According to a senior meteorologist, Sydney had its warmest July ever recorded, breaking the previous record that had been established in 2018.
By the middle of the afternoon on Monday, the temperatures in each of the capital cities of the eastern states had surpassed what had been predicted by at least one degree. Ben Domensino, a senior Weatherzone meteorologist, claimed that the temperature of 23.5 degrees Celsius in Sydney was sufficient to have pushed July’s average maximum over the previous record of 19.89 degrees Celsius, which was set in 2018. The first records of data were kept at Observatory Hill in 1858.
This week, the majority of Australia has continued to endure weather that is abnormally warm, with Sydney setting a new record high temperature. At the same time, Tasmania is experiencing record wind gusts that can be devastating.
After temperatures lingered approximately 8 degrees Celsius higher than typical for July over the weekend in certain regions of remote eastern Australia, it was anticipated that four of Australia’s eight major cities will reach at least 20 degrees Celsius on Monday. These cities include Sydney (22 degrees), Brisbane (27 degrees), Perth (20 degrees), and Darwin (33 degrees).
Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist with the Bureau, predicted that the warm conditions would last into the week and that the temperature would remain above average until at least Wednesday.
According to Hines, “It will cool off a few degrees, we’re shaving [the] very top off, but the vast majority of Australia is tracking for a warm few days.” “It will cool off a few degrees, we’re shaving [the] very top off.”
Temperatures on Monday were two to six degrees higher than average across the majority of the country, and over the weekend, the entire continent of Australia had temperatures that were at least one degree higher than average.
This past weekend saw several locations in New South Wales and Victoria break records for the hottest temperatures ever recorded in the month of July. Among these locations were Forbes Airport (22.6 degrees Celsius), Condobolin (24 degrees Celsius), Mount Nowa Nowa (24.8 degrees Celsius), Cooranbong, and Norah Head.
Temperatures in central and eastern Australia were forecasted to be only slightly higher than average on Tuesday, while the weather in Western Australia was still expected to be “really, really warm” and up to 8 degrees Celsius more than average into Wednesday.
As a cold front swept across the state on Wednesday, temperatures along the far western coastline were forecast to drop. This front was projected to gradually sweep across the southern states later in the week.
According to Hines, it was not uncommon for certain locations to have milder temperatures in the winter, but what was remarkable was the geographical spread of the phenomenon.
“It’s almost the entire country,” he remarked. “It’s almost the whole country.” “You’re going to have warm stretches across one area,” the weather forecaster said, “but seeing such an extensive breadth of warm weather is fairly unusual.”
On Sunday afternoon, the temperature in Sydney reached 25.2 degrees Celsius, and even higher temperatures were recorded in the western suburbs, where both Penrith and Bankstown reached 26 degrees Celsius by 2.30 p.m. The temperature was forecast to hit at least 20 degrees Celsius each of the next seven days.
On Saturday and Sunday, the temperature in Melbourne hit 18 degrees Celsius, while in Brisbane, it reached a high of 25.7 degrees Celsius, following a day on Saturday that reached 25.4 degrees Celsius and was the city’s warmest day so far this month.
The unseasonably pleasant winter weather arrives at a time when Europe is being ravaged by wildfires and heatwaves. According to the World Meteorological Organization, this month’s temperatures have broken records all around the world, and July is currently on course to be the hottest month that has ever been recorded.
Hines stated that the “heat [had] drifted south of the equator” was not the case but that there were contributing components, including warm ocean conditions.
The average surface temperatures of the oceans around the world were being reported as being significantly higher than usual, which was adding to the current circumstances in the area, with the water off the coast of Queensland being particularly warm.
During this time, Tasmania was being pummeled by increasingly powerful winds, and by Monday, the majority of the state was under a destructive wind warning. This occurred as a succession of cold fronts passed across the island.
According to Domensino, wind gusts on Monday morning reached 178 kilometres per hour, which is the same as the greatest wind ever recorded in Tasmania in the month of July.
It was anticipated that the final “vigorous” front would arrive on Monday afternoon and evening, bringing with it gale- to storm-force winds from the northwest to the west.
Hines cautioned that the extreme weather, in conjunction with the rising spring tides, would force the sea levels to surge significantly higher than high tide, which might lead low-lying coastal regions in the southern part of the state to be inundated.
It was anticipated that damaging winds of up to 65 kilometres per hour, peak gusts of more than 100 kilometres per hour, would continue across the entirety of Tasmania. Locally destructive winds of approximately 125 kilometres per hour were probable over the western and southern areas of the state.
Wind gusts of more than 120 kilometres per hour were recorded at eight different locations overnight, including 178 kilometres per hour at Maatsuyker Island and a record 143 kilometres per hour at Strahan airport early on Monday morning. Hines described the weather as “remarkably windy” overnight.
He forecasted that there would be another spike beginning on Monday afternoon, saying, “It’s calmed off a bit since early morning, but we’re not out of the woods yet. It is going to be difficult to go out there.
The State Emergency Service issued a warning to the neighbourhood to be on the lookout for downed power lines and trees, to bring any valuables that were left outside inside, and to prepare for any power disruptions.
It was anticipated that the winds would die down early on Tuesday.
