December in Sydney
Naturally there shouldn’t be any mention of climate change in such an article – this is merely weather, after all.
Except of course, if it had been the “hottest” December in 50 years, we would have had all the usual rent-seekers and alarmists crawling out from under their rocks to announce that such a record was “entirely consistent with anthropogenic global warming” and that we can “expect more of the same in the future”… such are the blatant double standards endemic in both the alarmist camp and the mainstream media.
Actually, since you can now attribute anything and everything to climate change, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to read some desperate hack on the ABC or the Silly Moaning Herald claiming that “greater extremes” such as a cold December, are “consistent” with some flaky climate model somewhere.
From the Daily Telegraph:
IT’S a good thing December is almost over – it’s been the coldest for more than 50 years.
With two days to go, it seems certain Sydney will record its coldest December since 1960, with the average daily maximum so far this month 2.2C below the long-term average.
Sydney’s average top temperature so far this month was a chilly 23C – only 0.2C more than in 1960.
That isn’t going to change much over the next two days, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting showers and tops of just 24C.
Not once has the temperature reached 30C in the city this month, the first time since 1999 the mercury has failed to reach that mark in December.
Even in 1960, Sydney recorded two days with top temperatures above 30C.
The Weather Channel meteorologist Dick Whitaker said Sydney wasn’t the only city to suffer a cold start to summer, with Canberra and Brisbane also experiencing below average temperatures.
“Across eastern Australia we had a lot of cloud cover in December and on top of that we had an above average frequency of southerly winds,” Mr Whitaker said. (source)
In other news, the Daily Bayonet has crowned Julia Gillard as Hippie of the Year. She deserves nothing less.
Happy New Year!
Australian Climate Madness 
Happy New Year, Simon. Please keep up your excellent work in 2012.
From the point of view of this London resident, it sounds like delightful summer weather to me, coldest since whenever or not.
I am so totally loving this weather suits me down to a T
Now, I wonder why not.
With all the rain we’ve had in Perth lately I’m concerned the sea levels are going to wash away our houses and kill us all.
Spot on Simon. I was only commenting on this very subject with some mates the other day.
Sydney had it’s warmest December on record back in 1990, over 20 years ago and now its coolest, which when speaking in climatic terms is all fairly normal and mundanely average.
Brisbane weather has been awesome … 26C to 30C through December! A bit of rain too … normal weather. Not like those few hot super El Nino summers we had, urgh!
If there were any mention of climate change, I expect they would have blamed the cold snap on AGW under the guise of “global weirding”. The fact that it was so cold 50 years ago (and one could also name any number of extreme changes in weather over the course of history) should tell them something, namely:
Climate changes without human influence; deal with it.
Simon,
You say: “if it had been the “hottest” December in 50 years, we would have had all the usual rent-seekers and alarmists crawling out from under their rocks” – that’s exactly what they did (erroneously) over in the West!
http://theclimatescepticsparty.blogspot.com/2011/12/spin-2011-to-be-perths-hottest-year.html
It reminds me, several months ago, when Julia Gillard made a big hoo-ha releasing her report (Bob Hawke at her side) about how Kakadu was at risk due to global warming and rising sea level.
On that very day, the newspapers reported that Northern Australia had experienced its coldest temperatures on record. The next day, data from Europe’s Envisat satellite revealed sea level had continued to fall… this time by another 2 mm.
Did the media dare report how stupid this made Julia Gillard look? Nope. It was just much too embarrassing for them to expose this.
In Melbourne, we’ve had a very mild & wet summer so far. Not much grist for the warmist spin machine there! So, guess what they’re doing. BOM meteorologist Craig Burke in the Age 27/12/11 points to forecasts for a hotter than average remainder of the summer. “our three-month seasonal outlook suggests that we will see above-average temperatures (in south eastern Australia) right through to March,” Mr Burke said. (http://www.theage.com.au/environment/weather/get-set-for-a-sweaty-new-year-20111227-1pavz.html#ixzz1hyokYR00 ). Heard this angle before, folks? For example, Britain’s mild winter forecasts for the last 3 years when they’ve actually been extremely cold? I would love to see what BOM had been predicting for the start of our summer. Was it going to be hell on earth – of course due to AGW?
You see !!!! Even only a promise of a Carbon Tax and the weather takes a turn to lower temperatures !!! And isn’t that what the Carbon Tax is supposed to do for us ? Lower the temperatures as the CO2 levels drop ?
So maybe we oughtg to grant PM Julia Gillard a new medal ?
Well everyone has been taught to be docile sheep pretty successfully and are unable to ask logical question any longer.
gullible mind syndrome,it starts at school and continues through life, for most.I am in the nations capital and can’t remember a cooler start to summer,and i’m loving it.
Everyone I have spoken to (bar 3 AGW Zealots) have expressed what utter crap this “Climate Change” stuff is, and now believe it’s a fraud and a huge con.
The Warragamba dam level is over 80%, a 10-yr high. The mythical global warming isn’t turning Sydney into a desert.
Who needs complex and expensive scientific research when you can just look out your bedroom window and see what the climate is doing? Or you could hang out with ACM and its crew…
Funny about that
Climate change is about as real as ‘honesty in politics’ 🙂
Climate change has been happening for 4.5 billion years and there is nothing we little carbon based life forms can do about it.To say that we caused it is the absolute height of lunacy.Happy New (warmest year ever)Year or something CHEERS
Funny how the exceptionally cold Brazilian winter last year was not reported by the MSM, even though thousands more people than usual died as a result of the cold.
That you all are focusing on short term weather data indicates that you have not read pro and anti climate change information in equal measure.
Again, it’s actually quite simple. A 2C rise of 100 years is 0.02C per annum. Gobal annual variation is between 0.2 and 0.5c. So, to see a long term trend such as the GW trend – you need to look at 10-20 year averages. This is why climatologists talk about decadal averages – decade-al.
One off events – even regional cold winters are irrelevant.
This is also why you won’t hear a climatologist blame a cyclone on GW. They can’t. All GW does is increase the probability and severity of cyclones.
Yes the MEDIA may draw their own conclusions – about particular events – but not the climatologists.
The long term data – the decadal averages – agree with AGW. They are all increasing. The last being the warmest.
Have you seen the Berkeley Earth project? It is staffed by people most considered skeptics. Anthonay Watts (US lead sceptic) said that his opinion would be set by their results . It would seem because he expected them to support the skeptic argument. Well they didn’t and Watts – clearly driven only by reason – recanted his pledge to let the argument rest on the Berkely results. The used a different method, and came to almost exactly the same conclusion as NASA/Goddard, NOAA and Hadley. That the earth is warming.
http://berkeleyearth.org/
The IPCC says there will be ups and downs along the way – cold winters here cold summers there – what you are bleating on about is totally expected and means nothing. All of which tells me that none of you have actually read and understood – both sides of the argument. That in fact – you are not all pragmatic.
UK had the worst winter for 30 years or so a year ago. No mention of climate change. Sick to death of this expensive rubbish. Does anyone believe it?