Hot days ahead as temperatures soar
TEMPERATURES will nudge close to 40C in parts of North Queensland this week, providing the first taste of summer.
Maximum temperatures in Charters Towers are expected to reach 38C today and tomorrow, while further to the northwest, in Georgetown, the mercury is tipped to hit 39C.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Kimba Wong said Townsville’s temperatures were expected to be a little warmer than usual, reaching a peak of 32C today – the hottest day since winter.
“For Townsville, the average is 29.5C (for October),” she said.
“It’s just coming up to a couple of degrees above the average. The further inland you go, the hotter it gets.”
Ms Wong said those living in the southeast corner of the state would suffer through extremely high temperatures, “up to 10-12C above average”.
“It’s not looking good for the next few days at least,” she said.
“Hopefully you guys won’t cop too much of that.”
Ms Wong explained westerly winds were dumping hot air from the state’s interior around the southeast, creating severe fire conditions before a cold front due later in the week.
“The temperature trend is warming up for Tuesday and cooling down on Friday,” she said.
BOM senior climatologist Dr Andrew Watkins said spring’s dry and warm start was likely to continue to the end of the year.
He said September had been “much drier than average” for large parts of the country.
Dr Watkins explained a positive Indian Ocean Dipole would likely remain the dominant climate driver until at least the end of spring, while a prolonged period of negative Southern Annular Mode could contribute to the dry and warm outlooks for eastern Australia through to November.
“With the warmest waters well away from Australia, our typical climate patterns have also shifted well away from the country,” he said.
“The month of October has a high chance of being drier than average for virtually the entire country.
“Our northern rainfall onset outlook suggests the first rains for the NT and Queensland are likely to arrive later than they usually do this year.”
Dr Watkins said days were likely to remain warmer across Australia, meaning there was an increased chance of early heatwaves and higher fire danger.