It’s hard to believe with this scorching weather that we’re not in the middle of summer right now. So it comes as no surprise that the steamy start to autumn has smashed national records, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
And it doesn’t seem like it’s going to let up soon.
It’s the driest January-February in parts of northern Australia in half a century, and the first three days of the month had higher temperatures than any previous March day.
The average maximum temperature of 38.14 degrees on March 2 broke a previous record that was held in July 1975.
We’ve seen below-normal rainfall in northern and inland areas because of weak monsoon activity, and there have been temperatures reaching as much as 12 degrees above average for the week to March 8.
By today, “we are going to be back into storms across all of Sydney,” Bureau forecaster Zach Porter told SMH. “There’ll be a major shift in the weather pattern. Most of the heat is pulling away gradually.”
Heavy rain is set to hit Sydney on Tuesday, but the high humidity is set to linger for the city, as well as 20-degree or warmer nights.
Melbourne, which has seen day-time temperatures four degrees above average every day this month, can expect to see a slight return to milder weather.
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