Weather News

Temperature ups and downs

Ben Domensino, Monday October 10, 2016 - 10:56 AEDT

The spring seesaw is in full swing across Australia this week, with temperatures varying markedly between capital cities across the country.

Cold fronts at this time of year can produce large and rapid fluctuations in temperature, as hot northerly component winds get replaced by much cooler southerlies.

These temperature changes are most pronounced during spring, due to the land heating more rapidly than the oceans surrounding Australia.

A hot air mass from inland Australia is currently being driven across the eastern states ahead of a blustery cold front. This is the same front that produced damaging winds in Victoria on the weekend, and threatens to produce gales in far southern Victoria and parts of the ACT and New South Wales today.

Sydney's forecast top of 32C today is the city's warmest day since April and 10 degrees above average for this time of year. Brisbane's 29C today is about three degrees warmer than usual for October.

Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra and Adelaide are all on the cooler side of the front today, with all four cities forecast to reach a top of 17 degrees or lower. Hobart's 14C makes this the coldest day in over three weeks and Adelaide's 16 degree top is six below average for this time of year.

A blustery cool change will sweep through Sydney in the early evening and reach Brisbane during the day on Tuesday, dropping the temperature by 11 and five degrees in 24 hours respectively.

While temperatures are dropping in the east tomorrow, the spring seesaw continues as the next pulse of hot air builds in the west. Perth is forecast to jump to 26 degrees on Tuesday and 32 on Wednesday, both the warmest days since April for the city.

The hot air masses sweeping across southern Australia this week are originating in the nation's north.

Darwin is having a hot week, reaching 35-36 degrees each day through until at least the weekend, which is 2-3 degrees above the October average. October and November are typically Darwin's hottest months before wet season cloud builds at the end of the year.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2016

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