Wind, wind, wind - and more to come.

The wind outside my window has been howling, like a train going past, for days. I am sick of the noise, and the bad psychological effects which wind has on me. I get edgy, irritable, and a little bit scared. Fortunately I have had tree branches trimmed away from the house. Given our high rainfall and rich soil, even sapling Wattle trees reach my roof height in 3 years. I do not have large trees planted close to the house which are likely to cause problems, but it is the noise of the branches scratching against the windows and the gutters which I do not like.

Here is the Bureau of Meteorology's official weather warning for coastal NSW for this afternoon and this evening. You will recall that Robertson is sitting directly on top of the Illawarra Escarpment, at approx 750 metres above sea level, so we cop all these supposedly "coastal" winds. This photo is taken overlooking Macquarie Pass - from just 5 Km east of Robertson. It shows Lake Illawarra and the Pacific Ocean beyond. Although taken late one peaceful afternoon, the point is to show our proximity to the coast, and our exposure to "coastal" weather when warnings are relevant, as is the case tonight.
Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
New South Wales

Coastal Waters Wind Warning
For NSW Waters South of Port Macquarie
Issued at 4:10 pm EST on Thursday 14 August 2008

Synoptic situation
Vigorous southwesterly airflow over southwestern Tasman Sea with embedded cold fronts is expected to persist until Sunday.

Gale Warning
For the South Coast, from Gabo Island to Montague Island

W/SW wind 25/33 knots, reaching 34/40 knots chiefly offshore. Sea around 3 metres, reaching 4 metres offshore. S'ly swell increasing to about 3 metres.

Strong Wind Warning
For the Mid North Coast, Hunter Coast, Sydney Coast, Illawarra Coast, South Coast, from Port Macquarie to Montague Island

W/SW wind reaching 25/33 knots Sea rising 2 to 3 metres. S'ly Swell to 3.5 metres.

The next warning will be issued by 11 pm EST Thursday.

Please be aware
Wind gusts can be a further 40 percent stronger than the averages given here, and maximum waves may be up to twice the height.

Here is the Weather Chart for Thursday evening 14.8.08 at 4:00pm Eastern Standard Time. It clearly shows closely aligned barometric readings in the form of closely set parallel lines. With a low to the east of us (with winds circulating in a clockwise pattern), and a high to the west (with winds circulating in a anti-clockwise pattern), those two systems combine to push a huge volume of air, in a north-westerly direction, from the Antarctic region, well to the south of Australia, right up the length of the NSW coast, bringing about cold winds right up into Queensland.

And this is the four day prognosis - in chart form.
The winds should start to ease on Sunday night. If these are the famous "August winds" then I am sick of them. We all know that, in Robertson, they blow from May to December, but that's another story.