Editing Hunter Region (section)

==Climate==
[[File:Drought conditions in the Upper Hunter near Singleton.jpg|thumb|Parts of the Upper Hunter Valley can be very dry and experience drought conditions during the growing season.]]

The climate of Hunter Valley is [[humid subtropical]], similar to the [[Greater Western Sydney]] region, with distinctive [[maritime (wine)|maritime]] influences from the [[Pacific Ocean]].<ref name="MacNeil">MacNeil, Karen. The Wine Bible. New York: Workman Pub., 2001. Print.</ref> With its northerly latitude and close oceanic influences, the Hunter Valley is one of Australia's hottest and wettest wine regions. Flanked by mountains to the west and north the Hunter Valley acts as a funnel, pulling cool [[sea breeze|ocean breezes]] into the area.<ref name="Wine Atlas"/> With those cooling breezes also comes heavy rainfall and periodic cyclonic storms in the summer and autumn months.

In the summer, the average daily temperature regularly exceeds {{Convert|21.1|°C|°F|1|abbr=on}} while during the winter the temperature averages around {{Convert|14|°C|°F|1|abbr=on}}.<ref>[http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/change/averagemaps.cgi?map=tmean&season=0608 Australian climate variability & change – Average maps] bom.gov.au {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407062955/http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/change/averagemaps.cgi?map=tmean&season=0608 |date=7 April 2022 }}</ref> Temperatures during January average between {{Convert|22.7|-|23.3|°C|°F|1|abbr=on}}, with the temperature becoming progressively hotter the further inland you move away from the cooling influence of the sea. During the spring the Hunter Valley receives an average of 7.3–7.5 hours of sunshine a day.<ref name="Halliday, 2001" />

Mid-latitude westerly winds bring high pressure weather front that alternate with cold fronts on the winter. This leads to generally drier conditions in the winter months of July and August. In the summer, southeasterly winds bring weather fronts harbouring extensive amounts of moisture.<ref name="Hunter Valley Research Foundation"/> Between October and April more than two thirds of the region's annual rainfall will fall with January and February being the wettest months.<ref name="Halliday, 2001"/> Between the months of October–April, the 3pm average for relative humidity in the Lower Hunter is 49%, while it is 43% in the Upper Hunter.<ref name="Hunter Valley Wine Country"/>
{{Weather box
|location = [[Newcastle, New South Wales|Newcastle]] (coast)
|metric first = Yes
|single line = Yes
|collapsed = Yes
|Jan record high C = 42.5
|Feb record high C = 40.9
|Mar record high C = 39.0
|Apr record high C = 36.8
|May record high C = 28.5
|Jun record high C = 26.1
|Jul record high C = 26.3
|Aug record high C = 29.9
|Sep record high C = 34.4
|Oct record high C = 36.7
|Nov record high C = 41.0
|Dec record high C = 42.0
|year record high C = 42.5
|Jan high C = 25.6
|Feb high C = 25.4
|Mar high C = 24.7
|Apr high C = 22.8
|May high C = 20.0
|Jun high C = 17.5
|Jul high C = 16.7
|Aug high C = 18.1
|Sep high C = 20.2
|Oct high C = 22.2
|Nov high C = 23.6
|Dec high C = 24.9
|year high C = 21.8
|Jan low C = 19.2
|Feb low C = 19.4
|Mar low C = 18.3
|Apr low C = 15.3
|May low C = 12.0
|Jun low C = 9.7
|Jul low C = 8.5
|Aug low C = 9.3
|Sep low C = 11.5
|Oct low C = 14.1
|Nov low C = 16.2
|Dec low C = 18.0
|year low C = 14.3
|Jan record low C = 12.0
|Feb record low C = 10.3
|Mar record low C = 11.1
|Apr record low C = 7.4
|May record low C = 4.7
|Jun record low C = 3.0
|Jul record low C = 1.8
|Aug record low C = 3.3
|Sep record low C = 5.0
|Oct record low C = 6.5
|Nov record low C = 7.2
|Dec record low C = 11.0
|year record low C = 1.8
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 90.0
|Feb precipitation mm = 107.4
|Mar precipitation mm = 119.6
|Apr precipitation mm = 116.9
|May precipitation mm = 115.6
|Jun precipitation mm = 117.5
|Jul precipitation mm = 93.2
|Aug precipitation mm = 73.2
|Sep precipitation mm = 72.1
|Oct precipitation mm = 72.5
|Nov precipitation mm = 71.0
|Dec precipitation mm = 80.9
|year precipitation mm = 1129.9
|Jan precipitation days = 11.1
|Feb precipitation days = 11.2
|Mar precipitation days = 12.4
|Apr precipitation days = 12.3
|May precipitation days = 12.6
|Jun precipitation days = 12.3
|Jul precipitation days = 11.2
|Aug precipitation days = 10.5
|Sep precipitation days = 10.0
|Oct precipitation days = 10.9
|Nov precipitation days = 10.8	
|Dec precipitation days = 10.6
|year precipitation days =135.9
|Jan afthumidity = 72
|Feb afthumidity = 74
|Mar afthumidity = 72
|Apr afthumidity = 66
|May afthumidity = 64
|Jun afthumidity = 63
|Jul afthumidity = 59
|Aug afthumidity = 56
|Sep afthumidity = 59
|Oct afthumidity = 64
|Nov afthumidity = 68
|Dec afthumidity = 71
|year humidity = 66	
|source 1 = [[Bureau of Meteorology]]<ref>{{BoM Aust stats|site_ref=cw_061055|site_name=Newcastle Nobbys Signal Station AWS|access-date=13 April 2013|date=April 2013}}</ref>
|date=April 2013}}
{{Weather box
|location = Scone Airport (Upper Hunter Valley region)
|metric first = Yes
|single line = Yes
|collapsed = Yes
|Jan record high C = 43.5
|Feb record high C = 43.5
|Mar record high C = 41.0
|Apr record high C = 36.0
|May record high C = 28.7	
|Jun record high C = 24.4	
|Jul record high C = 24.5	
|Aug record high C = 29.8	
|Sep record high C = 34.1	
|Oct record high C = 39.0
|Nov record high C = 43.4
|Dec record high C = 42.4	
|year record high C = 43.5
|Jan high C = 31.1
|Feb high C = 29.8
|Mar high C = 27.9
|Apr high C = 24.5
|May high C = 20.1
|Jun high C = 17.0
|Jul high C = 16.3
|Aug high C = 18.3
|Sep high C = 21.5
|Oct high C = 24.9
|Nov high C = 27.7	
|Dec high C = 30.2
|year high C = 24.1
|Jan low C = 16.9
|Feb low C = 16.9
|Mar low C = 14.6
|Apr low C = 11.3	
|May low C = 8.1	
|Jun low C = 6.0	
|Jul low C = 4.7
|Aug low C = 5.5	
|Sep low C = 7.9
|Oct low C = 10.8
|Nov low C = 13.3	
|Dec low C = 15.7
|year low C = 11.0	
|Jan record low C = 8.2	
|Feb record low C = 8.6	
|Mar record low C = 4.7
|Apr record low C = 1.3
|May record low C = -1.0	
|Jun record low C = -2.0		
|Jul record low C = -2.7		
|Aug record low C = -3.0	
|Sep record low C = -1.3	
|Oct record low C = 0.5 
|Nov record low C = 5.0
|Dec record low C = 6.4
|year record low C = -3.0	
|Jan precipitation mm = 82.3
|Feb precipitation mm = 77.3
|Mar precipitation mm = 52.2	
|Apr precipitation mm = 38.9	
|May precipitation mm = 46.5	
|Jun precipitation mm = 45.5
|Jul precipitation mm = 36.5	
|Aug precipitation mm = 38.1	
|Sep precipitation mm = 38.5	
|Oct precipitation mm = 57.8
|Nov precipitation mm = 62.0 
|Dec precipitation mm = 67.9	
|year precipitation mm = 643.1
|Jan precipitation days = 8.3
|Feb precipitation days = 7.8
|Mar precipitation days = 7.1
|Apr precipitation days = 6.7
|May precipitation days = 7.4
|Jun precipitation days = 9.4
|Jul precipitation days = 8.1
|Aug precipitation days = 7.6
|Sep precipitation days = 7.0
|Oct precipitation days = 8.8
|Nov precipitation days = 8.6	
|Dec precipitation days = 8.6
|year precipitation days = 95.4	
|source 1 = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_061089_All.shtml |publisher=Bureau of Meteorology |title=Climate statistics for Scone SCS |access-date=4 December 2013 |archive-date=10 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610062151/http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_061089_All.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>
|date=December 2013
}}