Antinuclear

Australia’s wide swathe of mid-40 degree heat breaks records, and there’s more to come

National records melt in ‘prolonged spell of heat’ with more to come, Brisbane Times  Peter Hannam, 4 January 2019 A huge swathe of Australia baked in mid-40 degree heat on Friday, with more records likely to be broken at the tail-end of a heatwave that set a slew of national highs last month.

The mercury was tipped to reach at least 45 degrees over a region stretching from northern Western Australia into Victoria and the NSW Riverina.

Melbourne exceeded its predicted top of 42 degrees, reaching 42.6 degrees. Avalon, to the city’s west, reached 45.8 degrees before a cool change knocked that down to under 25 degrees in less than an hour.

Walpeup in the state’s north touched 46.6 degrees – not far shy of Victoria’s January record of 47.2 degrees set in 1939 – while across the border in South Australia, Marree got to 47.2 degrees…….

Mean temperatures for 2018 were the third-warmest on record, with the bureau due to release its year-end report in coming days.

All but one of the country’s top 10 hottest years have occurred since 2005, a result “in line with long-term trends resulting from anthropogenic climate change”, the bureau said in a preliminary summary on 2018’s national weather. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/weather/national-records-melt-in-prolonged-spell-of-heat-with-more-to-come-20190104-p50pkf.html

January 5, 2019 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming