Weather News

Santa bringing cooler weather and rain to the interior

Ben McBurney, Thursday December 25, 2014 - 11:26 AEDT

Scorching temperatures are finally starting to drop over Australia's interior as Santa delivers cloud and rain for Christmas.

Australia's central and southern Northern Territory has been enduring a fiery start to summer with temperatures trending as much as four degrees above the December average in some parts.

A combination of below average cloudiness and above average sea surface temperatures have allowed an intense build-up of heat over the last few months, which has spilled into the start of summer.

Tropical moisture has been gradually building over the continent during the past few weeks, and has finally resulted in a thick buildup of cloud which is resulting in rain across the region.

Yesterday, steady rain capped the temperature at just 22 degrees at Alice Springs, 13 degrees below average. 10mm of rain also fell on the town, the heaviest rain since July.

Today it is expected to reach just 26 degrees at Tennant Creek due to rain and cloud, the coolest day since August.

Widespread falls of 10-20mm are likely to fall over the NT's Tanami and Barkly districts, with isolated heavy falls of 50mm.

A ridge of high pressure will push rain and cloud to the nation's tropics from Friday, with heat gradually building again towards the New Year.

- Weatherzone

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