Tips for interpreting Calga's weather forecast
Calga's weather is NOT the same as Sydney weather
This is because we are outside the Sydney basin.
Calga's weather is NOT the same as Gosford or even Kariong's weather
This is because we are away from the coastline and high up at the top of the mountain ridge.
Often, it may be pouring with rain in Sydney and Gosford and on the Motorway as you cross the Hawkesbury River, but we have no rain at all in Calga all day.
Because Walkabout Park sits high up at the top of the ridgeline, the rain seldom hangs around for long. As soon as the rain stops, the ground dries up very quickly as the water drains away into the valley, so we don't usually have mud and puddles lying around.
We have been using Weatherzone's local forecast for Calga since 2009 and have found that its weather predictions are astonishingly accurate for this area.
How we interpret the Calga weather forecast:
Showers usually means the rain will only last a short while. In our experience, this is usually 5 to 10 minutes.
Storm usually means a short burst of heavy rain, or sometimes thunder and lightening with no rain at all.
Rain usually means the rain will hang around for longer periods, but check the time of day it is predicted to fall (often it only rains for part of the day, or late at night and in the early morning).
5% means it won't rain.
20% or less means it is extremely unlikely that it will rain.
50% means just that, it is just as likely that it won't rain as that it will.
70% or more means it will probably rain, but check the time of day it is predicted to fall (often it only rains late at night) and how many mm (often it will rain but only a very small amount and for a very short period).
10mm or less means that any rain, if it does fall, is likely to be for a very short period - maybe only 5 minutes.
50mm or more means that rain is likely to be steady for periods, but check the time of day it is predicted to fall as it is often between midnight and 9am with dry days.
70mm or more means that rain is likely to continuous, but check the time of day it is predicted to fall as it is often between midnight and 9am with dry days.
Tips for a fun day out no matter what the weather is doing:
Walkabout Park is fun in all weather conditions.
On a cold wintery day we will usually have a warm welcoming fire burning in the fireplace at the visitor centre, and there is always fresh ground coffee and hot chocolate for sale at the cafe.
The ranger-led program goes ahead no matter what, although occasionally we do modify the program e.g. it would be unwise to throw boomerangs in gale force winds. On occasions, we may change the program to suit the conditions e.g. if there is a thunder storm we may bring animals to the visitor centre instead of going walkabout to find them on the tracks.
We recommend that you have your rain suit with you as, if the rain does come down for a few minutes while you are out on the track and then clears as it usually does, it is good to have a rain jacket with you to pop on so your clothes are not wet and soggy.
Wellington boots for the kids are a great idea so they can stomp in the puddles which is fun for everyone.
We sell disposable rain ponchos in our gift shop 'at cost' so if you do need a rain jacket, please ask any of our team and we'll gladly get one for you.
We do NOT recommend umbrellas if you want to go for a walk along the bush tracks as umbrellas are inclined to get stuck on overhanging trees and bushes.
We always recommend sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses and insect repellant when spending time outdoors.
