The Brickfielder is a hot and dry wind in

Southern Australia Southern Australia is generally considered to consist of the states and territories of Australia of New South Wales, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra), Tasmania and South Australia. The part of Western Australia south of ...

that develops in the country's deserts in late spring and summer, which heavily raises temperatures in the southeast coast.

Etymology

The term name was recorded in early 19th century, which emanated from the name of Brickfield Hill, a site which was a former brickworks in the centre of

Sydney CBD The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...

. The area was associated with dusty wind that conveyed clouds of reddish dust from the brickworks over the emerging city. A more frequently used term for the winds is a "burster".

Development

The Brickfielder precedes the passage of a frontal zone of a

low pressure system In meteorology, a low-pressure area (LPA), low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. It is the opposite of a high-pressure area. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclem ...

passing by, and causes severe

dust storm A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transpo ...

s that often last for days and led to its naming as the winds blow up red brick dust. It blows to the coastal regions in the south from the

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...

, reaching the capitals of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

to south,

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to the east. The dry northwesterly desert air from the interior of Australia transports dusty clouds alongside sudden hot spells that usually surpass to places that feature a relatively mild climate. The temperature might rise up by within hours.

Effects

The northern Brickfielder is almost invariably followed by a strong "

southerly buster A southerly buster is the colloquial name of an abrupt southerly wind change in the southern regions of New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, which approaches from the southeast, mainly on a hot day, sea breeze, bringin ...

," cloudy and cool from the ocean. The two winds are due to the same cause, viz. a cyclonic system over the Australian Bight. These systems frequently extend inland as a narrow V-shaped depression (the apex northward), bringing the winds from the north on their eastern sides and from the south on their western. Hence as the narrow system passes eastward the wind suddenly changes from north to south, and the

thermometer A thermometer is a device that measures temperature (the hotness or coldness of an object) or temperature gradient (the rates of change of temperature in space). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb ...

has been known to fall in twenty minutes. On the coastal plains of New South Wales, such as in

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

, the Brickfielder may be exacerbated by the

southeast Australian foehn The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

.Sharples, J.J., McRae, R.H.D., Weber, R.O., Mills, G.A. (2009) ''Foehn-like winds and fire danger anomalies in southeastern Australia''. Proceedings of the 18th IMACS World Congress and MODSIM09. 13–17 July, Cairns.

References

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Etymology

Development

Effects

See also

References

Further reading