Winter Weather in Launceston AustraliaDaily high temperatures are around 54°F, rarely falling below 48°F or exceeding 61°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 52°F on July 10. Daily low temperatures are around 41°F, rarely falling below 32°F or exceeding 50°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 40°F on July 9. For reference, on February 4, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Launceston typically range from 54°F to 74°F, while on July 9, the coldest day of the year, they range from 40°F to 52°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average winter temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Myrtle Point, United States (8,030 miles away); Chiguayante, Chile (6,465 miles); and Mesia, Spain (11,191 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Launceston (view comparison). CloudsThe winter in Launceston experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 47% throughout the season. The highest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 50% on July 2. The clearest day of the winter is August 30, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 55% of the time. For reference, on July 2, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 50%, while on February 26, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 66%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Launceston, the chance of a wet day over the course of the winter is increasing, starting the season at 27% and ending it at 33%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 36% on August 18, and its lowest chance is 14% on February 18. RainfallTo show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the winter in Launceston is gradually increasing, starting the season at 2.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.3 inches or falls below 1.1 inches, and ending the season at 2.8 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.8 inches or falls below 0.8 inches. The highest average 31-day accumulation is 3.0 inches on August 10. SunOver the course of the winter in Launceston, the length of the day is rapidly increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 1 hour, 46 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 1 minute, 10 seconds, and weekly increase of 8 minutes, 9 seconds. The shortest day of the winter is June 21, with 9 hours, 10 minutes of daylight and the longest day is August 31, with 11 hours, 8 minutes of daylight. The latest sunrise of the winter in Launceston is 7:38 AM on June 28 and the earliest sunrise is 1 hour, 1 minute earlier at 6:37 AM on August 31. The earliest sunset is 4:47 PM on June 13 and the latest sunset is 58 minutes later at 5:46 PM on August 31. Daylight saving time is observed in Launceston during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during the winter, so the entire season is in daylight saving time. For reference, on December 21, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:34 AM and sets 15 hours, 11 minutes later, at 8:45 PM, while on June 20, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:37 AM and sets 9 hours, 11 minutes later, at 4:48 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the winter of 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon. HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Launceston is essentially constant during the winter, remaining around 0% throughout. For reference, on February 11, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 1% of the time, while on April 20, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Launceston is increasing during the winter, increasing from 8.0 miles per hour to 9.1 miles per hour over the course of the season. For reference, on October 3, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 9.6 miles per hour, while on April 6, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 7.9 miles per hour. The hourly average wind direction in Launceston throughout the winter is predominantly from the west, with a peak proportion of 43% on August 11. Water TemperatureLaunceston is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature in Launceston is decreasing during the winter, falling by 5°F, from 58°F to 54°F, over the course of the season. The lowest average surface water temperature during the winter is 54°F on August 23. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). The growing season in Launceston typically lasts for 9.3 months (283 days), from around August 16 to around May 25, rarely starting before July 14 or after September 29, and rarely ending before April 28 or after June 27. The winter in Launceston is more likely than not fully outside of the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season reaching a low of 7% on July 6. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Launceston are very rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 2,134°F, from 2,191°F to 57°F, over the course of the season. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Launceston is increasing during the winter, rising by 1.5 kWh, from 1.8 kWh to 3.3 kWh, over the course of the season. The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the winter is 1.6 kWh on June 20. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Launceston are -41.439 deg latitude, 147.135 deg longitude, and 36 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Launceston contains significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 768 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 203 feet. Within 10 miles contains significant variations in elevation (2,428 feet). Within 50 miles contains large variations in elevation (5,167 feet). The area within 2 miles of Launceston is covered by artificial surfaces (48%) and trees (37%), within 10 miles by trees (60%) and cropland (25%), and within 50 miles by trees (55%) and cropland (18%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Launceston, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere is only a single weather station, Launceston Airport, in our network suitable to be used as a proxy for the historical temperature and dew point records of Launceston. At a distance of 14 kilometers from Launceston, closer than our threshold of 150 kilometers, this station is deemed sufficiently nearby to be relied upon as our primary source for temperature and dew point records. The station records are corrected for the elevation difference between the station and Launceston according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. Please note that the station records themselves may additionally have been back-filled using other nearby stations or the MERRA-2 reanalysis. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |