Geostrophic wind over Cape York Peninsula and pressure jumps around the Gulf of Carpentaria

Surface pressure data for six Octobers (1978-1983) are used to calculate mean daily geostrophic wind over Cape York Peninsula. Barograms for Normanton, 30 km inland from the southeast corner of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and Mornington Mission, in the Gulf, are examined for marked nocturnal or early morning pressure jumps for the same period. Mean and standard deviation of the components of geostrophic wind, time of arrival of pressure jumps and their amplitude, and correlations between these, have been derived. These show some effect of the geostruphic wind on the formation and behaviour of pressure jumps, which are shown to be a very common phenomenon in October, and by no means always detectable with standard barographs.