December has been very very average… as far as Macquarie Island weather parameters are concerned. Wind is an exception. Average presure for the month reflected the long term mean. Temperatures have been a tad cooler then average. Rainfall for December was once again slightly above the monthly average. Interestingly, considering that everyone is saying that conditions are very dry on top, the annual rainfall total for 2003 of 1029 mm is greater than the long term annual mean of 951 mm. Perhaps the higher than normal wind totals recorded throughout the year have enhanced evaporation rates over the island. The World Meteorological Organisation, and consequently, the Bureau of Meteorology, define a Strong Wind day as any day when a 10 minute wind average exceeds 22 knots. Gale phenomenon is defined as any day when a 10 minute wind average exceeds 34 knots. During 2003, there were 311 Strong Wind days, compared to the long term average of 187.3 Strong Wind days. Of these, Gales were recorded on 112 days in 2003, compared to an average of 54 days. By the way, annual averages have been collated from 54 consecutive years of observations.

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