Hot! hot! hot! The 35th straight day of above 28C temperatures. Scottish-born hubby wilting under the onslaught. Blue-green algae blooms, no rain and the hottest March night last night ever (27C min) in what records we have had for old Sydney town. I'd dearly love some cooler weather, a southerly buster or one of those refreshing late summer storms .

Did anyone see yesterday morning's total solar eclipse? It was startlingly dark here about 7.00 am yesterday, AEST daylight saving, and it was as if the dawn had slept in. But otherwise we are too far south to have noticed even a partial eclipse.

Meanwhile it has been downright gorgeous here lately. Almost perfect temps, though a bit too windy for me. We've finally got a bit of much needed rain, though we would be more than happy to take an inch or two from those poor people down in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Having said this, we, at this point, are not likely to get a good solid cold streak. Not good... my husband has already found a tick on him, along with several chigger bites (a mite found here). They didn't get killed off this winter which means summer will be downright awful.

After 21 days straight without any rain we finally got some. We didn't even have to run around with threepenny stamps to catch the odd raindrop, either. And though it still is really horrible in Western Australia with more heat - up to 47C in the north, the temperatures are now more bearable here - down to 29C.

47C is beyond my imagination...more like the exotic temperatures astronomers talk about on other planets.

Lots of rain here today in mid-March, and it's falling right now with that relaxing pitter-patter right outside my open window. Snow is more typical this time of year, despite being a couple weeks into meteorological spring, and had it been a little cooler we'd be shoveling mountains of the white stuff. As it is, the rain may turn over to a little snow tomorrow as cooler weather moves in...but the big winner looks like the northeast portion of Minnesota, which could receive over a foot (300mm) of wet, heavy snow overnight.

Here is some of the text of the winter storm warning for your reading pleasure:

... WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM WEDNESDAY TO 7 AM CDT THURSDAY...

* LOCATIONS... CENTRAL ST. LOUIS COUNTY... INCLUDING HIBBING AND THE IRON RANGE CITIES AND THE HIGHWAY 53 CORRIDOR.

* TIMING... RAIN CHANGING TO SNOW LATE TONIGHT AND MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW PERSISTING FOR MUCH OF WEDNESDAY... BEFORE ENDING THURSDAY MORNING. SNOW WILL BE MOST INTENSE DURING THE DAY WEDNESDAY.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS... 9 TO 14 INCHES.

* VISIBILITIES... A QUARTER TO HALF MILE IN MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW.

* WINDS... NORTH 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH.

* IMPACTS... SNOW WILL COMPACT TO ICE RESULTING IN EXTREMELY SLICK ROAD CONDITIONS. HEAVY WET SNOW WILL ALSO ACCUMULATE ON TREES AND POWER LINES... AND COULD RESULT IN TREE DAMAGE AND POWER OUTAGES.

A week to the day after record high temperatures (70F/22C) and a pleasant evening campfire with friends, we're getting snow squalls so thick it's hard to see the parking lot.

It's those huge beautiful flakes that come in spring. Even with the first few inches melting on contact with the warm ground, it's starting to accumulate now. I wouldn't be surprised to see 6 inches (130mm) or more by tonight.

47C is beyond my imagination...more like the exotic temperatures astronomers talk about on other planets.

Unfortunately, it isn't really such an exotically extra-terrestrial phenomenon. I've vaguely heard that such temperatures are not uncommon in places like Saudi Arabia and its neighbours, the Sahara, or even in your own USA Death Valley. Around March 9th and 10th, the towns in the Pilbara region, such as Marble Bar, did gleefully claim to be the hottest places on Earth. Or at least its newspaper bulletins did. But that is only this year. And Oodnadatta in Sturt's Stony Desert or thereabouts, also has had quite as dramatically high temperatures in years gone by.

Lots of rain here today in mid-March, and it's falling right now with that relaxing pitter-patter right outside my open window.

It sounds really nice. Yes the temperatures even here are now more normal for this time of the year now that a late monsoonal trough has arrived in North Queensland. We've had very few cyclones this year. Melbourne has been getting far more rain than we have had so far, but when it rains sideways, due to prevailing winds, we have to shut our windows or find ourselves in a puddle.

Our weather has been rather schizophrenic the past week or two. Last week it was in the high 70Fs/20Fs. Over the weekend it dropped down into the low 40Fs/5Cs with snow on Friday afternoon (for about 5 minutes), then yesterday it hit 83F/28C, and tomorrow northwest Kansas is expecting a blizzard. Good grief. We won't get that cold here, but it's definitely cooling off.
The really irritating thing though is that our wind gusts are hitting 50mph gusts today.

That blizzard is hitting the Denver area pretty hard right now, and while this storm will likely miss the Twin Cities, here in southern Minnesota they are calling for up to 15 inches/380mm of new snow (depending on when the rain turns over to snow). Add winds exceeding 40 mph (65 km/hr) and things will get interesting this evening.

^^That same day we had a blizzard in northwest Kansas, a massive grassfire on the Oklahoma/Kansas border (620 square miles have burned), and tornadoes in eastern Kansas. Must thank El Nino for the nutty weather.

Today it's much cooler, though it's quite pleasant...way better without the wind. We're hoping to get some rain this weekend and we could definitely use it.

That's like three seasons at once, fantasia. Crazy!

The storm track didn't quite follow predictions. Southern suburbs got over 10 inches (255mm) by nightfall Wednesday, while the snow didn't hit southeast Minnesota till around midnight. That part of the state still got 10-18 inches (255-375mm) by the next morning. Lots of shoveling to get the car out!

But the sun is getting high enough now that snow can't last forever. Most of the 12 inches that fell here is gone, though there are still piles by the streets and the grass is still covered.

Wow! You are still getting snow in the Northern Hemisphere and it is still Easter. Down here the temperatures have moderated somewhat. It is dark of a morning and next Sunday the clocks will go back to Australian Eastern Standard Time. It is cool of a morning with a promise of cooler weather to come. But no rain. A wet Easter always meant a year with plentiful rainfall.

Meanwhile, Happy Easter!

We missed out on the heavy snow further north of the Twin Cities. we hav a mix falling now, just barely enough to make the ground white for the night. By end of service tomorrow morning it will most likely be gone. Weather people are talking more mix during the week, but also possible 60'sF mid week. After the last storm one family in the cities made a huge snow bunny in their front yard. Might not last to long.

Our snow can persist through most of May, but by April we're usually beginning to think about flowers and summer. But our weather April 1 was something of an April Fool's prank, especially after a warm March.

The sky was crystal clear blue and with the barren trees and brown surroundings it looked a lot like late October (my favorite time of year). But a step outside ended that illusion. It was quite blustery, with temperatures hanging around the freezing mark and wind chills approaching 0F (-17C). By afternoon there were autumn-like low-hanging dark clouds complete with snow squalls.

Yesterday morning (April 2) was very windy and we woke up to snow on the grass...just enough to remind us that winter is hanging on.

Today, on the other hand, is warm (around 60F/15C) and I'm looking forward to a campfire this evening with friends (and some stargazing should the clouds stay away).

Up until yesterday it still was unseasonably warm. Wednesday was the hottest April day ever with maximum temperatures varying from 34C near the coast to 36C here, or worse. But yesterday was dull, that sort of cloudiness without rain. El Nino hasn't relinquished its grip just yet.

After one of the warmest Marches in recent history, April so far has been cool and wet, with the occasional snow mixing in with the wind-driven cold rain. No longer quite the right choice for those outdoor fires.