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Sydney's winter weather differences
Angus McLean-Smith, Sunday August 12, 2018 - 09:52 AEST
Australia's largest city can see some distinct differences in weather between its different suburbs. In winter the most obvious difference manifests itself in the early morning temperatures.
Suburbs on the coast have been enjoying rather pleasant morning temperatures, this August averaging around 9.5 degrees celsius in the city and down at the airport. On the other hand as you move further away from the coast and CBD morning temperatures become a lot less comfortable. Bankstown has seen an average morning temperature of just 4.2 degrees celsius this August, Penrith 4.7 degrees and Camden a chilly 2.3 degrees. That works out to a five-to-seven degree difference in the mornings.
Notably all these weather stations west of the CBD have been recording between one and two degrees below the average, whereas the Airport and Observatory Hill stations have seen above average morning temperatures this August.
What is the cause of this difference? There are a few different factors that play a role, the first of these is the idea of an urban heat island around Sydney's most built up districts. The heat island helps retain heat that is accumulated during the day, so overnight temperatures are more mild. Another factor is that the more coastal suburbs will generally have increased moisture in the air and see winds remaining stronger for longer, which helps to maintain milder temperatures.
It will be interesting to see how this difference changes as Parramatta further develops as a new CBD and induces more of its own heat island, potentially leading to warmer mornings further west in the long term.
- Weatherzone
© Weatherzone
2018
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