Seasonal variation of winds about Australia

Fig 1 and Fig 13.11 (in the book) show typical synoptic patterns at the surface over Australia in summer (i.e. year end) and winter (i.e. midyear). It may be seen that fronts in summer are so far south as not often to traverse the continent, whereas they regularly cross over the southern half in winter. Winds at low latitudes are consistently from the east (i.e. the Trade winds), except near the equator in summer. Heat lows form in northern Australia in summer. Along the east coast rain tends to form when winds are onshore.

Fig 1. Typical surface weather charts for Australia in summer (top) and winter (bottom).