Melbourne's grey skies getting you down? It is not just gloom you are experiencing.
We are trapped under a mass of thick cloud one month into summer, because of a weather event known as "anticyclonic gloom".
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A crazy year of world weather
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Yet while the name might sound dramatic, this system actually occurs quite frequently in Victoria, mostly in the winter.
"All it is are winds that are going anticlockwise," explains Beren Bradshaw, a senior forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology.
While winds move clockwise around low pressure systems in the southern hemisphere, they move anticlockwise around high pressure systems. (The opposite is true in the northern hemisphere.)
Currently, there's a high pressure system in the Bight that has moisture trapped underneath it, says Ms Bradshaw. As a result, it is sending winds and clouds in a southerly direction over southern and coastal Victoria.
So why the fancy name?
In the southern hemisphere, cyclones are winds moving in a clockwise direction. So by virtue of these winds moving in an anticlockwise direction, they become "anticyclonic", and because this system sends clouds over our skies, it makes for gloomy conditions.
So there you have it: anticyclonic gloom.
With the cloudy conditions have come cool temperatures. Monday was the coldest January day in 21 years, having reached a maximum temperature of only 17.8 degrees in the city at 1:48pm.
P.S.: anticyclonic = winds turning anticlockwise, like around a high pressure system! https://t.co/9Yr6gIHZhA #NothingUnusual #MelbWeather pic.twitter.com/T2hzoqNg2l
— BOM Victoria (@BOM_Vic) January 2, 2017
But don't let the grim weather get you down. Over the coming days, the skies are expected to clear and the mercury will rise.
The high pressure system is slowly moving towards the east and into the Tasman Sea, directing east to northerly winds across the state.
High in the Bight rotates anticyclonically so we call the grey skies across southern #Victoria 'anticyclonic gloom'. https://t.co/zdLTMNeQmT pic.twitter.com/symznlO2yP
— BOM Victoria (@BOM_Vic) January 1, 2017
By Wednesday morning, It will be centred east of Tasmania, bringing sunnier and warmer conditions across Victoria.
Melbourne will reach a top of 29 that day, and by Saturday, we're expecting a maximum of 34 degrees.
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