Styx

A lot of April heat records today across a wide area of southern Australia. Sydney's maximum of 35.4c today exceeded the old April record by 1.2c. Eight locations in the Sydney Basin were up to one degree warmer. Up to the 9th Syndey is +5.5c above average with little change to that anomaly in the week to come. Sydney - Record April Maximum ( records since 1859 )....average 23 1......35.4.....2018 2......34.2.....2016 3......33.9.....1986 4......33.5.....1980 5......33.1.....2006 The April state record for South Australia was tied today. Tomorrow the state records for Victoria and New South Wales could potentially go. EDIT: A late maximum of 42.2c at Nullarbor, South Australia ...April state record.

Amazingly warm across Australia as we begin the middle month of autumn. By the middle of the month, a large proportion of the continent will be sitting somewhere between 3-5c above average. That will easily be enough to eclipse the April 2006 heat record for Australia if cooling isn't significant during the second half of the month. Here is a quote from meteorologist Blair Trewin writing about Bathurst ( 125 miles NW from Sydney ): "Bathurst Ag (already with 4 30+ days, with another 7 forecast) has a good chance of having more 30+ days this April than it's had in the last 108 Aprils put together (8)"

March - Hobart, Tasmania Warmer than average. A mean anomaly of +1.1c above 1981-2010 or +1.2c above 1961-1990. Average maximum: 21.4 ( +1.1 ) Average minimum: 11.4 ( +1.0 ) Rainfall: 39mm ( average 45mm ) Rain days (+1mm): 9/from 14 Generally settled and mostly dry until a westerly pattern set in from about the 18th, with windy periods and regular fronts bringing bands of rain and a few follow-up showers. Of the month's 14 days of precipiation, 11 were from the 18th. Very windy on the 18th/19th with wind gusts near and just above 100km/62mph in the city. Settled snow above 1000m overnight and into the 20th. Extremes in daily temperature for March ( records since 1883 ): Highest maximum: 30.1.....17th ( record 37.3 in 2008 ) Lowest maximum: 15.9.....26th ( record 8.9 in 1925 ) Highest minimum: 18.2.....11th ( record 21.1 in 1906 ) Lowest minimum: 7.1.....21st ( record 1.8 in 1926 )

If you don't mind we'll just nick a bit of that UK snow you've just had.. lots of thanks! Nothing unusual for March but it's nice to see a snowline above the city ( to about 1000m ) as a reminder of the change of seasons. A mountain summit minimum of -1.4c and city minimum of 8.6c ( 3 below average ). At 9am it is 11c.. sweater weather...heading for 16c.

Worst bushfire day of the season today with "up to 100 homes" destroyed in southern New South Wales, with emergency warnings still in place this evening. Another dozen homes were destroyed or damaged in south-west Victoria last night. Very windy in south-east Australia generally, with a dust storm in Canberra and very high temperatures preceding a dry squally and cooler change from the south.

TC Marcus has been upgraded to a Category 2 system this morning and is expected to cross Darwin on Saturday afternoon ( local time ) with forecast wind gusts to 130km/80mph - with possibly as much as 150mm of rain in the next 24 hours. Marcus is the fourth cyclone to cross the Australian coast this cyclone season ( about average ), another three have stayed out at sea. There may be another one on the way for the Top End next week.

BoM declares it the second warmest summer on record for Australia "...summer's exceptional warmth was more the result of prolonged, widespread, low-intensity warm weather rather than individual heatwaves". Western Australia looks cool but it's a bit deceptive ranking 38th coolest summer in 118 years. Temperature Anomalies Compared To 1961-90: Dec....+1.1 Jan...+1.3 Third warmest Feb...+0.6 Near average rainfall across Australia .. Western Australia 10th wettest. Queensland was one-third down from average but no top 10 ranking for them.

Constitution Hill, Swansea?

No intense heatwaves - or a high number of intensely hot days - for the major Australian centres this summer. I have used the 40 degrees Celcius mark as the yardstick, it's also a figure that gets a greater amount of media attention down here. The numbers are for the main city sites which have a fairly long recordset. Suburban and outer Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide would have had a higher tally compared to the city sites which are more susceptible to sea breezes. Outer Perth managed a couple of 40 degree days too, even though the Perth city didn't quite manage to get there.

I'm just wondering what the record low temperatures for March in the UK are? How low could it potentially go at the start of next month and how would the extremes compare to Marchs of recent years. Nice reading, hope all goes well

Third cyclone of the season due to cross an unpopulated stretch of the Western Australia coast tonight... all three cyclones this summer have been low scale with land crossings in roughly the same area, but rainfall totals have been large. The more populated Queensland coastline has been comparatively quiet for 40 years, but when a cyclone has come in there in recent times, they have packed a punch. Interesting to see what happens over the next couple of months. It has been a quiet summer in Australia for big weather events, especially considering what the last few years have delivered.

January - Hobart, Tasmania This was the equal warmest January in 135 years of records, a tie with 2003. It is the fourth month in a row for record or near-record warmth; both October and November set new records for mean temperature and December ranked second. There has been no four-month period of high monthly anomalies like this since records began in 1882. In fact, there hasn't been three, so this is new territory. The Tasmania-wide heat ranks for the last four months shows a corresponding heightened period of heat. For January, the Hobart anomaly was +1.95c ( compared to 1981-2010 ) or +2.25c above 1961-1990. This month also saw the warmest January night ( official minimum ) , a record set on the 29th. Average maximum: 24.4 ( +2.2 ) Average minimum: 14.3 ( +1.7 ) Rainfall: 22mm ( average 47mm ) Rain days (+1mm): 3/from 7 Very warm and dry, settled, with a lingering warmth from the continent. There were 7 days of precipitation. Weak fronts crossing southern Tasmania brought 0.2mm on the 7th and 10th. A strong front crossing from the west brought 6mm on the night of the 12th, then cool onshore winds from the south brought frequent showers and 11mm on the 13th. A clearing shower on the 14th with 0.2mm. Dry until the 29th with a front crossing during the day bringing 5mm. Cooler west-southwesterly winds on the 30th with 0.6mm of showers. Another front later in the day to bring a few showers overnight and through the 31st . A dusting of snow to 1000m early in the morning. Extremes in daily temperature for January ( records since 1883 ): Highest maximum: 36.7.....28th ( record 41.8 in 2013 ) Lowest maximum: 15.8.....13th ( record 11.1 in 1885 ) Highest minimum: 23.9.....29th ( previous record 23.4 in 2013 ) Lowest minimum: 8.4.....31st ( record 3.3 in 1902 ) Historical month for warmth...again ....and the record warm January night

Australia had its third warmest January, it's been a while since the national monthly rank was so high Tasmania alone is going through something more astonishing: Second warmest October, warmest November, second warmest December and now the second warmest January. Hobart and other individual places have racked up 2 or 3 record warm months out of the last 4 . Never seen anything like it. The Southern Ocean, Tasmania's biggest climate driver, appears to have settled into a deep slumber with settled continental warmth taking over. This is elevating sea temperatures, especially on the eastern side.

I have never seen a muskox before so it's nice to see one. The way I interpret these stories - and others are going to interpret them in a different way - is a range of environmental changes over time are causing the trend line reduction in the numbers of a lot of native species, so adding the consequences of environmental change brought about by the forecast higher temperature levels, the tipping point is logically going to be elevated quite a bit, tipping them over. So it's a domino chain. Perhaps journalists could improve the way they write their stories up even for their local audience? That could help the situation.

Perth had ten times its average January rainfall overnight, from the remnants of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Joyce which crossed the central Western Australian coast last week as a weak Category 1 system. 97mm in the city up to 9am Tuesday, January average 9.7mm. It is the second wettest January day ( and so far the third wettest January overall ) since rain records began in 1876. Perhaps another 20mm top up on Tuesday. Perth Wettest Januarys ( records since 1876 ): 1.....139mm in 2000 2.....115mm in 1982 3.....104mm in 2017 ( up to 9am the 16th ) 4.....55.1mm in 1879 5.....51.4mm in 1990

Sydney 43.4c today before harbour breezes and Canberra 40.2c - fourth hottest January days ( records since 1859 in Sydney and 1939 in Canberra ). In suburban and outlying parts of Sydney there were numerous readings of 45s, a couple of 46s and a high of 47.1c at Penrith Lakes. Yesterday, 41.7c in Melbourne and 42.3c in Adelaide ( well off their record highs ). It does seem lucky to me that firefighters had a relatively quiet weekend, a couple of solid heat days. 41.7c to 20.7c ( to 3pm )... Bass Strait air conditioner effect ..

Nasty bushfire weather in south-east Australia this weekend with strong winds and extreme heat reaching the coastal fringe for the first time this summer. Melbourne 42c, Adelaide 41c, Hobart 34c on Saturday then close to 40c in Canberra and Sydney city on Sunday.

It is quite fascinating and I notice knocker was onto it from the beginning. In a warming world it is comforting to appreciate that the dynamics at play can still introduce us to good old-fashioned severe cold outbreaks with record lows. Encouraging for local weather observers in the temperate regions in the north and in the south!

December - Hobart, Tasmania Second warmest December in 136 years of records, just behind 1994. The mean anomaly was +2.1c compared to 1981-2010 ( figures below ) or +2.4c above 1961-1990. The mean monthly minimum temperature set a new record ( the third month in a row! ), the mean maximum was well up, but a few Decembers have been significantly warmer. Average maximum: 22.5 ( +2.1 ) Average minimum: 13.4 ( +2.0 ) Rainfall: 101mm ( average 56mm ) Rain days ( +1mm ): 4/from 10 This months special event was a cold wet and windy weekend on the 2nd/3rd with significant settled snow in highland areas, as low as 900m. A strong upper low pressure system developed over southern Australia, with an intense surface low developing off Tasmania's north east coast. 92mm fell in Hobart over three days, with the upper reaches of the mountain switching between settled blizzards and rain. The low weakened moving south eastward and conditions cleared to cool. Another 8mm on the 7th as a weaker low moved southward down Tasmania's east coast. The rest of the month was mild to warm, largely settled and dry but cloudy at times, under high pressure conditions across southern Australia. Onshore winds behind weak Southern Ocean fronts brought just a local shower, with just 1mm all up after the 9th. Extremes in daily temperature for December ( records since 1882 ): Highest maximum; 32.3.....28th ( record 40.6 in 1897 ) Lowest maximum: 12.9.....3rd ( record 10.2 in 1964 ) Highest minimum: 20.0.....28th ( record 23.9 in 1920 ) Lowest minimum: 8.5.....8th ( record 3.3 in 1906 ) Historical warmth...third month in a row

Another warm year in Australia in 2017 difficult to envisage circumstances ever changing to draw the averages back down to what they used to be. Nationally averaged rainfall close to average... Western Australia benefited from an active, tropical Indian Ocean. The sea surface temperature hasn't yet been collated but interest there, especially for the Tasman Sea, a big trajectory upwards, Tasman Sea particularly may break last years big record. Interestingly here in Tasmania, we were level pegging with the 1961-90 temperature average up until September - then the second warmest October, warmest November and second warmest December finished things off escalating the yearly average substantially.

Here is the Christmas Day temperature forecast for the Hobart area. Looking comfortable this year. Dry, partly sunny and cool. I have placed the forecasts over a topographic map I found from NASA. Enjoy!

Canberra fell well short of its December record today - presumably too cloudy ahead of the trough line. Greater Sydney had a maximum of 44.1c ( at Penrith Lakes 35 miles west of the CBD : Pic ). This is a growing satellite city of Sydney, the artificial lake area is parkland and reforested grounds. I don't know it personally but looks like a nice place to live but too prone to outback heat bursts ( 40-47c ). They have only had records since 1995 though but a record is a record.. Richmond, to the north west of the CBD had the next highest maximum of 42.9c. It has a longer record set, it fell short of beating its old mark by a degree. Penrith Lakes

Very hot weather moving into the settled inland parts of south-east Australia on Tuesday. Canberra's forecast maximum of 39c will go close to the December record ( 39.2c in almost 80 years of continuous records ). The western side of Sydney has forecast temperatures of 43c and 44c ( the highest December reading for the Greater Sydney area is 43.9c , but record keeping has been fragmented on this side of Sydney over the last 80 years ). The harbour suburbs and the CBD will get the usual seabreeze relief.

Heavy snow in central Tasmania over the weekend ( elevation 900-1100m ). There were reports of 30-40cm ( 10-15 inches ). Snow will occasionally settle during the summer months in highland areas but I have never seen so much snow in the summertime before. The police closed roads, came to the aid of motorists and power was knocked out to settlements in the area. Everywhere else at lower levels had consistent rain for 36-48 hours, with bigger falls in the east and south-east, as an intense low pressure system ( 980HpA ) remained close to stationary off the north-east coast, also bringing gales. Hobarts maximum was 13c on Saturday and 11c on Sunday with almost 100mm falling over a 3 day period and very windy.

November - Hobart, Tasmania A phenomenal month for heat with a tropical element. The mean temperature record for November, set in 1921, was obliterated. The anomaly was +2.9c above 1981-2010 ( in brackets below ) or +3.1c above 1961-90. There has never been such a crushing record renewal for any calendar month. The record warm November follows on from a record warm October. Average maximum: 22.4 ( +3.5 ) Average minimum: 12.1 ( +2.2 ) Rainfall: 46mm ( average 54mm ) Rain days (+1mm): 8/from 12 Cool with occasional showers at first in a fresh southerly airstream, as a slow moving high approached from the west. Light snow cover to near 700m into the 3rd and above 1000m on the 4th, then mild and sunny. The highs passage to the east set up a historic blocking pattern for the second half of the month. Persistent warmth and slightly humid in a north east wind running down Australia's eastern side, with weak south east sea breezes not doing much. The 6 day run of 25+ days beat the Spring record of 4, but fresh and early sea breezes stopped the run going any further. Becoming unsettled with rain areas and skirting thunderstorms between the 25th-27th, ahead of a cooler drier change following the passage of a cold front. High pressure building to the east quickly again with a pickup in temperatures to finish Spring off, but this time temporary. Extremes in daily temperature for November ( records since 1882 ): Highest maximum: 33.1.....30th ( record 36.8 in 1937 ) Lowest maximum: 13.6.....2nd ( record 8.6 in 1885 ) Highest minimum: 17.3.....26th ( record 19.9 in 1937 ) Lowest minimum: 4.7.....6th ( record 0.3 in 1913 ) Massive heat records: