The BOM site Australia wide supplies enough information to predict fairly accurately the weather yourself and the radar section combined with doppler, showing wind strengths from some radars as well as rain and combined cold fronts, all available info on their site. In no time you will learn to predict and warn others of approaching changes. During sailing and fishing trips it was very useful and a local advantage when racing in yachts. So give it a try and put the BOM site in favourites.
Yup! BOM homepage here too.
For one's home town you become quite used to predicting from the information given, however I've found when travelling that wind and rain patterns don't always match our predictions in different areas.
Yes Gerty, each area is affected differently, but broadley speaking they are different depending on the relationship with large expances of water and land and then the temps of both and which one cools before the other.
So SA as an example, Adelaide in particular. With 2 seasons, Winter and Summer, factors vary with winter where the water temp is constant within reason so the changes in my opinion are related to approaching lows, cold fronts etc. But in Summer wind is a bit more complicated allowing for the land heating and cooling and as it heats around mid day draws in sea breases quite often stronger than expected until late afternoon as the land cools and the sea breese drops then rotates anti clockwise from SW to SE then to East and dies away overnight. This is a typical cycle in summer and the BOM info in time will let us assess other factors that vary outcomes a little, such as low pressure systems.
Land and sea temperatures are the key, rain radar is helpfull showing falling rain or showers, wind strengh using doppler, available from some major radars, marked black on the location radar map.
Where it is helpfull in parks is the warning period we as managers can give our patrons when severe weather is predicted by us, to roll up awnings etc or allay fears. Anyone, and it is a good hobby, can improve there judgement for a self made decision.
Kangaroo Island, on a typical hot day. The island is 93 miles long with 233 odd miles of coastline creates headaches when racing yachts. There is a long north facing and a south facing coast line and an east and west ends.
So if on a very hot day, standing on a north coast beach, like Emu Bay the sea breese will come from the North sector. At the same time on the south coast at Seal Bay the sea breese will come from the South sector, because the heating up land mass will draw from the near constant cooler water mass. Standing on any beach not affected by approaching lows or unpredictable thunder storms, the sea breese will always strenghen eminating from the bulkiest amount of water you are facing. On the ends of KI east and west sea breeses are typical. The fun part is , when you are wrong there is a reason, and there are many.
Graham.
-- Edited by Technomad on Sunday 23rd of March 2014 03:41:07 PM
There are another couple of good sites as well as the BOM site. Try looking at Weather Zone and Willy Weather. They all take there data from the BOM source but present it differently. In some case they are a little easier to understand. Now I say this not to make them better that the BOM site. I worked in aviation for 27 years and fully appreciate the work that goes into putting all this stuff together.
briche
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