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Day-of-the week variation of rainfall and maximum temperature in Melbourne, Australia

Wochengang von Niederschlag und Temperaturmaximum in Melbourne, Australien

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Summary

We have examined the day-of-the-week variation of rainfall and maximum temperature using 26 years of record at Melbourne, Australia. The summer and winter half-years were considered separately. Analysis of variance revealed no significant differences between the days. However, in the winter season, precipitation shows a monotonic increase from Sunday to a maximum on Thursday, while maximum temperature shows a monotonic decrease from Monday to a Saturday minimum. Winter weekday precipitation is significantly (at the 5% level) greater than weekend precipitation, the reason for which seems to be atmospheric pollution. The out-of-phase relationship between precipitation and maximum temperature in winter appears to be due to the increased cloud cover associated with rainfall events. Our results suggest that the pollution level has little effect on the maximum temperature.

Zusammenfassung

Die Variation des Niederschlages und des Temperaturmaximums wurden mit der 26jährigen Reihe von Melbourne, nach Winter- und Sommerhalbjahr getrennt, untersucht. Die Varianzanalyse zeigte keine signifikanten Unterschiede zwischen den Tagen. Aber im Winter erhöhte sich der Niederschlag stetig von Samstag zu einem Maximum am Donnerstag, während die Maximaltemperatur von Montag bis Samstag zurückging. Die Niederschlagsmenge im Winter ist bei einem Signifikanzniveau von 95% an Wochenenden größer, was durch die Luftverschmutzung erklärt sein könnte. Der phasenverschobene Zusammenhang zwischen Niederschlag und Maximaltemperatur scheint mit der verstärkten Bewölkung bei Niederschlägen zusammenzuhängen. Die Ergebnisse lassen vermuten, daß das Ausmaß der Luftverschmutzung sich auf die Maximaltemperatur kaum auswirkt.

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Simmonds, I., Kaval, J. Day-of-the week variation of rainfall and maximum temperature in Melbourne, Australia. Arch. Met. Geoph. Biocl., Ser. B 36, 317–330 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02263136

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02263136

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