Blue Mountains Weather Warnings on 1300 659 218
NB: If you want even more details, please contact The Weather Company for personalised weather forecasts on 190 222 9569. Be aware that this service is charged by the minute. I do occasionally provide personal forecasts for community groups via email.
Real-time Twitter Weather Updates: Apart from the detailed local weather observations below, you can also head to my Twitter live feed link. Click here.
13-1-14, Monday: Using the longer term data from Katoomba, December average temps were 0.8C above average for minimums and +2.3C above average for maximums, being 12.4C and 24.5C respectively. Rainfall for the month was 53mm which is well below the long term average of 122.6mm. The warmest day was 33.9C on the 20th and the coolest morning was 3.8C on the 6th, a very cool morning for this time of year but not a record. The coolest maximum was 15.2C on the 25th.
9-12-13, Monday: Using the longer term data from Katoomba, November average temps were right on the long term average for minimums and +0.5C above average for maximums, being 9.8C and 20.5C respectively. Rainfall for the month was 339.4mm which is way above the long term average of 107.1mm. The warmest day was 29.1C on the 8th and the coolest morning was 3.6C on the 4th. The shorter term records from Mt Boyce show average min and max temps for November were 9.1C (0.6 below average) and 20.4C (0.5C above average) respectively with 161.2mm of rainfall for the month. To sum up, the temperature was fairly typical for November, for both minimums and maximums and the rainfall was well above, bringing very welcome relief for our drought and fire threatened region.
4-11-13, Monday: Using the longer term data from Katoomba, October average temps were +0.9C above average for minimums and +4C above average for maximums, being 8.5C and 21.4C respectively. The average maximum temperature of 21.4C was an all time record for Katoomba with forty nine years of records for average maximums at this station although some data for the 22nd, 23rd and 24th was missing, due to the observer not taking readings during the fires. It still would have likely broken the record, when the Mt Boyce AWS observations for those days are taken into account. There was some frontal weather of note in October but it was noted more for its frosts than rainfall. These frosts have had severe impact on some crops in parts of NSW. From my reckoning, a total of 23 days were above the average maximum of 17.4C - again, it would have been 25 days if the two days missing, were taken into account.
Our warmest day was 29.7C on the 21st. Our coolest day was 13.3C on the 3rd. Our coolest minimum was 1.4C on the 4th. A number of frosts occured this month, with grass minimums (the temperature taken outside of the Stevenson Screen at grass level) well below zero. 6mm of rain fell in Katoomba for October, which is seriously below the long term average of 90.2mm, the driest October in 125 years (NB: This record is dubious). It is worth noting that some rain fell on the days where no rainfall records were taken at Katoomba on the 23rd and 24th of October. Mt Boyce AWS recorded 12.8mm for October and The Katoomba Council weather station (not official) recorded 12.4mm and similar amounts were recorded in private gauges at Katoomba. So, the Katoomba record low rainfall for October 2013 was not really applicable because of the missing days in the record.
16-10-13, Wednesday: Using the better long term data from Katoomba, September average temps were +3.1C above average for minimums and +4.5C above average for maximums, being 8.4C and 19C respectively. The average maximum temperature was an all time record for Katoomba with forty nine years of records for average maximums at this station. There was again little frontal weather of note in September (I feel like I am repeating myself with this statement for many months now...) with the exception of good rain on the 17th of September (35mm) that was from a trough setup and not a typical cold front. From my reckoning, a total of 25 days were above the average maximum of 14.5C - again, another month with many warm days.
Our warmest day was 25.1C on the 7th. Our coolest day was 10.4C on the 16th. Our coolest minimum was 1C on the 13th. No real frosts occured this month, apart from some very light specks of ice across the grass at various times. 42.4mm of rain fell in Katoomba for September, which is well below the long term average of 72.3mm, a reflection again, of the lack of frontal weather. At this stage, October isn't quite in record territory but its well above the average for maximum temps at this stage, with hotter weather to come.
9-9-13, Monday, Midday: Using the better long term data from Katoomba, August average temps were +0.6C above average for minimums and +2.3C above average for maximums, being 3.9C and 13.6C respectively. There was very little frontal weather of note in August with the exception of fairly weak cold fronts on the 8th and 19th of August. From my reckoning, a total of 23 days were above the average maximum of 13.6C - quite amazing to see so many mild days, again. Our warmest day was 19.6C on the 30th. Our coolest minimum was -0.4C on the 20th. Only a few light frosts occured this month. 17mm of rain fell in Katoomba for August, which is well below the long term average of 77.8mm, a reflection again of the general lack of frontal weather, or any weather of note at all. There ends the warmest winter and most snowless winter I have ever seen up here...
10-8-13, Saturday, Midday: Using the better long term data from Katoomba, July average temps were +2.1C above average for minimums and +3C above average for maximums, being 4.7C and 12.6C respectively. There was very little frontal weather of note in July with the exception of a fairly weak cold front on the 21st and 22nd of July. From my reckoning, a total of 24 days were above the average maximum of 9.6C - quite sobering and almost unbelievable, to be honest. Our warmest day was 16.4C on the 29th. Our coolest minimum was 0.2C on the 21st. Again, only a few light frosts occured this month. 20mm of rain fell in Katoomba for July, which is well below the long term average of 83.5mm, a reflection of the extreme lack of frontal weather, or any weather at all really. I've never seen such a warm and rainless July with both our average minimum (at 4.7C) and maximum temps (at 12.6C) setting new all time records. Sydney and other observation sites across NSW also set all time heat records in July.
11-7-13, Thursday, Midday: Sorry for the delay in getting the June obs up. Using the better long term data from Katoomba, June average temps were +1.3C above average for minimums and +0.6C above average for maximums, being 5.1C and 11C respectively. There was again a lack of cold days and cold nights, this was due to virtually no frontal weather of note. From my reckoning, a total of seventeen days were above the average maximum of 10.4C - quite sobering. Our warmest day was 14.8C on the 4th and 5th. Our coolest minimum was 0.2C on the 22nd. Only a few light frosts occured in June. 239.8mm of rain fell in Katoomba for June, which is well above the long term average of 117.5mm, a reflection of the coastal troughs that we had in June, not cold fronts of a typical nature.
The signs are not great for July at this stage for strong, snowy fronts. Lets see how it pans out though, as things can change quickly in late July. We could get a burst of westerlies in late July and into August that may provide nice snowfalls.
2-6-13, Sunday, Midday: Using the better long term data from Katoomba, May average temps were +0.1C above average for minimums and +1.4C above average for maximums, being 6.1C and 14.6C respectively. There was again a lack of cooler days and cool nights, this was due to little frontal weather of note. From my reckoning, a total of twenty days were above the average maximum of 13.4C - quite amazing. Our warmest day was 21.1C on the 1st. Our coolest minimum was 2.7C on the 19th. 53.9mm of rain fell in Katoomba for May, which is well below the long term average of 102.1mm, again a reflection of the lack of frontal weather. The signs are not great for June at this stage for strong, snowy fronts. Lets see how it pans out though, as things can change quickly in late June, early July. The general pattern of autumn lasting longer and winter starting later looks to be continuing this year. That doesn't rule out strong cold fronts at some point with nice snow but it is a concern for farmers and gardeners when rain is less, on average, than in earlier decades.
2-4-13, Tuesday: Using the better long term data from Katoomba, March average temps were +0.5C for minimums and +1C for maximums, being 11.9C and 21.3C respectively. Apart from the cooler days at the beginning of the month when there was a lot of rain, there was a distinct lack of cooler days and cool nights. Nearly all of our rain for the month (173mm) fell in the first four days, with only 12.4mm falling in the rest of March. The long term average rainfall for March is 164.7mm. A total of twenty one days were over 20C for maximums, our warmest day was 26.2C on the 27th. Our coolest minimum was 5.2C on the 18th. There has been a lack of autumn colour this year, compared to some of our vibrant years, partly due to the heavy rain early in the month and the lack of cool mornings and cloudy days.
2-3-13, Saturday, midday: February Obs report. Sadly, the Mount Boyce AWS was down for a few days at the beginning of February, so the rainfall and temperature data for a number of days seems to be lost. I recorded 44.3mm on the 1st of Feb, from my home gauge, as an unofficial record of the intense showers on that day. Going off the Katoomba weather station, for more complete February records, it was a fairly typical month for temperatures, with the average minimum being 13.2C and the average maximum being 22C. Both of these readings are +0.3C and -0.4C respectively from the long term average. Rainfall for February was well above average at 354.2mm, way above the long term average of 174.1mm. The hottest maximum for February was 31.6C on the 8th and the coolest maximum was 14.7C on the 2nd. The coolest minimum was 6.6C on the 3rd and the warmest minimum was 17.9 on the 29th.
6-2-13, Wednesday, midday: The Mount Boyce AWS is up and running again but sadly the rainfall data for the first few days seems to be lost. I recorded 44.3mm on the 1st of Feb, from my home gauge, as an unofficial record of the intense showers on that day.
4-2-13, Monday 4pm: January in the upper Blue Mountains (Mount Boyce AWS) was notably above average for maximum temps, at 26.6C and somewhat above average for minimum temps at 14.3C, which was 2.7C and 1.1C above the long term average, respectively. Rainfall was 187.6mm for January which was about 60mm above the long term average. Our hottest day was 36C (18th, 0.1C below the record set in 2007) and our coldest was 16C (20th). We had ten days above 30C and another ten days above 24C, so a very warm month for the upper mountains. What made the month bearable was the regular arrival of southerly changes, interspersing the warm to hot days with milder ones. Whilst there were fires across the Central Tablelands in January, no significant fires occured in the Blue Mountains.