Spring is just around the corner!

[glend]

Three more weeks till Spring and I can not wait. I have had a gut full of the rain and cold. This winter has been very wet here on the coast. But encouraging signs of Spring are all around now: the Spring flowering trees are starting to bud out, old bulbs are starting to sprout in the garden bed, the dawn's are coming earlier, and the birds are starting to get frisky again.
Spring is the tonic we all need in the current situation. :)

[LewisM]

Warmest winter I have ever experienced in Canberra, so that is NOT a good thing IMHO. Seen VERY few frosts, and barely have the temps dropped sub-zero.


Last year showed warning signs with relatively few frosts and I don't recall it going under -5°. 2018 on the other hand was COLD, with frosts all winter, and getting down to -8°, plus snow.


Warmer temps also open up Pandora's box in terms of COVID...let's look at the USA, Brazil and so on ho have experienced quite warm spring/summer. Alarming. Global temp increases have "woken up" things we aren't prepared for.



Don't rejoice spring just yet. We are already in viral goldilocks temp ranges, let's not give it Pina Coladas when it hits the optimum.


Downer? Yep, its called the new reality.

[JA]

It's all good, spring's on the way. The COLD in Melbourne has been bone chilling.

Best
JA

[PaulSthcoast]

Hey Lewis,

Isn't Downer a suburb of Canberra ?

Paul.

[LewisM]

They should just rename the capitol “Abbot and Costello “ - historical and rather ironic too.

Spring...yep...more asymptomatic numpties hay-fever sneezing their demon spawn over everyone. Rejoice...:(

I usually relish spring (hey, born on 1 September) but this year has not instilled much joy.

More downer...I think I’ll call Alexander for a pep talk

[RB]

Subscribed

:)

[glend]

Lewis I will concede that, yes, it has been warmer than recent past years at least in terms of the minimum over night temps. No light frost here at all this winter, which is unusual, but it has made up for it by seemingly lower daytime highs, and high humidity. I am going to have to gurney my driveway to kill off the algae growing on it.
Winter is traditionally our heavy flu season, and thankfully there were far fewer flu cases this year, due to a combination of high innoculation rates and social distancing (people obviously heeded the advice to get their flu shots). So i believe Spring will be fairly healthy for us, well maybe anywhere but Melbourne.
But let's not turn this thread into another doom and gloom virus rant, there is much to look forward to.

[LewisM]

So long as the spring skies are clear...

[xelasnave]

Most mornings in the van it is zero. Two days ago the car was covered in ice and I had to run it for five minutes before it would de ice etc.
But the days are noticeably warmer. I don't like Summer in the van as it gets very hot even with the air conditioner running..I need to make a roof like a car port to keep the van out of the direct Sun..I cut down all the shade for obvious reasons.
Alex

[Camelopardalis]

Been a fairly wet winter up here, as BOM predicted, so not ideal for astro. No frost here either :lol: but we have had the obligatory handful of cold nights.

Spring is such a beautiful season around here, it’s a shame it submits to summer :eyepop:

[LewisM]

Rained for 7 of the 10 days we were back on the “Sunshine” Coast in early July

[h0ughy]

No bring on winter long nights, none of this spring break crud. We need winter and no covid, no clouds, clear skies..... Spring brings mossies

[LewisM]

I’m with ya Hough-meister.

My enormousness demands cold. Plus makes the wife snuggle up more seeing she weighs 48kg :lol:

[sharpiel]

Whilst I can't throw stones here, does she get a rolling-over-eminent warning like my partner requests, to prevent pancacking injuries?

[LewisM]

Im fairly confident I'd get a swift kneeing...

[FlashDrive]

Spring has already arrived at my place...!!

[LewisM]

Col, the wattle and cherry blossoms have been out here for over a week too.


It's FAR from cold. Maybe to Sydney-siders it's cold, but even for this acclimatised ex-QLDer, it is not cold.

[erick]

Somewhere around 150mm for us up to Sat morning and has continued on and off through today - probably some 80-100mm since! And Sunday is supposed to be even heavier rain! We've hardly got over the deluge of two weeks ago.

Mind you, I have a nice list of new leaks for the builder to repair - nothing critical as yet.

That's enough rain for testing the new house and filling the water tanks - thank you, no more please for some months.

[raymo]

Same as last year, my frangipani has not lost its leaves over winter.
raymo

[Camelopardalis]

But would you feel it :P

[Startrek]

It’s been a ordinary year so far for Astronomy on the eastern seaboard of NSW ( Sydney to Ulladulla)
January fires
February flooding and cloudy
March Ok
April Ok but Cloudy
May Ok
June Rain
July Rain
August Rainy start

NB: most of the rain and cloudy days / nights have occurred during the new moon period as well

I think I’ve only managed around 12 to 14 nights of decent imaging and 6 or 7 nights of observing over nearly 8 months
Last year it was almost double those figures

I still prefer the cooler months ( May to Sept ) to image and observe , earlier starts , longer nights, no insects etc and more objects
Summer , short nights , moths , bugs , mozzies , humidity and more light pollution from neighbours entertaining BBQ etc...

This winter has been disappointing to say the least
Even on the few cloud free nights through winter , the seeing has been poor

Grumble grumble .........

[Allan]

The grass at my Coolah property always burns off and turns crunchy and brown over the winter because of the frosts. Not this year. It’s still luscious green. I’ve observed all through winter and the coldest night I’ve struck this year was 0C, with lots of sessions where it only got down to 5C. So it’s been warmer than usual.

Some days have been quite warm already. Had a very active brown snake at the door a couple of weeks ago, so they are waking up already. No surprises for another record breaking summer.

[LewisM]

Got to -3.2° last night, but a glorious day today. Rain tomorrow, for the next 5 days at least.

[Saturnine]

I have to agree with you Martin, it has been very ordinary for most of this year on the east coast, for the reasons you listed. At least the sun has made an appearance this afternoon and the clouds have parted, just hoping that it stays that way for tonight, would be a novelty though.