Weather With You

[snorkackcatcher]

Quick question for Aussies on my flist who may happen to be reading this -- what do you consider the winter months to be? And what sort of weather, temperatures etc do you get in them where you are?

(It's for the Checkmated R/Hr 'winter' challenge -- but since it doesn't have to be set in Northern hemisphere winter, one possible scenario has the two principals flying off to Australia together to find Hermione's parents ... in which case I could use a little local colour. :D)

Comments

[quietliban.livejournal.com]

The weather here has been playing silly buggers lately so...

And it really does depend on where you are.

Sydney area, winter is technically from June until August and temperatures around 14-22C, I'd say it doesn't rain very often but when it does, it often rains for days on end (three days is typical, but it feels like forever). This year we started to get warm weather in August, so temperatures in the early to late 20C.

Also, it's more humid in Sydney than it is further south. Melbourne is pretty similar to Sydney, except for the humidity, and the fact that the weather can't make up its mind; it might rain for an hour and then be windy and then be very hot and sunny.

Adelaide is colder, and more windy. And if you're thinking more Northern places like Queensland and the Northern NSW it's more humid there and they get less rain in the 'winter' months. I think it's warmer there too, but I can't remember accurately.

Darwin (NT) doesn't have winter, it has the wet season (From December onwards) where it's humid and stick and rains and the dry season which corresponds with the southern states winter and is quite pleasant. It's typically 32-28C every day there. There's no need to listen to the weather :).

And the reason I know so much is because um, I've moved a lot and did uni stuff on this, but all I can remember is the winter dominant-summer dominant rainfall line which cuts across Australia for around the tropic of Capricorn area in WA down till around the Newcastle area in NSW. South of that line is winter dominant, and north is summer dominant rainfall, but I'm not sure that helps.

Whoops! This got very long, very quickly. Sorry to blather on.

[snorkackcatcher]

Hey, that's excellent -- very useful! Sydney area sounds like it might be a good place to set a scene then, as three-day rains can be depressing for the two of them and mean they (ahem) stay in the hotel more. :)

[shiiki.livejournal.com]

Not Aussie, but having been down to Melbourne quite a bit (several times in the winter months, too), I'm pretty sure it's June, July, and August - the typical summer months of the Northern Hemisphere.

quietliban is right about Melbourne's crazy weather. It's crazy - can be on the warm side (I think it'd generally be less than 20 degrees still, though, in winter) one moment, and then next, a howling cold front drops in and it turns a shivering below-ten.

There can even be snow, though I gather it's not a frequent occurrence.

(But again, this is only based on my limited experience, and that of friends who've lived there, but not for very long. And I can't speak for any of the other Australian states.)

[snorkackcatcher]

Thanks. June sounds like a good bet if the Battle of Hogwarts was in May. And the description of Melbourne weather sounds like typical English weather -- as the saying goes, if you don't like it, wait an hour and you might get something different. :)

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

In Brisbane, the coldest months are July and August: Jeans and closed shoes, and maybe a woolen coat or denim jacket over a t-shirt. You might need a hat or scarf, it depends how badly you feel the cold. British tourists still try to swim.

August is notable for the perfect blueness of the sky and the horrible westerly winds that coat the city in a fine film of dust and leave disease in their wake.

[snorkackcatcher]

Charming. Remind me not to spend my birthday in Brisbane then ... Mind you, if you can go out in winter in a T-shirt, it's probably something a Brit would consider quite warm. :) Thanks!

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

I just have no tolerance for cold. Why I'm moving to Melbourne, our coldest city, I don't know. But at midday in a Brisbane winter, you might be able to take your coat off and reveal your pasty white arms to the world. It's about 20 degrees celsius? Freezing!

[snorkackcatcher]

I'm probably spoilt, in that I live in a part of Britain renowned for its mild climate, and even so it seems chilly in winter. I knew someone at college who came from the Coldest Village In Scotland, and he said he was quite happy to wander around in a T-shirt in the middle of winter down here. On the other hand, when I stay elsewhere with no proper winter heating, it's a case of wrapping myself tightly in the bedclothes at night and waiting for enough body heat to leach out to form an insulating layer that I can get to sleep ...