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Canberra Today 12°/15° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Our dry, warm winter!

Canberra has recorded its driest winter since 1986.

THIS Canberra winter has seen the warmest daytime temperatures and the least amount of rain in three years according to the Weather Channel.

“Canberra’s winter was dominated by cold frosty nights, but record warm days,” The Weather Channel’s senior meteorologist Tom Saunders said.

“Minimum temperatures were a touch colder than normal averaging 0.4°C, but maximums averaged 13.8°C, nearly two degrees above normal and the highest on record.

“The old record was 13.7°C back in 2005 but data for Canberra goes back to 1961 so this is significant.

“The warm winter was due mainly to the dominance of high-pressure systems which blocked cold fronts from penetrating mainland Australia. This allowed warm air from the tropics to move south over more southern latitudes.”

Mr Saunders said June proved extremely dry with only 8.8mm of rain, the driest June since 1986 when only 6.6mm fell.

“Canberra recorded 86.0mm of rain this winter, making it the driest winter since 2008 when 83.4mm fell. Compared to last years winter rainfall total of 148.6mm, 2011’s figure is significantly less and also well below the long-term winter average of 128.0 mm,” he said.

“Looking ahead, we expect above average temperatures in Canberra to continue through spring due to warm sea surface temperatures off Australia’s western and southern coastline.”

 

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