Archives for July 5, 2006

Last year it was hot in Australia and the Bureau of Meteorology cried implicated ‘global warming’ [1] .

This year it’s cold and the Bureau of Meteorology is also crying implicating ‘global warming’ [2].

This is how the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper interpreted what Grant Beard from the Bureau of Meteorology had to say:

“AUSTRALIA is in the grip of a nationwide cold snap – and paradoxically, it could be another result of global warming.

Last summer was the hottest on record. But last month many parts of Australia reported record or near-record cold nights. The average minimum temperature was 1.69 degrees below the long-term average, making it the second-coldest June since 1950.”

A reader of this blog John McLean recently emailed me:

The [Australian] April average mean temperature was the 2nd coldest since 1961, surpassed only by 1974 (5th coldest since 1950), The May average mean temperature was 4th coldest since 1961, surpassed by 1968, 2000 and 1979 (7th coldest since 1970), The June average mean temperature was 3rd coldest since 1961, surpassed by 1982 and 1971 (5th coldest since 1950).”

And here’s more comment emailed from another reader of this blog:

“June has been drier than usual in South Australia with some parts of the state experiencing the lowest rainfall on record. …Adelaide has had its third-driest June on record.

The latest figures collated by the Bureau of Meteorology show Tasmania has recorded one of the driest months of June ever. … “Launceston Airport in particular has record its lowest rainfall total for June on record,” he said.

“Just 24 hours after its coldest day on record, Perth has recorded its driest start to winter. Perth has not recorded one drop of rain in the past 18 days, making it the driest start to winter since records began in the 1880s.

…”It’s also the driest start to the year to date in history as well,” he said.”

But hey, its raining in India:

“Mumbai commuters wade knee-deep as monsoon rains lash city. Commuters in India’s financial hub Mumbai waded knee-deep through water to reach their offices as torrential monsoon rains disrupted rail and air links and forced schools to close.

Municipal workers used shovels to clear clogged drains in the western city of 18 million people that has been pounded by heavy wind and rain since late Saturday.

“More than 40 domestic flights were cancelled and another 10 had to be diverted to other destinations,” a Government official said in New Delhi.

…The rains, which advance across the country from the southern tip, have stirred memories in Mumbai of last July when more than 400 people were killed by flash floods in the city.”

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[1] Click here for my blog post entitled ‘Last year: hottest on record’.
[2] Click here for the Sydney Morning Herald piece titled ‘Cold Spell’s Weird Cause’, 4th July.

This blog post was modified at about 5.30pm on 6th July following emails from several readers. As Dennis suggested in a comment earlier today, I was having some “fun” in the original post and at the expense of the Bureau of Meteorology.