Desert Overnight Temps in September

Hmmm.... Synthetic blankets.... Might investigate that.

Thanks guys for the replies - all good.

viz

Spare a thought for us noobies mate, where we are trying to get enough information to help make us less dangerous to our fellow man (and woman - sorry :). One hears scary stories of "tourists" bolting off into the bush and becoming rather unstuck 2 km beyond the Black Stump, because of lack of prep and asking the right questions...

Reason I participate in forums like this is to share my experiences which do not at this stage extend to desert touring and to glean information from those who are experienced in that area. I have years in other fields not closely related to desert driving (flying, diving etc etc) and especially in diving go out of my way to help share those years of knowledge sometimes sorely gained. Wish someone had done it for me, when I first started.

Some time ago I had a nicely turned out Range Rover, and with my brother and his new Patrol 3.0 TDI we went into the Victorian high country - at Xmas time. On Boxing Day, it snowed. We froze, bad, in our tents... Brother's Patrol's fuel system jammed up - summer fuel does not like being frozen either. Next year back we went, with the full kit. And it snowed again - but this time we were prepared. (The irony of all this: Sydney was burning, literally, at the same time it snowed in the Vic high country...)

In the flying game, there is a saying that "there is never a stupid question, only stupid answers". The question that you did not ask will be the one that kills you...

viz

Smudger, I just can't agree. I am quite sure that the weather you got in the Simpson was just as you describe it, but if you are advising someone on what to expect, you need to point out the variability. In that part of the world in August I have experienced min temperatures from summer like to around freezing. You wont get all of these on the one trip, but you need to be able to deal with that range if you get it. PS. A blanket under an air mattress wont insulate you from the cold. The things build up convection currents inside the matress and lose the warm throught the sides. If you have an air mattress, put your blanket on top of the mattress where it will do some good. Having warm clothes you can wear wear in bed in emergencies is sensible however. Despite my warning on possible cold, one group from Bali I took through the Simpson assumed it would be a hot desert. We got really severe cold on that trip and I then found they had packed no warm stuff. It was my spare warm stuff they wore at night that probably prevented hypothermia. Next year, same time, same people, it was T shirts all the way.

Smudger, what do you call "cool" in the Simpson last August? Put some numbers on it.
I said you can expect around 10 degrees but it could be a bit cooler.

It pays to be prepared for some unusual conditions or maybe spend a most uncomfortable night.

I took a look on the BOM site and found that for Moomba (which of course is in the Simpson) they have recorded overnight lows of -0.5 in August, 2.3 in September and 2.6 in October. Not necessarily in the same year.

So it can get darn cold even in the usually balmy month of October.

I meant to say that Moomba is NEAR the Simpson Desert.
Moomba is actually in the Strzelecki Desert, but close enough!
Moomba was the closest meteorological observation station I could locate near the Simpson with historical records.

By the way, I spent some years working in that region and let me tell you it can get damned cold sometimes at night even in the "warmer" months.

The Boy Scouts got it right...... "Be Prepared"