Weather News

Northwestern NSW loses its cool

Brett Dutschke, Thursday February 26, 2015 - 10:07 AEDT

Northwestern New South Wales has been running two-to-four degrees above average for the past fortnight or so and a significant cooler change is still a week away.

While southern and central NSW has just had the first decent southerly change in about three weeks this change has barely penetrated the north.

The area northwest of about Nyngan to Lightning Ridge and also parts of the central coast have gone more than a fortnight without cooling below 20 degrees. Bourke last cooled below 20 degrees on February 4th and Tibooburra on February 3rd. Today Cobar cooled below this threshold for the first time in three weeks.

For Bourke this is already the longest warm spell since 2009 when an intense heatwave affected much of inland Australia. With a cooler change still a week away, the region is on track for its longest warm spell since 2006.

By the time the cooler change arrives late next week the far northwest will have gone more than four weeks above 20 degrees.

This warm spell is exceptionally late in the season.

You have to go back to 1901 to find the last time Bourke stayed this warm for longer this late in the season. In that year it stayed warmer than 20 degrees from February 5th to March 15th.

This current warm spell has come about because of the jet-stream being so far south that fronts have been confined to the south of the state. As a result, winds have generally been easterly or northeasterly, blowing warm, moist air from the Pacific Ocean which has been warmer than normal at the surface.

It is the humidity which has held temperatures up overnight but unfortunately, for many, it has not translated into much rain.

Despite Cobar having had two more rain days compared to the February average it has only gained 17mm, 27mm below the long-term norm for the month.

The warmth, humidity and high frequency of rain has allowed mosquitoes to thrive for longer than most recent summers.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2015

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