Nearly all of Australia was warmer than normal in 2023 despite starting the year under the La Niña climate pattern, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).
But the country’s ranking for warmth was relatively subdued in comparison to the extreme temperatures experienced around the globe in 2023, which was Earth’s hottest year on record.
The bureau published its annual climate summary key points for 2023 on Friday, with a subsequent, detailed summary due in early February.
It found Australia equalled its eighth warmest year on record, with the national mean temperature just shy of 1 degree Celsius warmer than the 1961-1990 average.
“Equal eighth highest in over 110 years of record is pretty high up there,” BOM climatologist Caitlin Minney said.
“I think the fact that the year is coming in in the top 10 warmest years on record for mean national temperature is something to be aware of.”
All bar one of the top 10 highest temperatures in Australia in 2023 were in Western Australia, where the two highest were recorded on the final days of the year.
This included Roebourne and Marble Bar, in WA’s Pilbara region, where the mercury hit 49.5C and 49.3C, respectively.
Temperatures nearing 50C are well known to the region.
In 1923 and 1924, Marble Bar earned the title of Australia’s hottest town when it recorded the longest heatwave — 160 days over 37.7 degrees, which is still listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
But it was not just the Pilbara that was hot this year.
A look at the temperature anomaly’s for the country shows nearly all of Australia experienced higher-than-normal temperatures in 2023.
The warmest areas, compared to normal, were spread across central WA, southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, where temperatures were on average between 1.5C and 2.5C warmer than normal for the year.
“Two to three degrees is quite significant over a whole year,” Ms Minney said.
“It’s definitely seeing the impacts of the El Niño this year, and especially having quite a warm winter and into spring in those areas.”
Western Australia’s south-west corner experienced the most notable rainfall shortages, with some parts of the coast near Exmouth recording their lowest rainfall on record.
Parts of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland also finished 2023 drier than normal.
But deluges over the region from November and December helped take some of the sting out of the severe deficiencies experienced during winter and spring.
Meanwhile, northern Australia experienced higher than normal rainfall, particularly though inland Northern Territory and Cape York Peninsula.
For the Cape York Peninsula, much of this came in the final weeks of 2023 when Tropical Cyclone Jasper delivered over 2 metres of rain to some gauges in the Mossman Gorge region, and 1.9m of rainfall at the Kuranda Railway Station.
Parts of inland northern Australia were also given an unexpected boost to their annual rainfall totals in June when a unusual stream of tropical moisture dropped significant rain across the north of the country in the middle of its dry season.
While the year started off under the influence of La Niña, attention quickly turned to the brewing El Niño in the Pacific Ocean, which was declared officially underway by Australia’s BOM during September.
The climate driver is known to bring hot, dry weather to the country, particularly during spring and early summer.
Combined with the background warming of climate change, climate scientists warned Australia could be in for severe heat through spring and summer.
(ABC)
