The Weather in Australia
13/10/12 05:04
A lot of folks in the United States couldn’t give you direction to Katoomba. Some might guess from the sound of the name that the town is in Australia, which is correct. Katoomba is in the Blue Mountains about an hour west of Sydney. The region used to be known for its coal mining, but these days it is a popular tourist destination with fancy hotels and comfortable bed and breakfast establishments. It lies on the Great Western Highway, the route that heads from the coast deep into the interior of Australia.
It is spring in Australia and people are beginning to think about trips into the mountains, where the cool air provides some relief from the cities. The people of Katoomba are gearing up for another summer of tourists seeking out the mineral baths and hot springs of the area.
The Blue Mountains have a reputation for snow in the winter, but Katoomba lays at a low enough altitude that snow is relatively rare. They may see a few flakes on five or so days each winter, but a frost blanket is a more common. June is the coldest month of the year in Katoomba, with average daytime highs in the 50’s, if I’ve translated from Celsius correctly. By October, the weather is warming. The record cold temperature for Katoomba in October is around 30 degrees.
So I think the spring blizzard that hit Katoomba on Friday was a bit of a surprise. More than 300 motorists had to be rescued from the steep grades of the Great Western Highway and brought to emergency shelters. The road was finally closed between Bullaburra and Mount Victoria. Trees fell, power was interrupted and folks sat and looked out at the white flakes covering everything.
Of course it was not all sadness in Katoomba. The kids headed out for snowball fights and a few snowmen could be spotted around town. One father of a four-year-old commented that it was the first time his daughter had ever seen snow.
Elsewhere in Australia, the weather was generally stormy, with large swells forcing the candellation of the Manly ferries. Surfers were warned that conditions were dangerous with waves reaching 25 feet at Port Kembia. There were even a few sightings of snowflakes around Canberrra, where temperatures were well below average for October.
Things are expected to return to normal today as warming temperatures return the typical spring weather. When the winds die down, the Aussies will return to their usual and start heading for the mountains or the beach.
I sort of wish I had been there to see the kangaroos in the snow.
One of the joys of having friends in distant places in this era of instant news is the daily reminder that the way things are here isn’t the way they are everywhere. We’re expecting unseasonably warm temperatures for the middle of October today. Highs should be above 70, which means we’ll be splitting wood in t-shirts by noon. Our Saturday splitting party at the church will be relatively light duty for those of us who participate because one of our splitters is in the shop. There was a lot of work accomplished over the summer and we don’t know how severe the winter will be, so right now it looks like we have a good supply of wood split for our neighbors.
The best part of every place we have lived has been the people that we met. The seven years we spent in North Dakota were filled with relationships with spirited people who had a wonderful attitude about life in general and a deep faith and commitment to the church. One thing I will always associate with the people of North Dakota is a sense of surprise at the weather. It can get very cold in the middle of a North Dakota winter. One year we decided to cancel Christmas Eve services at our Reeder Church because we couldn’t get the temperature above about 48 degrees in the sanctuary after a week of -30 temperatures. One spring it got so soggy in the ground that the community’s most popular spectator sport was stuck tractors. But it didn’t matter what was going on, the people in our community were always quick to assure us that the weather was “unusually.” It doesn’t usually get this cold, or wet, or hot, or windy, or whatever the present weather was doing. We only lived in North Dakota for seven years, so we didn’t experience a typical day. Everyday we lived there experienced unusual weather according to the gang at the coffee shop.
The people in North Dakota have it right, of course. We cannot control the weather. We have to live with whatever comes. And enduring drought or blizzards or rainy days is easier if your attitude is positive. Knowing that whatever we are going through is not the norm, we can take an attitude of surprise to the present and anticipation for the future.
The world is changing. Part of the change is the weather. Global weather systems operate on a scale that we do not fully understand. Changes in temperature are affected by a lot of different factors. We may be contributing to changes in the climate through our use of fossil fuels and other choices we have made. But even the best of our scientists is a bit unsure of what the consequences of those behaviors might be. There are folks who can easily predict terrible outcomes. There are others who believe that this planet and its systems are more resilient than others.
I’m all in favor of trying to live more responsibly. I try to decrease my consumption of fuels, live simply, and not make things worse for others. I am careful with the choices I make at the store. We are in the process of down-sizing and reducing our consumption.
And I hope to keep working on my attitude. Whatever comes, I hope I can be as surprised as a Katoomba preschooler who looks out the window to discover snow. And I hope I can bring a North Dakota attitude to even the hardest days. After all, this is unusual weather for us. It usually isn’t like this.
It is spring in Australia and people are beginning to think about trips into the mountains, where the cool air provides some relief from the cities. The people of Katoomba are gearing up for another summer of tourists seeking out the mineral baths and hot springs of the area.
The Blue Mountains have a reputation for snow in the winter, but Katoomba lays at a low enough altitude that snow is relatively rare. They may see a few flakes on five or so days each winter, but a frost blanket is a more common. June is the coldest month of the year in Katoomba, with average daytime highs in the 50’s, if I’ve translated from Celsius correctly. By October, the weather is warming. The record cold temperature for Katoomba in October is around 30 degrees.
Of course it was not all sadness in Katoomba. The kids headed out for snowball fights and a few snowmen could be spotted around town. One father of a four-year-old commented that it was the first time his daughter had ever seen snow.
Elsewhere in Australia, the weather was generally stormy, with large swells forcing the candellation of the Manly ferries. Surfers were warned that conditions were dangerous with waves reaching 25 feet at Port Kembia. There were even a few sightings of snowflakes around Canberrra, where temperatures were well below average for October.
Things are expected to return to normal today as warming temperatures return the typical spring weather. When the winds die down, the Aussies will return to their usual and start heading for the mountains or the beach.
I sort of wish I had been there to see the kangaroos in the snow.
One of the joys of having friends in distant places in this era of instant news is the daily reminder that the way things are here isn’t the way they are everywhere. We’re expecting unseasonably warm temperatures for the middle of October today. Highs should be above 70, which means we’ll be splitting wood in t-shirts by noon. Our Saturday splitting party at the church will be relatively light duty for those of us who participate because one of our splitters is in the shop. There was a lot of work accomplished over the summer and we don’t know how severe the winter will be, so right now it looks like we have a good supply of wood split for our neighbors.
The people in North Dakota have it right, of course. We cannot control the weather. We have to live with whatever comes. And enduring drought or blizzards or rainy days is easier if your attitude is positive. Knowing that whatever we are going through is not the norm, we can take an attitude of surprise to the present and anticipation for the future.
The world is changing. Part of the change is the weather. Global weather systems operate on a scale that we do not fully understand. Changes in temperature are affected by a lot of different factors. We may be contributing to changes in the climate through our use of fossil fuels and other choices we have made. But even the best of our scientists is a bit unsure of what the consequences of those behaviors might be. There are folks who can easily predict terrible outcomes. There are others who believe that this planet and its systems are more resilient than others.
I’m all in favor of trying to live more responsibly. I try to decrease my consumption of fuels, live simply, and not make things worse for others. I am careful with the choices I make at the store. We are in the process of down-sizing and reducing our consumption.
And I hope to keep working on my attitude. Whatever comes, I hope I can be as surprised as a Katoomba preschooler who looks out the window to discover snow. And I hope I can bring a North Dakota attitude to even the hardest days. After all, this is unusual weather for us. It usually isn’t like this.