Parade | A climate of confusion as winter runs hot and cold

It's hard to tell if it's been warmer than usual or colder than usual, though there's no doubt it's been drier than usual.

All this occurred to Parade during the week as he took out the garbage bins late at night and was surprised by just how [relatively] mild it seemed for what should be the depths of a Bathurst winter.

And a quick look at the official Bureau of Meteorology website showed that confusion was well-founded.

ALSO MAKING NEWS:

With less than a week left in July, the average minimum temperature for the month has been 1.3 degrees Celsius, compared to a long-term average minimum of 0.5 degrees Celsius for July in Bathurst.

The average maximum temperature is also up quite a bit - 13.6 degrees Celsius compared to the long-term average of 12.

So why did we all expect this to be a colder-than-usual winter? Well, the answers seems to be that June and July have swapped places this year.

June recorded a lower average minimum than July (just 0.5 degrees Celsius) and will likely end with more subzero mornings (13 compared to just eight so far in July).

Curiously, though, the same data shows that June 11 this year, when the mercury reached 19.6 degrees Celsius, was the hottest June day on record in Bathurst.

No wonder we're confused. If the weather doesn't know what month it is, what hope do the rest of use have?

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