Australia weather sets records
08 January 2016 by News Desk
Australia has experienced the fifth-hottest year since records began in 1910.
Sydney had its third-warmest year on record with temperatures across the State one degree above average. 2015 was the seventh-hottest year since records began.
In Melbourne maximum temperatures reached one degree above average and across Victoria it was one degree warmer than average making it the seventh-hottest year.
Perth recorded its second hottest year on record with temperatures across the State matching levels equal to the record-breaking year of 2013.
Brisbane had near-average temperatures for the year, while across the State temperatures were the third-warmest on record, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Canberra in 2015 was the seventh-warmest year with 122 days that reached at least 25C during the year, well above the average of 89 days. The city had one of the hottest Decembers on record while residents also experienced the coldest night in 15 years.
Weather in Australia has been dominated by one of the biggest El Nino’s on record, causing both extreme rainstorm and long dry spells.
There were three record-breaking heat waves – in March across northern Australia and in October and December across the south. Tasmania, meanwhile, had a cool winter and even saw snow across northern NSW and into Queensland – another cold weather extreme.
For the past three years the spring season in Australia (September-November) has been the hottest on record.
For the last three months of 2015, average temperatures were almost two degrees higher than any seen since the 1960’s. October was 2.89 degrees higher than average and was the biggest rise for any month in the 106 years since records began.
Nationally, rainfall was about 5% below average. Three areas worst hit have been south-eastern Australia, inland Queensland and south-western Western Australia.
Globally, temperatures have risen by almost one degree over the past century with rising greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, clearing land and agriculture among the main causes.
