Here’s to a sizzling summer

IT’S officially summer and Mother Nature has responded by gifting Hobart a mostly sunny day with a forecast top of 24C.

That is perfect weather for the new surf lifesaving season, which coincides with the start of volunteer patrols at the state’s major beaches.

And they are likely to see plenty of action, with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting a warmer than average summer for Tasmania.

TASMANIANS should brace for a warmer than average summer with the North and East coasts expected to have the hottest temperatures.

The East Coast, between Dunalley and St Helens, is also facing an above-normal bushfire potential, according to the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre.

The Bureau of Meteorology summer outlook has predicted temperatures across the state to regularly exceed the mean maximum over the next three months, recorded as 21.3C in Hobart, 23.9C in Launceston and 20.8C in Devonport.

“Currently we have an El Nino alert, meaning there is about a 70 per cent chance of an El Nino forming over the coming months, that’s probably one of the main drivers of this outlook,” manager of longrange forecasting Andrew Watkins said.

“We also have some higher pressures in the southern Tasman Sea and again that might be directing a little bit more onshore flow to the East Coast keeping the rainfall odds a little lower.”

Dr Watkins said there was a “slight chance” the southwest would be drier than average but for the rest of Tasmania rainfall was not expected to be exceptionally wet or dry.

He said Tasmania had just gone through one of the top 10 driest springs on record despite heavy rainfall on the East Coast and in the North-West last week.

“October was the third driest on record and it’s also been reasonably warm for Tasmania during the spring,” he said.

The recent rainfall has eased the strong drying trend during the late winter and spring with bushfire fuel moisture levels close to normal for early summer, apart from King Island, Circular Head and the far South-East.

“Only a relatively short drying period is needed to return the eastern coastal strip to dangerously dry conditions,” the Bushfire and Natural Hazards’ November 2018-19 seasonal bushfire outlook report said.

Tasmania Fire Service chief officer Chris Arnol said Tasmanians needed to be prepared for bushfires anywhere in the state this summer.

“On average, Tasmania experiences 1400 bushfires each summer,” he said. “Last year we had some early bushfire activity on the East Coast and this year we are expecting similar circumstances because the East Coast is again drier than average due to a lack of winter rainfall.”

With the arrival of summer, beach safety is the main focus for Tasmania’s surf lifesavers, as a number of the state’s nipp- ers splash into the new season for the 2018 Carlton Park Surf Festival.

The event beginning at Carlton Beach today aims to engage Tasmanians to be active in and around the water throughout the warmer months. Competitors will battle it out in an ocean swim and a beach run, with a youth board challenge kicking off the morning’s events.

Today is also the start of surf lifesaving patrols at a number of the state’s beaches.

Surf Life Saving Tasmania operations manager Boyd Griggs said more than 900 lifesaver volunteers will patrol some of Tasmania’s most popular shores.