Warm days to continue

IT was an unseasonably warm and wet July for most of Tasmania, and more above average temperatures are on the way.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s Tasmanian July climate summary found temperatures were above average across the state for the time of year.

The mean daily maximum temperature for Hobart was 13.4C, which is 1.7C above the long-term average.

“It has been remarkably mild for winter, especially by day,” BOM climatologist Ian Barnes-Keoghan said.

“We really didn’t see many in the way of particularly cold days or nights.”

Mr Barnes-Keoghan said the relatively warm weather looked set to continue.

“It looks like the next three months are most likely to be warmer than average,” he said.

Tasmania’s total rainfall was 47 per cent above average, making it the eighth-wettest July on record, but rainfall totals were below average on the East Coast.

The mean maximum temperature for Australia as a whole was the secondwarmest on record for July at 2.22C above average. It was also the country’s driest July since 2002.

Climate Council acting chief executive Martin Rice said accelerating climate change continues to drive soaring temperatures and extreme weather events, including drought conditions, as a result of the nation’s rising greenhouse gas pollution levels.