Bureau tips ‘cool’ Yule

The South West recorded its third warmest spring, but the hotter than usual temperatures might be over as the Bureau of Meteorology predicts an average summer.

Spring was warmer than previous years, with the highest maximum recorded on Sunday, November 9, when the temperature reached 33.9C and the warmest minimum of 19.3C was the next day.

However, according to the bureau, the warm weather might stop as it is predicting the average maximum for December to the end of February to be 29.1C.

Bureau spokesman Neil Bennett said the average maximum predicted for January was 29.8C with average conditions.

“For December, it’s looking likely to be cooler than average which is 27.2,” he said.

“With rainfall, again you’re looking at not a great deal of rain, on average you get 32mm for those three months and we’re expecting it to be close to that.

“The average for December is 10mm and we’re expecting it to be close to that. We’re not expecting anything to be overly wet, it wouldn’t take a long dry spell for it to be below average.”

The yearly rainfall is expected to meet the average of 733.9mm, with 729mm recorded so far this year.

The bureau recorded about 7mm less rainfall during November than the 25.7mm average, as the weather changed from normal frontal features into inconsistent rainfall in localised areas.

“We are on track for a normal year,” Mr Bennett said.

“In terms of the temperature we are tracking for a warm year. It’s a bit early to say, we need a bit more information before we can make a call on that one.”

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