Oh yeah, I agree. Statistically we can't really make a comparison just yet but here in the upper BM it has effectively been drizzly and chilly since the 24/9. We've had little sun in that time. We tend to get a lot more drizzle/mist compared to you guys.

No doubt Blizz it's been significantly cooler in October than average here as well BUT also cooler days in October than September - how's that for bizarre.

Sept Min 2 Max 18 (Long Term avge Min 3.4 - avge Max 16.3)
Oct Min 3.4 Max 16 (Long Term Avge Min 6.2 - Avge Max 19.9)

Oct is running about -2.8 below avge min and -3.9 avge Max - pretty significant.

However as said earlier I see us catching up big time the next week or so.

I was in the BM last weekend and a lot of my friends were down about the ongoing cold weather as well. I didnt think it was too bad over the weekend, two days of 15C in Leura.
It was nice and warm(about 21C)in Sydney on Monday when i left.
When i got back to Melbs airport it was 13C and i arrived at Mount Macedon around 4pm and it was only 7C. That was a shock to the system. I never think that October is a warm month, especailly here in the Victorian Central Highlands. We had a frost this morning and another one is on the cards for tomorrow.

My Tomatoes are safely inside the glasshouse and they wont be coming out until the third week in November.

Yep Avalon I had the same in Tassie, It's not really properly warm until about Christmas.

In the South of Tassie, snow falls/sprinkles to about 500m were quite regular in October.

Pretty impressive for Tassie for tomorrow at 5pm I must say, 850's -3 and 500mb about -33, another low level snowfall for sure, Again!. Could be more than sprinkles even at 500m. We will just get the usual slight chill in the morning on Monday after today's rather tropical/humid warmth heat.

2.4C looks like it will be the minimum, not bad for Mt Boyce in summer.

Well I beat Mount Boyce for the min in the end but only by the skin of my teeth by reaching 2.2, But I also have a frost this morning, is there frost elsewhere on the CT's?, the car is iced over and that is under patchy low cloud and with a strong wind. Simply stunningly cold for December. That 2.2 is equal lowest for December in the last 5 years, but I know that last time there was not a wind and frost at this temp, so this is actually a lot colder.

Check out some of the obs in the Snowies too;
This is impressive for Cabrumarrua, -0.8 in a ESE wind gusting to 80km/h and in summer.
Ginini -3, Top station -4.2
Would be a lot of wind/frost around in the high country.

Yeah, impressive stuff PD. There may have been a light frost on the oval here, as it was glistening white when I walked the dogs at around 6:30am.

That is a great result for you re that frost. Amazing. With the wind chill this morning in town, it felt like early September.

Certainly feels like close to winter.
If you are quick you can see the frost on the low shrubs/grass here;
http://ski.com.au/snowcams/australia/nsw/thredbo/thredbo4.html

Nice PD. The top is shrouded in low cloud/mist, but no snow on the ground. Pity there's no moisture with this front otherwise a repeat of December 2010 for sure.

After a vile day yesterday where it didnt get much higher than 13C here at 450m. We had a clear night and the temp dropped to 1C, frost in the lower lying areas here on the farm, my car was iced over. Tomatoes are still safe in the Glasshouse, im glad i hadnt put them out yet. Tree Dahlia cuttings not so happy.
I dont think i have seen a frost here in December.

The amazing chill for summer continues in the BM. Average max for December is barely warmer than September and colder than October and November. Sure, we have more than a week of December left and it may well come in warmer than October, just, but its been very chilly.

Average max for December in Katoomba is currently 6.1C below average and Mins are 3C below.

Add to that the amount of drizzly or rainy days and we've hardly seen sunshine for weeks.

It's certainly been a topsy turvey 3 months really - spring started in August, Summer in November but back to early spring weather in December - at least that's how it seems in Bathurst. We do have much more sun here than the BM's so I understand why it's more bizarre there.

I reckon summer will hit with a very solid thump at some point - even if only a short while. We may have a summer well into March/April. Who knows.

Yeah, even Lithgow had more sun and higher cloud than us yesterday, which isn't really that unusual as the low cloud clings to the eastern ranges.

Cool is fine but the amount of drizzle and lack of sunshine has been pretty awful this summer, as the locals keep telling me. Sydney could even break a record for coldest ever December, so its a very significant event, in the context of a warming world.

I agree, I reckon it will heat up strongly at some point. January could be a scorcher although over this way LaNina does tend to keep it cloudy/drizzly.

I seem to have remained the odd one out on the CT's with possibly the lowest December rainfall of all CT locations at only 65% normal MTD (57.8mm). This is fairly typical though when rain falls only as storms. When rain falls from oragraphic effects like cold fronts then I often get the highest totals, but the reverse when only localised lifting is involved.
Of course I do not get much from the Easterly winds as well, BM get their oragraphic effects from that.

I doubt there will be much hot weather at all this summer, the thing is the La Nina is in a different phase to last year. When it starts the cold SST's are more concentrated near their source spreading from Peru across equatorial regions. This summer the equatorial regions near Peru are not as cold, but the original wave of cold SSTs from last summer has spread through the whole low latitude Pacific strengthening the SE trades for us in SE Australia, this should keep blocking the heat.

I have been wondering about next weeks cold change for a few days now, it looks like it will re establish some quite cool weather for much of next week. Currently EC has it strong enough to produce some snow flakes at least for the Snowies. Afterwards some quite cold SE winds will re establish along the tablelands and coast ripping the guts out of summer again as it will drastically reduce the heat inland as well. Almost tempted to start a cold front thread for this one.

December rain came at 73.7mm for me but still 4.5mm below average. Temps were -3.2 below average to the monthly mean which is one of the lowest temp anomalies I have ever seen in my life, if that happened in July I would have winter conditions better than Mount Selwyn, maybe like Smiggins. High for the summer so far only still only 28.8, I estimate that only about 1 in 10 summers I can stay under 30 so this one is still up there with one of the coldest on record and still completely heatwave free, normally I would get at least 1/2 a dozen 30's.

I've been wondering as well Peter, and watching intently day by day.
I'm heading from Malua Bay to Kalkite tomorrow for a week, so this one has me intrigued.
I certainly think there is a chance for a flurry or two high up in the mountains on Wednesday morning.
Looking forward to having to put the trackies back on and reading a book in front of the heater in the middle of summer.

Homer

Enjoy your cool weather Homer, should certainly be nice and brisk on Thursday morning, the best chance for a flurry should be Wednesday night. But the weather should still remain mainly sunny, quite nice for cool autumn walks, might even scrape in a frost on Thursday morning at Kalkite.

Just noticed that Antarctica is also having a colder than normal summer in places. In particular Mawson is the standout, Davis also noticeably lower, Casey near normal. Maquarie Is clearly slightly higher but still not a lot in it.
But good to see Antarctica seems to be staying cold.

Mawson (-3.2 to 2.1) ... 2011 -5.2 to 1.5 [-1.3]
Casey (-3.7 to 1.4) ... 2011 -3.4 to 1.4 [+0.1]
Davis (-2.1 to 2.4) ... 2011 -3.2 to 2.2 [-0.6]
Macquaie is (4.3 to 7.9) ... 2011 4.8 to 8.3 [+0.4]