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BAMOS Sept 2017
Article
Australia ’ s record-breaking winter warmth linked to climate change
Andrew King Climate Extremes Research Fellow , University of Melbourne
It may have felt cold , but Australia ’ s winter had the highest average daytime temperatures on record . It was also the driest in 15 years .
Back at the start of winter the Bureau of Meteorology forecast a warm , dry season . That proved accurate , as winter has turned out both warmer and drier than average .
While we haven ’ t seen anything close to the weather extremes experienced in other parts of the world , including devastating rainfalls in Niger , the southern US and the Indian subcontinent all in the past week , we have seen a few interesting weather extremes over the past few months across Australia .
Drier weather than normal has led to warmer days and cooler nights , resulting in some extreme temperatures . These include overnight lows falling below -10 º C in the Victorian Alps and -8 º C in Canberra ( the coldest nights for those locations since 1974 and 1971 , respectively ), alongside daytime highs of above 32 º C in Coffs Harbour and 30 º C on the Sunshine Coast .
During the early part of the winter the southern part of the country remained dry as record high pressure over the continent kept cold fronts at bay . Since then we ’ ve seen more wet weather for our southern capitals and some impressive snow totals for the ski fields , even if the snow was late to arrive .
Much of the country had drier conditions than average , especially in the southeast and the west . Image : Bureau of Meteorology
This warm , dry winter is laying the groundwork for dangerous fire conditions in spring and summer . We have already had early-season fires on the east coast and there are likely to be more to come .
Climate change and record warmth
Australia ’ s average daytime maximum temperatures were the highest on record for this winter , beating the previous record set in 2009 by 0.3 º C . This means Australia has set new seasonal
Winter 2017 stands out as having the warmest average daytime temperatures by a large margin . Image : Bureau of Meteorology