Tamworth has recorded the hottest average temperatures on record for 2018, and while that might not surprise many, what is alarming is that the Bureau have said that we might have to get used to it.
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On Tuesday the Bureau of Meteorology dropped their March 2018 Climate Summary which showed that the entire state has sweltered through above average temperatures this year.
The North West region has been particularly hard hit, with the hot weather accompanied by only 66.6mls of rain recorded at the Tamworth Airport.
While many have called the long hot dry “unseasonable” BoM Senior Climatologist Felicity Gamble said that it merely fits the pattern of climate change that is “in line with trends and projections.”
That 66.6ml of rain is the driest Summer the Tamworth region has seen since 1998, while the average daytime temperature of 32.3 degrees is also the hottest seen since 1998.
Even more alarmingly is the fact that the mercury hasn’t been dropping at night, which has seen March record the highest temperature mean on record.
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“We are obviously seeing long term global and oceanic trends of climate change,” Ms Gamble said.
“We are seeing very strong high pressure systems over much of southern Australia, a lack of clouds, no rain fall and winds blowing over some very warm ground which is drying the region out even further.
“April is generally the lowest month of rainfall so it is not good news for agriculture but the rain will come – it just looks like it will be later in the year.”
According to Weatherzone there is no reprieve in sight yet, with Tamworth facing at least another full week of temperatures above 30 degrees, with next Monday expected to top out at 34 degrees.
Traditionally Tamworth locals experience the first frost of the season around Anzac Day, although with night time temperatures still sitting well above single figures that looks unlikely.
“We have just come to the end of a fairly weak La Nina – it was short lived and had no great impact on rainfall patterns,” Ms Gamble said.
“We are now in a phase where all climate drivers are neutral. These transition phases mean that forecasting does not have a lot of accuracy, although we are not likely to see any broad scale extremes either way for April.”
“The forecast looks dry but at some stage the rain will come.”
