Post by greysrigging on Oct 21, 2023 23:02:14 GMT -5
from an earlier shoutbox conversation... I mentioned I have a mate from Darwin who now lives and works based out Grande Prairie....
Hell of a climatic difference, moving from one extreme to another.
There is a tiny outback town in far north Queensland called Prairie.... I used to work at a meatworks at another town 60 miles away called Pentland.
We used to play Cricket at Prairie.... the sorta place where cattle grazed on the local cricket ground, and a coupla ringers ( AU term for cowboys ) would muster them before the game started.
And being a Sunday game, the QLD liquor licencing laws ment the Pub could only open between 11.00am and 1.00pm and 5.00pm and 7.00pm for serving of alcohol with a meal. So the hours of play revolved around the times the pub wasn't open...lol.
Two very different places...
PRAIRIE, QLD:
Climate:
( Using climate data from the nearby town of Hughendon 40klm west )
Prairie has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh). Record temperatures have varied from around 44 °C (111.2 °F) in the summer months to as low as −2 °C (28.4 °F) in winter, but average maximum temperatures are usually a very hot 36 °C (96.8 °F) in summer and a very warm 25 °C (77 °F) in June and July. Minimum temperatures range from 22 °C (72 °F) in summer to around 10 °C (50 °F) in winter. On average, a minimum below 2 °C (35.6 °F) is recorded once per year.
The average annual rainfall is around 490 millimetres (19 in), of which over three-quarters falls from November to March. Between May and September, rainfall is extremely rare: the median rainfall is zero in August, less than 2 millimetres (0.1 in) in July and September and less than 10 millimetres (0.4 in) in April, May, June and October. Variability is extreme, however, and totals as high as 800 millimetres (31 in) occur roughly one year in ten, whilst in the driest years as little as 127 millimetres (5 in) can be recorded. Between December and March, monthly totals can exceed 330 millimetres (13 in) if the monsoon is vigorous,[50] with the wettest month being January 1984 with 659.7 millimetres (25.97 in).
Humidity is generally low except when the monsoon is active, when relatively lower temperatures accompany high humidity. The same applies to cloudiness: in the dry winter months over twenty days are completely clear.
GRANDE PRAIRIE, AB:
Climate
Grande Prairie has a northern continental climate typical of northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia, classified as humid continental (Dfb), bordering closely on a subarctic climate (Dfc) with old data under the Köppen climate classification. Winters are generally very cold with some mild spells. Summers are often fairly cool to pleasantly warm in the daytime, but nights can be cool despite the long summer days typical for its latitude. Hot days over 30 °C (86 °F) are rare, occurring on average only two to three days a year, which is not unexpected this far north. Winter conditions can vary tremendously from year to year. Winters have been known to be mild enough to produce "brown Christmas" conditions, where little or no snow may fall until after Christmas due to unusually mild early winter conditions.
The average January temperature is −13.6 °C (7.5 °F), while the average July temperature is 16.2 °C (61.2 °F). However, temperatures as low as −52.2 °C (−62 °F) and as high as 41.5 °C (106.7 °F) have been recorded;[15] the extreme humidex and wind chill readings are 40.8 and −63.0 °C (105 and −81 °F), respectively. The city receives 445 mm (17.5 in) of precipitation annually, including 322 mm (12.7 in) of rain and 154 cm (61 in) of snow. Snowfall amounts, however, vary greatly from year to year. Being fairly close to the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, it can get quite windy in Grande Prairie, especially in the spring and fall. Chinooks may occur in and bring winter thaws to the Grande Prairie area. Grande Prairie has 314 days with measureable sunshine per year on average, and just above 2,200 hours of bright sunshine or about 46.1% of possible sunshine, ranging from a low of 31.2% in November to a high of 59.1% in July.
Summers can bring thunderstorms, although they are not as frequent nor as severe as those further south in Central Alberta. Rainfall can vary from year to year, but the Peace Region is noted for never[citation needed] having experienced truly severe drought conditions more typical of Southern Alberta and neighbouring Saskatchewan. Tornadoes are rare but not unheard of in the Peace Region. A tornado struck the downtown area and east side of Grande Prairie on July 8, 2004. Although the tornado was considered a very weak one (F0-F1 on the Fujita scale) and the weather was not severe at the time, it was still strong enough to damage houses and flip vehicles. There were no casualties or deaths.
Hell of a climatic difference, moving from one extreme to another.
There is a tiny outback town in far north Queensland called Prairie.... I used to work at a meatworks at another town 60 miles away called Pentland.
We used to play Cricket at Prairie.... the sorta place where cattle grazed on the local cricket ground, and a coupla ringers ( AU term for cowboys ) would muster them before the game started.
And being a Sunday game, the QLD liquor licencing laws ment the Pub could only open between 11.00am and 1.00pm and 5.00pm and 7.00pm for serving of alcohol with a meal. So the hours of play revolved around the times the pub wasn't open...lol.
Two very different places...
PRAIRIE, QLD:
Climate:
( Using climate data from the nearby town of Hughendon 40klm west )
Prairie has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh). Record temperatures have varied from around 44 °C (111.2 °F) in the summer months to as low as −2 °C (28.4 °F) in winter, but average maximum temperatures are usually a very hot 36 °C (96.8 °F) in summer and a very warm 25 °C (77 °F) in June and July. Minimum temperatures range from 22 °C (72 °F) in summer to around 10 °C (50 °F) in winter. On average, a minimum below 2 °C (35.6 °F) is recorded once per year.
The average annual rainfall is around 490 millimetres (19 in), of which over three-quarters falls from November to March. Between May and September, rainfall is extremely rare: the median rainfall is zero in August, less than 2 millimetres (0.1 in) in July and September and less than 10 millimetres (0.4 in) in April, May, June and October. Variability is extreme, however, and totals as high as 800 millimetres (31 in) occur roughly one year in ten, whilst in the driest years as little as 127 millimetres (5 in) can be recorded. Between December and March, monthly totals can exceed 330 millimetres (13 in) if the monsoon is vigorous,[50] with the wettest month being January 1984 with 659.7 millimetres (25.97 in).
Humidity is generally low except when the monsoon is active, when relatively lower temperatures accompany high humidity. The same applies to cloudiness: in the dry winter months over twenty days are completely clear.
GRANDE PRAIRIE, AB:
Climate
Grande Prairie has a northern continental climate typical of northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia, classified as humid continental (Dfb), bordering closely on a subarctic climate (Dfc) with old data under the Köppen climate classification. Winters are generally very cold with some mild spells. Summers are often fairly cool to pleasantly warm in the daytime, but nights can be cool despite the long summer days typical for its latitude. Hot days over 30 °C (86 °F) are rare, occurring on average only two to three days a year, which is not unexpected this far north. Winter conditions can vary tremendously from year to year. Winters have been known to be mild enough to produce "brown Christmas" conditions, where little or no snow may fall until after Christmas due to unusually mild early winter conditions.
The average January temperature is −13.6 °C (7.5 °F), while the average July temperature is 16.2 °C (61.2 °F). However, temperatures as low as −52.2 °C (−62 °F) and as high as 41.5 °C (106.7 °F) have been recorded;[15] the extreme humidex and wind chill readings are 40.8 and −63.0 °C (105 and −81 °F), respectively. The city receives 445 mm (17.5 in) of precipitation annually, including 322 mm (12.7 in) of rain and 154 cm (61 in) of snow. Snowfall amounts, however, vary greatly from year to year. Being fairly close to the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, it can get quite windy in Grande Prairie, especially in the spring and fall. Chinooks may occur in and bring winter thaws to the Grande Prairie area. Grande Prairie has 314 days with measureable sunshine per year on average, and just above 2,200 hours of bright sunshine or about 46.1% of possible sunshine, ranging from a low of 31.2% in November to a high of 59.1% in July.
Summers can bring thunderstorms, although they are not as frequent nor as severe as those further south in Central Alberta. Rainfall can vary from year to year, but the Peace Region is noted for never[citation needed] having experienced truly severe drought conditions more typical of Southern Alberta and neighbouring Saskatchewan. Tornadoes are rare but not unheard of in the Peace Region. A tornado struck the downtown area and east side of Grande Prairie on July 8, 2004. Although the tornado was considered a very weak one (F0-F1 on the Fujita scale) and the weather was not severe at the time, it was still strong enough to damage houses and flip vehicles. There were no casualties or deaths.
