Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Anybody out there know of any reliable sources for prevailing wind directions (seasonal or monthly) for Australia? I've seen the wind roses on the BOM site but the locations are too wide spread and don't really allow any real drilling down on a particular area. I'm thinking about some tours and this info would be a great aid.
Thanks,
Rossi

As far as I am aware the BOM website would be the only resource. Such information is dependent on the placement of weather stations with Stevenson screens and wind recording anemometers. Such instruments are not commonplace.

Velorossi wrote:Anybody out there know of any reliable sources for prevailing wind directions (seasonal or monthly) for Australia? I've seen the wind roses on the BOM site but the locations are too wide spread and don't really allow any real drilling down on a particular area. I'm thinking about some tours and this info would be a great aid.
Thanks,
Rossi

If you need that much detail perhaps you are fixated on the wind a little too much. Seriously. Winds are far too variable to drill down to local areas.

Garmin Edge 810 will show winds when you are cycling

Baalzamon wrote:Garmin Edge 810 will show winds when you are cycling

As will the direction your hair is blowing around in
Is this the reason for upgrading the 705?

RonK wrote:

Velorossi wrote:Anybody out there know of any reliable sources for prevailing wind directions (seasonal or monthly) for Australia? I've seen the wind roses on the BOM site but the locations are too wide spread and don't really allow any real drilling down on a particular area. I'm thinking about some tours and this info would be a great aid.
Thanks,
Rossi

If you need that much detail perhaps you are fixated on the wind a little too much. Seriously. Winds are far too variable to drill down to local areas.

No really, out of 7 days here in Canberra at least 5 of them with have a NW wind blowing.

Down the coast from here, NE is really common.

Perhaps someone might consider putting up a link to the BOM site for others who have questions of this nature.
I did try searching the Australian Touring section but without success (more to do with my search than its availability no doubt )
Its come up before and without doubt it will come up again.
Whoops, I think this might be it:
http://www.bom.gov.au/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hmmmm not the page I was thinking of which has been posted before

rifraf wrote:Perhaps someone might consider putting up a link to the BOM site for others who have questions of this nature.
I did try searching the Australian Touring section but without success (more to do with my search than its availability no doubt )
Its come up before and without doubt it will come up again.
Whoops, I think this might be it:
http://www.bom.gov.au/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hmmmm not the page I was thinking of which has been posted before

BOM wind roses are here.

FatGuts wrote:

RonK wrote:

Velorossi wrote:Anybody out there know of any reliable sources for prevailing wind directions (seasonal or monthly) for Australia? I've seen the wind roses on the BOM site but the locations are too wide spread and don't really allow any real drilling down on a particular area. I'm thinking about some tours and this info would be a great aid.
Thanks,
Rossi

If you need that much detail perhaps you are fixated on the wind a little too much. Seriously. Winds are far too variable to drill down to local areas.

No really, out of 7 days here in Canberra at least 5 of them with have a NW wind blowing.

Down the coast from here, NE is really common.

Then the wind roses provide enough detail at the regional level you mention.

And at a more detailed level, using your locality as the example, look at the radar for Canberra - how many different wind directions are shown? So, ride 50km and it's blowing the other way. What are you going to do? Abandon your tour?

RonK wrote: Hmmmm not the page I was thinking of which has been posted before

BOM wind roses are here.[/quote]

Cheers Ron

Velorossi wrote:Anybody out there know of any reliable sources for prevailing wind directions (seasonal or monthly) for Australia? I've seen the wind roses on the BOM site but the locations are too wide spread and don't really allow any real drilling down on a particular area. I'm thinking about some tours and this info would be a great aid.
Thanks,
Rossi

I recall some general info from somewhere that it is better to cycle around australia (at least as far as the coastal circuit goes) clockwise

RonK wrote:
Then the wind roses provide enough detail at the regional level you mention.

And at a more detailed level, using your locality as the example, look at the radar for Canberra - how many different wind directions are shown? So, ride 50km and it's blowing the other way. What are you going to do? Abandon your tour?

Definately not but if you look at today for instance, there are storms blowing in from the NW, most of the staions are showing a Nor to Nor West with a couple showing west.

& then there is Mt Ginini, I think that weather station is on the piss because it is showing a southerly blowng pretty hard. But it always does that, goes against the trend.

If you frequent any of the Weather forums you'll get the current weather and read about historic weather in not understandable detail. I'm a bit of a weather junkie.

These two BOM sites will give the current weather conditions for all of Oz in understandable detail, for when you're touring ... if you don't frequent the sites already.

Latest Weather Observations ... http://www.bom.gov.au/act/observations/canberra.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Water and Land ... http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/watl/wind/index.jsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Last week on the NSW South Coast the Northerly prevailed or more accurately it hammered non stop, whereas today, it has swung around to the SE and is now hammering back the other way. I'd like to live on the coast but the winds would eventually drive me mad or make me more mad.

Knowing the Beaufort Scale, helps identify the wind intensity in live conditions. It is a fine and subtle art being able to spot the difference between the upper scale of a Light Breeze and the lower end of Gentle Breeze.

At Montague Island Lighthouse, a few days ago the Gale like gusts were 40kts from the North (a fine tailwind for sure) but a day earlier the few white caps in this shot told that the wind strength was at the upper end of a Gentle Breeze.




The Glasshouse Rocks, south of Narooma. A hint of spray, makes this a Fresh Breeze.




The sheltered mouth of the Tuross River with ripples from Light Air while a Moderate Breeze at sea blew bushfire smoke over the horizon.




View from Cape Dromedary at 1080 Beach, past Maruna Point and Point Dickinson to Goalan Head, just visible on the horizon, while enjoying a Strong Breeze.




I hope this helps ... and keep your fingers crossed for fair tail winds.

Warren.

WarrenH wrote:
Last week on the NSW South Coast the Northerly prevailed or more accurately it hammered non stop, whereas today, it has swung around to the SE and is now hammering back the other way. I'd like to live on the coast but the winds would eventually drive me mad or make me more mad.

One of the reasons I dont live on the coast any more.......hated it.

WarrenH wrote:If you frequent any of the Weather forums you'll get the current weather and read about historic weather in not understandable detail. I'm a bit of a weather junkie.


At Montague Island Lighthouse, a few days ago the Gale like gusts were 40kts from the North (a fine tailwind for sure) but a day earlier the few white caps in this shot told that the wind strength was at the upper end of a Gentle Breeze.




Warren.

Have you been pitching the Olympus on the 9th hole again Wazza?
And I thought I was keen to escape camping fee's

If you are on the coast then this is the best I have found:

http://www.seabreeze.com.au/graphs/map.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can customise the forecasts by choosing sensor buoys.

Whilst this is not prevailing winds as such, another good forecasting site for wind is http://wind.willyweather.com.au/vic/mel ... ourne.html (And change the location to what you need)

http://www.yr.no/place/Australia/Victor ... eogram.png" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; also gives a good overview although the wind component is often out of phase.

rifraf wrote:Have you been pitching ... on the 9th hole again Wazza?

Rif, G'day. I'd be more likely to be gently lagging up and then if need be, taking a preferred lie. The Narooma Golf Course close to the Glasshouse Rocks Road, if doing the Great South Coast Track from reading the track reports ... apparently is a preferred lie, at times.

If you are caught in the rough, with no option but to take a preferred lie, you cannot always invoke a general preferred lie rule, just because you don't like where you came to rest, or because you might be unhappy with the conditioning of a golf course, like behind trees in the rough or on hard ground. Playing a local preferred lie rule can be satisfied by invoking this option of course ... pay your green fees, before you leave.

Like here at The Rock Hill GC.




I saw an unusual wind just after sunrise on the 19th Feb, when I was checking out a couple of the coastal cycle paths in the Big Smoke. From above the saltwater baths at Maroubra Bay.




Warren.