Hardly Frog Weather

It is now mid June. Deep in the dry season with low humidity [ 20% or so], quite vigorous SE winds, no rain, cool to cold nights [ < 20C] - well, at least for the Darwin area........and more to come it seems.  A great burst of serious dry season weather.

Hardly seems any time since the complaint was about high humidity and plenty of rain.

Current conditions are NOT frog weather!  Needs to be enjoyed while it lasts though.

Renewal

Rain in the monsoonal tropics brings renewal.

And..........when the large gum [ eucalypt] trees get like this.......then rain is coming.  glorious renewal.

Trouble is, this build up season is so hot, and so little rain, so little - like none - cloud cover yet.

But the trees are saying......renewal is coming!

Rain is coming...........maybe soon?

Crazy Weather in the Tropics

Fires are creating an enormous problematic smoke haze over Singapore and Johor Bahru state in Malaysia - fires in Indonesia.

And while this seems to happen almost every year in the dry season, it has been exceptionally bad this week with the haze and smog reaching dangerous levels that can be very unhelpful to your health.

It might have cleared a bit today, but still NOT good.

The Top End is beset for over a week with overcast windy cloudy weather and a few light rain showers around the region.  None in our gauge, but certainly been rain around with falls up to 3-4mm, but most 1-2mm.  It is still very cloudy tonight, and wind has dropped, so humidity is up.

Might be a bit sunnier and clearer tomorrow, or so they say.

Cloudy weather means the solar hot water system needs an electrical boost, and with our current shortest day of the year it is currently just tepid - not good for showering!


So............cloud on both sides of the equator.  Not common at all!

UPDATE - on 26 June, HAIL recorded in Singapore.........definitely crazy.

smoke haze Singapore June 2013

 

smoke from Sumatra streaming across Singapore
 

Ours is not that bad!!! 

The Dry Season? Maybe?

Nice to have a weekend with sunshine, clear cloudless blue skies, low humidity and no rain, after the past few were wet.

It might be the start of our wonderful dry season - maybe.

Temperatures are still high in the day, but there have been a few locations with below 20C nights around the outskirts of Darwin over the past two mornings.  Has to be a good sign.

Then late today, some clouds developed to the SE - often a sign of showers to come.

Enjoying the weather while I can........but not to be surprised if there are a few more showers to come.  Hey.......might not be too bad if it waters the garden though.

It Can be Cold in the NT

It is cool......very cool........very, very cool even, with Darwin recording the lowest ever August temperature overnight of 13.1 C.  This is a great dry season!

Inland a little the temperatures were much lower, around 5C.  That is COLD by our standards.

Now, at around 1000hrs, while the temperature has risen to around 22C the apparent temperature which combines temperature and wind and RH is still around 15C.  And the office is distinctly cool, still. 

The dog is sitting in the sun, enjoying the warm sunshine, and this morning was very quick to find any small area of sunshine in the back yard on the S side of the house, where there is not a lot of sun until a month or so later in the year.

Even yesterday evening it was very cool early, around sunset.  We had a yiros and a drink on the cliff top at Nightcliff and most locals were complaining about how cool it was - and sitting in light jumpers.  We forgot ours and moved home to warm up, soon after eating and the sun had set.

Need to enjoy the cool weather while it is here - come November we will be complaining how hot it is even after the sunset!

What a Great Week - for The Weather

It has been a great week for the weather in Darwin and most of the Top End.

A burst of what has been ultra cool air and a strong SE wind has resulted in cool dry conditions all across the Top End, fantastic stuff!!

Darwin has had a few nights around 14C, with another 3-4 nights predicted around the 15 - 17 C range with days of 27-28C, basically through to early next week and over the coming long weekend.  But with the dry winds, the apparent temperature is much lower - around 12-13C at the low end and 24-25C at the max, with glorious warm and very balmy conditions.  Even pleasant enough for jeans and decent collared shirt, and there was no unpleasant sweat while walking around.  THAT is a change.

Have even had to resort to a light blanket on the bed.

Inland, the conditions are much cooler at night with actual minimum temperatures around 8-10C, and maxing out around 28C.

People have a spring in their step!  It is what makes Darwin, these conditions, and the awful hot humid steamy conditions of November are forgotten, at least with weather like this now.

Great Weather and Great Music Coming

The dry season has finally arrived.  Cool nights, no overhead fans, and then warm dry days.  Temperature range from 17-20 at night and then 28 - 30C in the day time, with plenty of sunshine.

There is so much activity on around the town, with several festivals this weekend, including the Mereepen Arts Festival at the Daly river and a performance in town by Harry Manx, a great guitar player and a devotee of the mohan veena.  What is that you say?

Plenty of information right here....... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohan_veena

But better still, relax and enjoy the sound.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GabJcL1VolQ&feature=relmfu

Life Moves On

Wow........nearly three months since a blogpost.

Floods have come and gone around N Australia and N NSW, summer is now autumn, in fact nearly winter, and at last the dry season has arrived in the north.

Still not really cool, although a few nights below 20C, which is the borderline below which you can turn off the overhead fan at night.  But it is noticeable - days arre drier and you do not lather in sweat if you are working.

I spent a day digging augur holes for soil sampling yesterdy and did not really raise a decent sweat.......a month ago you would be wringing wet after the first turn of the augur!

However, the hole digging had been post poned after I had a accident and hurt my knee while spraying last week.  Unable to walk for some days, had to use all the parts of the RICE procedures plus a doctor's visit and taking anti inflammatories, wear a compression sleeve etc.  Much improved, but not fixed totally yet.

It was a bit of an issue for someone who is not normally prone to either illness or accident.

A dry season to enjoy.........so far.

Red Trumpet Vine - Pyrostegia venusta

You know it is a good dry season if this plant is in its vibrant flowering glory.

And it is......

The plant is often used as a screen vine on fences and most of the year it is just a green plant. But when it flowers it is spectacular! It seems to flower best in a dry season that has at least some decent cool nights below 20C.

Masses of reddish-orange flowers in large clusters against a dark green foliage makes for a great ostentatious display. Really offers a major statement.

The photos are from a site just around the corner from our house along their fence. Just a short 15m or so. But it is by no means the only one around the area, nor the largest, although it is in a cul de sac, and may not be the most obvious display seen.

I noticed a long fenceline - maybe 30m - the whole front fenceline - on a house block along Bagot Road, a site seen by many thousands of commuters travelling to and from work each day. It is a mass of flowers also. A great feature.


The bright flowers also seem to survive for a few weeks so it is not just a short burst of flowering. The botanical name is Pyrostegia venusta - definitely worth considering for a screen vine in the tropics and sub tropics.

Darwin - What a Ripper of a Dry Season 2011 - So Far

The past two weeks have seen some great cool dry season weather here in Darwin.

As I write this at 9pm at night it is 17C and cooling rapidly. Cool enough for a light fleece or jumper even. Many nights, or rather early mornings have been around 13 -15C over the past two weeks. Up to 28C, if lucky, in the day, but with a few around 25C max. Lots of sunshine too......eleven hours approximately every day.

Truly a magnificent dry season so far, and it seems with more to come this week........predictions of a similar pattern this week, with 16 - 17c nights.

Last year the dry season did not ever get started, and this year has been truly different and a great dry season so far. They say if it gets cool early in the dry.......it will continue the same way.

Even the swimming pools are very cool - 21C water temperature earlier today on the sign outside the local pool......that is COOL!!

Roll on 2011 dry season!!!!

The Dry Season 2011

How quickly the season changes in the tropics.

Less than a week ago [16th April] we had a cyclone off the NW coast of WA heading for Timor, and wet overcast conditions in Darwin that were typically monsoonal, and regular almost daily rain.

And then a large high pressure system moved across temperate Australia.........and with that the dry season has kicked in.

Nights this week have been dry and cool, with the last few below 20C. That is the magic figure for a "cool" night in Darwin [ it is all relative]. Yes, we may get a few more showers, a storm even, over the next few weeks. But......a fantastic start to the dry season. Many people are planning camping over Easter, a trip that was not probably even on the agenda last week, and plenty more are planning a fishing trip.

You can feel a bit invigorated, after about four and a half months of very regular, just about daily rain, including a cyclone.

Fabulous Yellow Median Strip Flowering Trees in Darwin

Around September / October each year the median strips are alive with colour............lots of yellow, nothing else.

They are planted along several areas in the northern suburbs of Darwin. The median strips are otherwise, pretty bare. No fancy irrigated grass, no exotic herbaceous plants, no palms! And for about 10 months of the year the trees are very ordinary looking.

The species is a tough tree that could be planted, in difficult conditions, that is not going to fall over in most heavy storms or cyclones. The species actually grows reasonably well in awful, hard lateritic shallow soils. And does not require much irrigation. Would seem to be a fair choice for a major thoroughfare street tree.

When green and not flowering, it looks straggly, daggy and not all that well shaped. But when it flowers it is absolutely fantastic. To see the mass of flowers emerging from a tree in the most awful growing site is something special. It is not a final, spectacular, last gasp at procreation either........they flower every year. Remember Tabebuia argentea - a great tree for tough conditions.

Trower Road, near Casuarina Shopping Centre.........and all the way along Trower Road to the end, near Brinkin is planted with them, and just coming into flower now.

More Fabulous Local Trees

As a follow up, there are a few more spectacular trees to be seen around Darwin at this time of year. Yes, there are some fabulous looking red poinciana trees, but have a look at this specimen.




Fabulous flowering and a very sweet perfume

Adjacent to the rain tree! Consensus is that the yellow flowered tree is Albizzia lebbeck or Siris tree.

The Mighty Rain Tree

Musing while walking the dog can lead to putting fingers to the keyboard.

The rain trees around the city are moulting, indeed raining! Yes, huge quantities of faded yellow fluff, the remnant materials around the flower.


Rain trees creep up on you, very slowly. You do not notice the small ones, and there are quite a few around the city in open space areas and parks. But the older ones are memorable...........huge trees, with no doubt a few memories. Many would be well over a hundred years old, with huge towering and widespread crowns that reach out across the roads and paths around the city.

Those along Gardens Road near the city centre are absolutely monstrous trees, surviving I would guess major cyclones in 1897, 1937 and 1974, at least, plus many smaller cyclonic events. They probably date from when the area along what is now Gardens Road was a Chinese vegetable garden back in the mid to late 1800s.

The one that I noticed is a bit more curious, being along the edge of Rapid Creek but obviously a very large tree. Part of the area near Rapid Creek was a Jesuit mission in the late 1800s, and the two trees are both very large and close to a small ephemeral freshwater creek, now not flowing this late in the dry season.


The trees must be old........the area was not used much, not even during WW2, between the Jesuits mission and the establishment of the modern suburb of Rapid Creek in the early 1960s. These trees predate the modern suburb - they are just too big.

But who planted them and when?

I do not mind - we need these large trees for shade, and the mighty rain tree sure provides that, along with a place for the odd bird's nest - in this case a pair of pee wees [see middle photo].

They are also very sturdy, and have survived cyclones - large and small . That is a big plus. Big is what they become, so they need a large space..........but a great tree, and the city is better for their presence.

NT Open Garden Scheme

The Northern Territory has an open garden scheme, which functions during the Dry Season.

The scheme operates with local gardens open to the public - and these gardens are very varied in size, style [or lack of] and tend to represent what may be achieved in local conditions. Garden size is "pocket hankerchief" to several hectares. Most are far removed from the classic stylish gardens of Europe or even temperate Australia. Classic regular form - think of the gardens of Versailles or St Petersburg - is usually absent.

Some gardens have been excellent in 2009...........and some I think ........well, this is a public blog, so enough said.

I was dragged against my choice all of 70kms out of Darwin today to visit an extensive 4 ha garden. Some interesting ideas, and over 4ha the garden was a bit variable, but covered most of the main points of shade, curves and a lead through to something different. Tropical gardens NEED shade......lots of it, to moderate heat and harsh light with mulch to conserve moisture.

They did have about 500 roses.....ONCE......but they are dying off slowly, now down to around 300 and still declining. This is not rose country, you are always struggling, so why try when failure is almost assured - disease seems to get you every time.

But it was not all that awful........a good veggie garden, cool nooks among the trees and it seems, lots of irrigation, obviously from their own bore- so much so in places that the lawn was all sedges from overwatering.

Not one of the top few, even for large extensive gardens, but ok.

Still, I think I could have used my time better. Although the other half insisted I go......oh well.

The Crocodile is BACK

As noted a few times, the local newspaper is renowned for the outlandish front page........normally crocodiles, sometimes fishing and the odd "way out there" story of all sorts. The emu starred a few weeks back, for a short few days.

BUT.............crocodiles are back, and they are large. Over 4m long. The same croc was seen some months ago in the same place at Fogg Dam Nature Reserve just south of Darwin. After that it seems to have been absent for a while. A wet season holiday maybe.

This time it was sunning itself on the earthen dam wall. Seen last week, same spot and it is BIG. At least four metres. That is a serious sized crocodile. The photo was taken in March, the first time it appeared at Fogg Dam.

A front page story again............same crocodile!

Quite a few years ago, when living near Fogg Dam I used to exercise our dog by throwing sticks into the dam for the dog to jump in, swim and chase the stick. Was definitely very safe then with no crocodiles around much. NOT the thing to do now.

Parks and Wildlife are warning people not to walk across the dam wall at this time. Understandably. But is is a great walk, with plenty of native flora and fauna to see...............but you do not want to meet a croc, in or out of the water.



Image taken by Brian Hannand March 2009 at Fogg Dam

Di-Hydrogen MonOxide - DHMO - the quiet killer

Monsoon frogs, in fact all frogs, do rely on access to that recognised environmental toxicant, DHMO , or dihydrogen monoxide.

It is very common in most tropical regions although less common for a significant part of the year in the monsoonal and mediterrean regions.

Many environmnetal groups rail against the material, citing it as a serious concern, especially when mixed with common pollutants such as sewerage.

More detail is available on the website www.dhmo.org where a lot of detail is available to enhance your understanding of this substance.

Its COLD

Well............relatively speaking.

The thermometer fell to 12.5C in Darwin this morning, around 0635.

For Darwin that is VERY COLD. Ranks among the few lowest EVER. The Monsoon Frog has considered "live tan". No, not sun basking for a burnished bronze body, rather the tanned leather skin, with zippers and high collars. Leather jackets are definitely the go. Even went for the blankets, rather than just a sheet, on the bed.

It was cold last evening while sitting watching the Tour de France live on TV, so cold that feet required a covering, rather than the usual bare feet. What tends to make it much cooler apparently is the low humidity plus a modest beeeze with the "apparent temperature" dipping another few degrees. The so called "chill factor" in colder climates.

But it is good cold..........you enjoy it while it lasts, usually for a few days only, as it then warms to around 18C at night, which is fine. Days are around 28 - 30C. In fact very enjoyable. In your mind you need to enjoy it as you know that by late October it will be 80% RH and 35C.

The dry season this year is fabulous. Balmy days and cool nights. BUt definitely too cold for swimming in the pool.