Hottest Sydney observing night on record

[gary]

As David (aka h0ughy) reported yesterday evening and those who live
in the greater Sydney area would have been more than aware of, it was very hot here
in Sydney last night.
See http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=71523

However, this morning confirms that it was the hottest observing night on record
in Sydney with 33.2 degrees at midnight.

See Sydney Morning Herald story - http://www.smh.com.au/environment/we...206-1ai0i.html

Whereas the United States has been blanketed in snow, observers here would have
been trading their freezer suits for shorts and thongs and using the Esky to sit
eyepieces on.

As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald today -

The sweltering night followed a record-breaking seven days of temperatures over 30 degrees, a feat never before seen in 150 years of records of Sydney weather.

Anecdotally I have noted that some of the vegetation in the neighbouring
Kuring-Gai Chase National Park here in the north of Sydney, which thrived in
the wet weather, has become dry and 'crunchy' under foot just in the past four days.
Such wet summers followed by subsequent dry ones are always a concern
with regards increasing the chances of bush fire.

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

i think the coldest temperature we got down to at the pony club last nite Gary was around 4am and it was 24.2 degrees

and yes - we observed in thongs and singlets all last nite

though we did have Joe try on his new bib n brace freezer pants for about 5 minutes

geoff

[Octane (Humayun)]

Kind of glad I'm not in Sydney! I've gotten accustomed to the dry humidity of Canberra and just can't bear the humidity in Sydney anymore.

33 degrees at midnight? That is insanity.

H

[mozzie (Peter)]

hot bloody hot !!!!! no observing lately cant keep my eyes open of a night!!!!!
its been warm here all week and just come home from work been laying concrete blocks all weekend and i've had enough of the heat.....hoping to have a arvo sleep and do some viewing tonight.....

[Jen]

wow this weather is crazy at the moment

[h0ughy (David)]

yep it certainly was a tad warm Gary.

[Analog6 (Odille)]

Vile, isn't it. That damned high seems to finally be moving a bit today - the dark area in the pic are highs - I thought we were going to lose it when TC Yasi came along but it is so strong it pushed the cyclone up. You can do animations on this site - do the water vapour as the visual does not have as many images. It is interesting to do the last 48 images and watch the systems moving.

[higginsdj]

Originally Posted by Octane

Kind of glad I'm not in Sydney! I've gotten accustomed to the dry humidity of Canberra and just can't bear the humidity in Sydney anymore.

33 degrees at midnight? That is insanity.

H

The extreme temps are not uncommon for Canberra (nor is 30+C with 90+ RH). I've had a 30+ night last week but most have averaged an onight minimum of 25 over the last 2 weeks. A couple of years ago I had a whole week of midnights at 30+. Then I had a watercooled ST-9E and the water in the 5lt bucket could be used for a hot bath....

But I am working off the temps at my own digital weather station - not the 'official' values. You may find that your local conditions were in fact worse....

Cheers

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

it was actually a clear night-should have been jumping at the opportunity..but it was so hot I wussed out
what a wimp-spend the last 6 months whingeing about the cloud and the first fine night presents itself and ...I stayed in the air conditioning...and I am glad I did

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by Octane

33 degrees at midnight? That is insanity.

From my weather station.
42.9C and 15% at 15:30
32.5C and 42% at midnight.
26C and 71% at 6am.

It is a mere 28.1C now and falling (from 36.8C at about 12:30) with a 3.4m/sec breeze which is taking some of the edge off the temperature.

Originally Posted by gary

Anecdotally I have noted that some of the vegetation in the neighbouring Kuring-Gai Chase National Park here in the north of Sydney, which thrived in the wet weather, has become dry and 'crunchy' under foot just in the past four days.

Last weekend all the lawns around here were lush, green and soft.

Today they are brown and crunchy. The neighbour who spends an hour or so every day on his lawn will be tearing his hair out.

Andrew