Roll on summer, into autumn. It's no secret that I like warm weather. I will not complain when the temperature reaches the high 30s and even into the 40s.
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Living in the western suburbs (Wingham) we can count on our summer days being a couple of degrees warmer than the coast or even Taree.
Up until yesterday, we had enjoyed temperatures in the 30s all this week, and we also enjoyed time in our pool. Our fibreglass pool is 50 years old and fingers crossed, it will see me through a few more summers. I actually don't know what I would do without it - maybe a bathtub and garden hose in the garden?
While we are expecting a week of showers, and slightly cooler temperatures at first, the mercury is expected to hit 30 again this week. Anxious times ahead for those with lawns to mow.
And you can't help but notice the bales of hay piling up in fields, farmers making hay while the sun shines, as noted by our Tinonee correspondent Pam Muxlow. Thank you to those farmers south of Coolongolook for their Easter themed display on the side of the highway.
Looking ahead, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) tells us we are in for a warmer than average autumn.
Typical average temperatures are 24 degrees for March, 23 degrees in April and 20 degrees in May. For 2024, it is expected that the temperature averages will be a couple of degrees higher.
The bureau says autumn would be potentially drier than average, particularly towards the end of this month, and severe weather is still in the mix up until April. That means storms, bushfires and heat waves are still a possibility.
Back in 2002, on March 19 to be exact, we hit 41 degrees, our highest March temperature on record. So far this month, the average temperature is 29.1 degrees - at Taree Airport, so add a couple of degrees for those of us "out west."
Data from BoM NSW showed that the 2024 summer was the tenth warmest on record since 1910.
Today's photo was taken a couple of weeks ago, at Buderim Falls on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Swimming is not allowed and, after all, it's surrounded by suburbia and all the associated run-off hence the brown water, but that didn't stop everybody. It was a relatively short walk, but the rock-hopping resulted in sore leg muscles a couple of days later. No leeches, thankfully.
Have a great weekend,
Toni Bell
ACM editor, Manning River Times