In case you thought Melbourne’s summer season felt extra like a typical Brisbane summer season this 12 months, you wouldn’t be alone.
Throughout the east coast, Australians sweated via a damp summer season with higher-than-average rainfall – notably in December and January.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued nationwide recommendation on Friday, the primary day of autumn, displaying Australia skilled its third-warmest summer season on report in 2023-24, with common temperatures 1.65 levels above the 1961–90 common. It mentioned summer season was marked by “persistent and widespread warmth”.
Considerably hotter temperatures within the Coral and Tasman seas (2 to three levels above common) drove the elevated rainfall on the east coast, Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensoli mentioned.
“That abnormally heat water prompted extra evaporation, which put extra moisture into the environment to gasoline rain-bearing methods, and Victoria actually noticed its fair proportion of rain in December and January,” he mentioned.
Loading
“That’s one thing we’ve got been seeing extra within the fashionable local weather – not simply within the Australian area, however globally. In 2023, ocean temperatures had been the warmest on report for the globe.
“The nice and cozy ocean temperatures off the east coast of Australia mixed with easterly winds, which suggests winds had been blowing that moisture-laden air from the environment over the Tasman Sea throughout south-eastern Australia – that’s what fuelled that rainfall.”
The summer season’s single hottest temperature, a blistering 49.9 levels, was recorded at Carnarvon Airport in Western Australia on February 18.
