice area, but in the summer will be several degrees hotter that the coastal strip, with no relief coming in from the afternoon winds - but at least you are very handy for the Swan Valley wineries!

Other areas offering cheaper land close to the Ocean are now at the extreme ends of Perth - Quinns, Yanchep, and even Two Rock in the North, while the souther developments are based around the Huge Mandurah, Rockingham, Port Bouvard areas. Both of these offer long and painful journies into the city by road. If going by train, many people park up at the stations, but in the northern suburbs especially lately lots of cars are gettign stolen from these car parks...

Thanks for such an informative post Martin.

On a positive but entirely frivolous note, these last few days in Scarborough we have been blown quite nicely to the pub and back.

always handy after a night on the bitter shandy

Its monday and yep its blowing one hell of a gale here still !! Its pretty chilly and wet , the noise as martin said is hurrendous and we are quite sheltered. But hey they say it will be upto 23 by friday
Joanne

We bought a house at Ellenbrook, and have been told it is hotter than costal areas. To be honest the summers are so hot anyway its scortching everywhere, luckily we have air con!!!

Talking of wind...

I was walking in Goolwa (SA) this morning around 10am. The skies were grey and there was a strong cool breeze in my face. On two or three occasions the wind suddenly went uncomfortably hot, much like walking through the heaters at the entrance to a shop in the UK. The heat would last no more than a second and then vanish.

I've never experienced weather like that before.

I checked the hourly stats for the local weather station (http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDS65...27.94677.shtml) and it showed that the temperature climed rapidly in the morning and went away again.

My guess is that a blast of hot air from the outback got pushed through here by a weather front and that pockets of really hot air had still not mixed in with the cooler stuff.

Good one ..........