Remarkably warm weather is set to strike the Sunshine Coast next week, in a sign of things to come.
After months of cool conditions, the temperature should climb to 31 degrees Celsius in the hinterland and to 29 degrees Celsius on the coast.
That’s about seven degrees higher than the average maximum for winter.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Harry Clark explained why.
“Next week’s temperatures should tend to be well above average across the Sunshine Coast and much of the state,” he said.
“The heat’s genesis is over central Australia.
“We haven’t had any significant cold fronts there, so the heat is really building up through the interior and the north of the country.
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“Temperatures out there, during the next few days, will be in the high 30s, which is amazing for August. That’s 12 to 15 degrees above average in central Australia.
“As we get into next week, we will get a trough of low pressure come across from the west and the north-westerly winds associated with that trough will drag some of that heat from the central parts of Australia to South-East Queensland.”
The thermometer at Nambour should reach 30 by Monday and 31 by Wednesday, while measurements at Sunshine Coast Airport should hit 28 by Monday and 29 by Wednesday. It’s not yet clear whether readings could be even higher in following days.
The heat is unlikely to be record-breaking on the Sunshine Coast, but it should be relatively rare.
“In 2009, we had a similar sort of setup with a relay intense burst of late winter heat,” Mr Clark said of the August record of 35 degrees Celsius at the airport.
“We only exceed 30 degrees in August once every five years so it is unusual to see this level of heat and, depending on what temperature it gets to, it could very well have our warmest winter day since that 2009 event.”
The hot spell could be a precursor to a warm spring.
The long-range climate outlook shows there is a greater than 80 per cent chance of temperatures exceeding the average maximum, across most of Australia, from September to November.
The forecast ties in with the trend associated with climate change, with warmer seasons in general.
The Bureau’s official seasonal outlook is due within the next fortnight.
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