Hot spring across NSW
Tristan Meyers,
Tuesday December 1, 2015 - 17:56 AEDT
El Nino reared its head this spring, delivering a scorcher to New South Wales.
NSW just sweated through the 2nd hottest spring on record, and more broadly, the hottest spring since the outbreak of World War I. This was due in part to a very hot start to the season. The heatwave in October saw many locations smash their early heat records.
October as a whole was very hot. All stations across NSW recorded above average daytime temperatures, while southern and western parts of the state were a balmy 3-6 degrees above the daytime average.
The hottest temperatures recorded this spring were at 45.5 degrees two towns - Menindee and Mungindi. Both of these were during a late November heat spell.
Spring started out dry, but then storminess took over and delivered some healthy rainfall totals. Rainfall in November was near or above average, with the exception of parts of the Upper Western.
The influence of El Nino will begin to decay as we move further into summer. Climate models indicate that El Nino is near its peak, and will weaken over the first quarter of 2016.
Overall, NSW should expect a near-average summer in terms of rain, and average-to-slightly-above average temperature. Warmer than average sea surface temperatures off the NSW coast will act to increase moisture levels in the atmosphere. This indicates that northeast parts of the state could be stormier than usual, leading to an increased chance of greater than average rain in these regions.
- Weatherzone
© Weatherzone
2015