From Weatherzone
Australia just had its warmest winter in more than a century of records with lean snow cover and prolific lightning rounding out an almost unrecognisable season.
Australia’s national mean temperature in winter 2023 was 16.73ºC, which is 1.53ºC above the 1961-1990 average. This was the country’s highest mean winter temperature in records dating back to 1910. The previous record anomaly was +1.46ºC in 1996.
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| Random fluctutaions from year to year, but the trend is very clear. |
It was also Australia’s 2nd warmest winter based on daytime warmth, with an average maximum temperature of 23.65ºC, which is 1.85ºC above the 1961-1990 average. The only warmer winter was 2017, which had a maximum temperature anomaly of +1.94ºC.
Australia’s 2023 winter unfolded against a backdrop of record-breaking global warmth, with July ranking as the planet’s warmest calendar month on record.
In the Australian region, several broad scale influences also helped suppress rainfall and increase temperatures, particularly during the second half of the season.
Developing El Niño and positive Indian Ocean Dipole patterns to the east and west of Australia reduced atmospheric moisture in the Australian region in recent weeks. These developing climate drivers helped suppress cloud and increase daytime temperatures in many areas, especially towards the end of the season.
Many of the cold fronts that usually sweep over Australia in winter were also pushed south by blocking high pressure systems in winter. This caused unusually warm and dry weather over parts of southern Australia and played a big role in starving the Alps of snow.
Like many areas of the planet in 2023, the last three months will go down as the warmest June to August period on record for Australia.
Looking ahead, most forecast models suggest that this abnormally warm and dry weather will longer into the start of spring as well.
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