Rain and Temps

[TerraMer]

This might seem like a bit of a no brainer for you Taswegians but I haven't bushwalked in Tassie for about 22 years and it was fine weather as far as I can remember.
I'm about to do some Spring walking around Tassie, mid Sept - early Dec, and have checked the BOM data charts but I have a question regarding the temperature drop when it starts raining.
Without factoring in wind chill, imagine a still Spring day, when it starts raining is there a significant drop in temperature?
Does this vary much from east to west and north to south?
Is Spring rain persistent, ie, if it starts raining early is it likely to hang about or is there a pattern of early rain, clear afternoon, etc? And how does this vary across Tassie?
Having walked in many different climate zones around the world I know rain can make a huge difference and very quickly or no difference at all. I understand that Tassie is unique and I want to pack the right gear without over packing, eg, will the summer overpants not be enough, will the winter one be too much, how many layers of clothing will I need to pack near the top of the bag to change into through the day, etc, etc.
Cheers

[Son of a Beach]

The rain in Tasmania is not related to time of day as it often is in/near the tropics. It's really just a matter of when the front (or other weather pattern) reaches you and the topography of the area your in (eg, which side of the mountain).

I'm not sure if the rain causes the air temperature to drop much. I haven't noticed it. It sure feels colder when you get wet, but I figure that's just the wind chill, and the cloud cover. Not sure though.

Note that September probably has the most unstable weather weather in Tasmania. Often windy, rainy, cold at least for short periods but sometimes for days, with some nice weather in between - but the main issue is that you get all kinds of weather with frequent changes during September.

[Ent]

Trouble with Tassie you can be walking into a blizzard on day one and heat exhaustion the next. The challenge for us is getting the right mixture of gear at a sensible weight. You just need to be prepared for any weather.

[wayno]

if its anything like nz the rain will wait to hit you until you are most exposed to the elements......

[wayno]

rain often comes with cold weather fronts.... the temp drop with the associated cold front could be tens of degrees.... in nz i was on ruapehu walking in rain when a cold front came through, in a minute i stopped being able to see, all the water on my glasses iced up, water on my clothes turned to ice as welll. it was winter but it gives an idea of temp drop with weather fronts in temperate climates

[TerraMer]

Thanks for the helpful information

[TerraMer]

if its anything like nz the rain will wait to hit you until you are most exposed to the elements......

Imagining NZers standing out in their paddocks in the nuddy with a bar of soap in their hands

[wayno]

hot air and cold air dont mix, hence you get a cold front coming through, if you're not used to environments with cold weather. it often gets warm or hot in advance of a front coming through as the warmer air is pushed in front of the advancing cold air. people going for day walks can get badly caught out, the weather can be hot and fine so they dont bother taking much gear, a cold front can kill ill equipped people pretty quickly, three people out for a run in new zealand in a sheltered forest went out when a cold front came through, an hour later they were all dead from hypothermia.... thats how extreme the temperature drop can be in non tropical environments.
if you're adequately equipped for the conditions you shouldnt have to worry about conditions like that, if you're wet and don't have a windproof layer at least then heat loss from your body can almost double over calm dry conditions for a given temperature...
three young fit men took a shortcut in a new zealnd forest,. they were caught out overnight in snow, two died,, one lived, the two who died were wearing cotton clothes, the one who lived had a wool top, scarf, gloves and hat...
modern bushwalking gear is fantastic for combatting storm conditions. i mentioned i was in a storm where the outside of my storm gear was covered in ice, I was still warm underneath despite strong winds.. it wasnt desperatley high tech gear either. i had an insulation layer underneath my low tech storm gear.
i always take a windproof layer on a walk of any reasonable distance, and add other items of clothes according to the forecast and time of year. on a half day walk or longer, i like to take enough clothes to ideally keep me warm if i have to stop for a reasonable length of time. a lot of the time i never need it but, those times you do need it , you'd pay for those clothes in their weight in gold....

[TerraMer]

Thanks Wayno. Reckon I'll pack the good gear
I was interested in your experience on Ruapehu. I had the same on Ruapehu in June a few years ago. Went out snow shoeing in the morning, it was warm, almost humid, and slushy but by lunch it was icy and I was glad to get back to the chalet. It was about a 10 degree drop in less than 2 hours and no wind or snow associated with the change.

[wayno]

smaller islands tend to have more frequent weather changes and less consistent seasonal weather than continents,

[wayno]

the simple change of clouds covering the sun can make for a noticeable drop in temperature in the mountains, the sun is stronger higher up but the air temp lower. pretty much all the heat can be in the direct sunlight, skifields are classic for big temperature changes just with clouding over. rain can lower the air temp, but i dont know by how much, since it comes from a higher altitude where the temp is lower, your clothes will loose temperature when the rain hits it. the air will give up some heat to the rain.