Weather News

Darwin simmers into summer

Jess Miskelly, Sunday October 15, 2017 - 15:08 AEDT

The slow build of heat from what is supposed to be the cool Dry Season continues for the tropical capital, with October so far being the sixth consecutive month of above average daytime temperatures.

This comes immediately after both a July-to-September and September in which Top End daytime temperatures were the highest on record - at around 2 degrees above average for September. Though at first glance this seems small, the tropical climate is different to 'down south'. Across the year, monthly average temperatures tend to vary little compared to the daily temperature range. So the difference in Darwin average maxima for the coolest month of July and the warmest months of October and November is only 2 degrees yet it will often range from 20 to 35 degrees in a single 24 hour period. So a 2 degree anomaly in a monthly average is very significant.

Nights have also been unseasonably warm for Darwin lately with only 3 nights so far this October below the monthly average (compared to 11 for this time last year). That's 12 days this October when the temperature has not fallen below 25 degrees, even at night.

October often heralds the beginning of the Build-up's sticky combination of humidity and heat but usually this follows a cooler and much drier 'winter' than has been had in 2017.

With the night and day temperature forecasts remaining above 26 and 33 degrees respectively for the next week, we had better acclimatise.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2017

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