The Fremantle Doctor, the Freo Doctor, or simply The Doctor, is the

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

term for the cooling afternoon

sea breeze A sea breeze or onshore breeze is a wind that blows in the afternoon from a large body of water toward or onto a landmass. By contrast, a land breeze or offshore breeze is a wind that blows in the night from a landmass toward or onto a large ...

that occurs during summer months in south west coastal areas of Western Australia. The sea breeze occurs because of the major temperature difference between the land and sea. In

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, the capital city of Western Australia, the wind is named the Fremantle Doctor because it appears to come from the nearby coastal city of

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

, and it brings welcome relief from the summertime high temperatures. The name was in use as early as the 1870s and was similar to equivalent terms for winds that occurred in South Africa and the West Indies.

General trend

During summer months, the Fremantle Doctor consistently blows from the southwest along the southern half of the west coast, starting between 10 am and 3 pm. It can penetrate as far inland as , reaching

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

in the early evening. The Fremantle Doctor often cools the Perth suburbs by several degrees, whilst nearer the coast the wind can be quite strong, often blowing between . On days when the wind fails, the afternoon temperatures of Perth suburbs are considerably higher, often exceeding , although this is also attributable to the influence of a strong easterly wind blowing in hot desert air from the arid interior of the state. It was known to have an impact on

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

games being played at the

WACA Ground The WACA Ground () is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium's name derives from the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA). The WACA has been referred to as Western Australia' ...

, particularly helping fast and medium swing bowlers by making it hard for a batsman to play at the ball, while also providing a cooling breeze to the players on the field.

Further analysis

The Fremantle Doctor is strongest in December and January, when the temperature differential between the land and ocean is greatest. In February and March the breeze is not as strong, because the ocean is a bit warmer. Though October and November are not as warm, the ocean is cooler, resulting in the sea breeze in these months. Other months have a weak or non-existent Fremantle Doctor. In the winter months, the land is usually cooler than the ocean, and this sometimes results in the weaker land breeze in the early morning. When the Fremantle Doctor first arrives it is from the west-south-west direction. Later when it is at maximum strength, the direction is usually from the southwest or south-south-west. By the early evening, the direction is from the south. This change in wind direction is due to the Coriolis effect. Other factors, like the prevailing wind of a particular day, can also have an effect on the direction. A wind rose showing the different wind directions for Perth can be found at the Bureau of Meteorology's website.Wind roses for selected locations in Australia
Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 30 January 2010.

Notes

External links

Introduction to winds on the west coast of Western Australia

Fremantle Perth, Western Australia Winds Coastline of Western Australia Climate of Australia

General trend

Further analysis

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links