SPRING ARRIVES WITH A SPLASH

IN RECENT DECADES WE’VE SEEN THE TEMPERATURES RISE TO AROUND ONE DEGREE ABOVE THE LONG-TERM AVERAGE. LUKE JOHNSTON, BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY

TASMANIA has notched its second warmest winter on record, this year ranking the toastiest it has been since the winter of 1988.

Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Luke Johnston said August 10 was a particularly remarkable outlier, at almost 20C.

Overall, Mr Johnston said the state was roughly one degree above its seasonal average which is “pretty significant”, meteorologically speaking.

However, he said it was in line with the overall warming experienced by the rest of Australia due to climate change.

“Ongoing climate change does impact the temperatures we see in Australia and in recent decades we’ve seen the temperatures rise to around one degree above the long-term average,” Mr Johnston said.

“That all comes into play and has influences on the weather systems we see and can give a little more energy to the high-end weather systems.

“If a low pressure system develops, it might have more energy and there will be stronger winds and heavier rainfall as a result.”

In terms of rainfall, Hobart had 144mm over the three-month period from June to August, which is slightly below the seasonal average. Heading into spring, Mr Johnston said the forecasts were predicting a warmer-than-average season.

He said this was due to a negative Indian Ocean Dipole combined with a Southern Annular Mode combining to push temperatures up in Tasmania over the coming months.

However, he said rainfall was looking to be relatively unremarkable, with only slightly wetter-than-average conditions in the east and slightly drier conditions in the west.

The highlight for winter was August 10, the hottest day at a maximum of 19.7C, and June 22, the coldest day of 8.7C maximum.

He said Thursday was a bit hotter than normal for the second day of spring, about five to 10 degrees above the average.

In Launceston’s Civic

Square, Lisa Fernandez and Claire Campbell were among those enjoying the sunshine.

“We decided to have our work meeting outside to make the most of the weather,” Ms Fernandez said.

Ms Campbell said it was perfect weather for the Junction Arts festival currently under way in the city.

The warm weather isn’t expected to stay around for long with tops of 17C in Hobart and Launceston forecast for Friday.

“There’s a front coming across the state during the day with a slow moving band of rain,” Mr Johnston said.

“On the weekend it’s going to be relatively dry for most of the state and light showers in some area.”