Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology

 
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Heat wave events headline a record warm summer for Australia

01/03/2019

The Bureau of Meteorology has released its national, State, and Northern Territory summaries for the recent summer period.

Click below to download video and audio interviews with Dr Lynette Bettio discussing the summer summaries:
National AUDIO | VIDEO
NSW/ACT AUDIO | VIDEO
Victoria AUDIO| VIDEO
Queensland AUDIO| VIDEO
Tasmania AUDIO | VIDEO
Northern Territory AUDIO | VIDEO
Western Australia AUDIO | VIDEO
South Australia AUDIO | VIDEO

This summer, Australia experienced a range of severe weather including floods, bushfires and ongoing drought, but it was a persistent period of significant heat during December and January that headlined the past three months.


Bureau climatologist Dr Lynette Bettio said the heatwave events during December and January played a major role in the recent summer being Australia's warmest on record.


"The heat we saw this summer was unprecedented. While the final numbers are yet to be analysed, we know it will be the warmest on record for Australia as a whole, and many individual locations will have broken summer heat records as well," Dr Bettio said.


"There was a noticeable absence of strong cold fronts that would normally bring relief during summer. A lot of this was caused by persistent high pressure systems sitting over the Tasman Sea that was blocking those fronts from impacting the south of the country, especially during January.


"Rainfall was also well below average for many places, apart from areas in northern Queensland, where we saw a significant rain event during late January to early February."


The official summer summaries including detailed information on specific towns and locations will be published to the Bureau website this afternoon: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/


Summer summary fast facts:


NATIONAL

  • For the country as a whole it is the warmest summer on record for mean, maximum and minimum temperatures. Final figures to be included in official summaries.
  • For the country as a whole, it was among the ten driest summers on record. Only parts of northern Queensland and northwest Victoria had above average rainfall for the summer period. Final figures to be included in official summaries.

NEW SOUTH WALES/ACT

  • Almost certain to be the warmest summer on record for mean, maximum and minimum temperatures in New South Wales. Final figures to be included in official summaries.
  • Rainfall was below average for the State as a whole. It was particularly dry across parts of northern NSW.
  • Almost certain to be the warmest summer on record for the ACT and Canberra. Summer rainfall was close to average.

VICTORIA

  • Almost certain to be the warmest summer on record for mean, maximum and minimum temperatures for Victoria. Final figures to be included in official summaries.
  • Summer rainfall below average for most of the State, particularly across the south, however flooding in western and northern Victoria from storms in mid-December.

TASMANIA

  • Likely to be among the five warmest summers on record for mean and maximum temperatures for Tasmania. Among the ten warmest for minimum temperatures.
  • Tasmania saw very little rain from late December until early February. Final figures will be included in official summaries.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

  • Likely to be among South Australia's five warmest summers on record for mean temperature. Mean maximum temperature likely to be the warmest on record. Final figures will be included in official summaries.
  • Drier than average summer across the State. Final figures to be included official summaries.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

  • Mean and maximum summer temperatures likely to be warmest on record for Western Australia, while minimum temperatures are likely to be in the top warmest on record. Final figures will be included in official summaries.
  • However, summer was cooler than average in Perth with overnight minimums below average.
  • Summer rainfall was below average for most of WA, particularly in the State's north. Final figures will be included in official summaries.

NORTHERN TERRITORY

  • Mean, maximum and minimum temperatures all almost certain to be warmest on record for summer for the Northern Territory. Final figures will be included in official summaries.
  • Summer rainfall was below average for most of the Territory, with the onset of the monsoon occurring about a month later than average. Final figures will be included in official summaries.

QUEENSLAND

  • Likely to be among Queensland's five warmest summers on record for mean and maximum temperatures. Minimum temperatures likely to be among the ten warmest on record. Final figures will be included in official summaries.
  • Summer rainfall was well above average for northwest Queensland, the northeast tropical coast and northern Peninsula. In the southern half of the State rainfall was below average. Final figures will be included in official summaries.



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