Extract from ABC News
Australia has just recorded its warmest winter on record.
Key points:
- The previous record was set in 1996 with +1.46 Celsius
- Southern Queensland's winter was 3C above average
- Some alpine regions had the lowest snow depth in 50 years
Bureau of Meteorology data shows the mean temperature across the country this winter was 1.53 degrees Celsius above the long-term average, and the highest since national records began in 1910.
The previous record was +1.46 Celsius set in 1996.
The figure is calculated by taking the average of minimum and maximum temperatures for 112 weather stations, spread out as evenly as possible around Australia.
The unseasonable warmth follows the global trend of record high temperatures during the past few months and extends Australia's run of above average winters to 11-in-a-row, with the last cooler than average winter back in 2012.
The record was the result of above average maximum temperatures across the entire country, and mild minimums in most regions apart from the western half of Western Australia.
For New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania it was the warmest winter on record, while for Victoria and South Australia it was the second warmest.
The greatest departure from normal was across southern Queensland where this winter was as much as 3C above average.
The absence of cold weather brought below average frost and near record low snowfalls.
Some alpine regions measured the lowest snow depth in 50 years, while the Blue Mountains west of Sydney experienced its first winter without a single snowfall this century.
While the season brought unseasonable heat, rainfall was near normal when averaged across the whole country — coming in at 4.2 per cent below the long-term average.
Although the nationwide average was normal, rainfall was variable, including the lowest totals on record near the NSW South Coast and in a small pocket north of Perth.
Winter rain was well above average over much of northern Australia due to a rare dry season cloudband in late June and early July.
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