Australia swelters through the third hottest summer ever recorded
Australia has endured its third warmest summer on record.
Statistics released this week by the Bureau of Meteorology show that in the December-February period the country was 1.62 degrees Celsius above the 30-year average of 1961-1990.
It marks the third warmest summer since national records began in 1910 – behind only previous records from 2018-19 and 2019-20.
The national average maximum temperature was 1.73 degrees Celsius above average, and the national average minimum temperature was 1.5 degrees Celsius above average.
Australia has endured its third hottest summer on record, with figures (pictured) showing the country experienced its third warmest period from December to February
The scorching temperatures created ideal conditions for people to cool off on the beach (beachgoers in the photo)
Western Australia has endured a particularly hot summer.
The average temperature was 1.90 degrees Celsius above average, making it the hottest summer on record in the state.
“Average maximum temperatures were above average for Tasmania, most of Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales, the Northern Territory and Queensland and parts of north-west and far eastern Victoria,” the agency said.
‘Average summer minimum temperatures were above average for almost all of Australia and the highest on record for southeastern Queensland, northeastern New South Wales, the Cape York Peninsula and parts of inland Western Australia and the top of the Northern Territory.’
The high averages were caused by heatwaves across most of the country in December and February, while temperatures soared in Western Australia and the central and southern states in January.
The hottest day recorded during the summer was 49.9 degrees Celsius on February 18 at Carnarvon Airport in Western Australia.
The coldest temperature recorded during the period was 4.6 degrees Celsius at Mount Read in Tasmania on December 30.
The above-average temperatures were caused by heatwaves across the country, with Western Australia (photo from Nambung National Park) bearing the brunt of the extreme conditions
The national average maximum temperature was 1.73°C above average and the national average minimum temperature was 1.5°C above average (weather map in photo)
It was also a wet summer with precipitation 18.9 percent above average.
While rainfall was above average for most of eastern Australia throughout the season, “areas of western and central Western Australia, the southern Northern Territory and Tasmania had a drier than average summer,” the agency said.
“Significant flooding associated with tropical systems affected large parts of northern Australia during the summer, while severe thunderstorms caused extensive flooding in parts of the eastern and southeastern mainland,” the agency said.
Looking ahead to the fall, the agency says it expects warmer days and nights.
“(The agency’s long-term forecast) shows most of Australia has at least an 80 percent chance of above-average temperatures this autumn,” the agency said.