Site statistics and records
| Site statistics | |
|---|---|
| Official Name | Paterson Tocal Agricultural College (from 1971 to present) |
| Altitude | 30 m |
| Latitude | 32° 38’ South |
| Longitude | 151° 35’ East |
| Bureau of Meteorology station number | 061250 |
| Official Name | Paterson Post Office (1901 to 1992) |
| Altitude | 21 m |
| Latitude | 32° 36’ South |
| Longitude | 151° 37’ East |
| Bureau of Meteorology station number | 061096 |
| Climate and weather records | |
| Rainfall | Paterson Post Office readings from 1902 onwards have been used. Tocal readings started in 1965. All readings are on a daily basis at 0900 hours. Rainfall probabilities are calculated on the basis of a composite of Tocal and Paterson rainfalls 1901-2002. |
| Evaporation | A Class ‘A’ pan has been used with readings at 0900 hours each day and recorded against the day of reading. |
| Temperature | Maximum and minimum temperatures up to mid-2002 are recorded in a Standard Stevenson Screen with a floor 1000 mm above the ground. Since August 1980 soil temperatures at 10 cm and 20 cm have been recorded using bent stem thermometers. |
| Wind | Wind data is a result of estimates using the Beaufort wind scale. Since automation in mid-2002, wind data has been measure with an anemometer. Measurements for winds at sea are usually expressed in knots. Over land, the units will usually be in km/hr. (10knots = 18.5 km/hr, 10km/hr = 5.4 knots) |
| Frost | The definition of a frost adapted for these records is terrestrial minimum temperature at or below 0.0°C or a minimum Screen temperature below 2.0°C. |
| Cloud | Cloud data is a result of estimates of cloud cover (in oktas a scale of 1-8). |
| Humidity | The data for wet bulb temperature has been derived from a standard wet bulb thermometer. Relative humidity has been found by use of a relative humidity chart (Sale and Sale, 1978, p. 97). |
Sources of data
The monthly rainfall data for Paterson Post Office has been supplied by the Bureau of Meteorology. The Tocal (1971-1984) records have been obtained from the Bureau of Meteorology. Data since 1984 has been compiled manually, and a manual system has been used in conjunction with the automatic recording station commissioned in 2002.