Weather News

Hunter sitting under the heater

Kim Westcott, Wednesday May 18, 2016 - 15:12 AEST

Unseasonably hot and dry conditions are being felt across the Hunter this autumn.

For many locations throughout the Hunter, a consistent run of cool crisp autumn days has failed to materialise. Nobbys Head is on track to see its warmest autumn in over 50 years of records, with the nights and days running 1.7 degrees above the long term average.

It is a similar story at Williamtown, with autumn's combined temperatures the hottest recorded in 64 years, trending nearly two degrees above the norm. At Tocal, autumn is currently trending just over two degrees warmer than normal, the hottest it has been in at least four decades.

Many Hunter residents will remember that last autumn as the one for the record-breaking rain. Several deep rain-bearing systems moved over the region this time last year causing extensive damage and flooding. Williamtown, Tocal and Maitland were among those that experienced their wettest autumn on record.

Under the prolonged sunny skies, autumn this year has been a different story. Tocal has only seen 150mm this season, about 1200mm less than last autumn. Maitland has picked up 60mm so far this autumn, 400mm less than last autumn. Nobbys Head has seen around half of the average autumn rainfall, with 166mm recorded so far this season.

These hotter and drier than normal conditions were on the back of a very hot summer Australia as a whole. As the El Nino draws to an end, we should see a trend to wetter conditions heading into winter.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2016

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