Australia experienced warmer and dryer conditions this October.
Sky News Meteorologist Rob Sharpe says it was record-dry for parts of southern and central Queensland.
Mr Sharpe said these regions experienced record-high temperatures in September as well.
“That’s part of the reason why the fires have been so nasty,” he said.
“It was also warmer than usual through the East, notably so for the NSW coastline but cooler than usual for the (Northern) territory.”
Reportedly, northwestern parts of WA experienced substantially hotter conditions.
Welcome to the town where a sunny Spring day could see the mercury hit 40 degrees.
Onslow, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, equalled Australia’s highest recorded temperature last January when it hit 50.7 degrees.
The same searing heat was previously recorded in Oodnadatta in South Australia in 1960.
Now, Weatherzone has reported that Onslow averaged a hefty 5.7 degrees above its long-term monthly average in October.
It averaged 38.6 degrees through the spring month, compared to the average of 32.9 degrees.
Weatherzone said the “remarkable anomaly” was caused by higher than normal air pressure over central Australia due to El Nino and the positive Indian Ocean Dipole.
(SKY NEWS/ 9 NEWS)
