Extreme heat in the midst of the Big Wet for northern Australia—what's going on with the weather?
After a wet and unusually cool spring for much of Australia, the start of meteorological summer is bringing a heatwave to the north of the continent. Even in our La Niña summer we can expect spells of heat, and it's important ...
Heat is building across northern Australia and the area may see temperatures over 40℃ for the next few days. Some parts will experience temperatures more than 5℃ above average. These are quite big departures for tropical regions, which normally experience less variable temperatures than places such as Melbourne or Adelaide.
Relief from the heat is expected early next week as more moisture allows wetter conditions, which will cool things back down.
As a La Niña event continues, people may be surprised to see a major heatwave in northern Australia. La Niña brings generally wetter and cooler conditions. However, there are other climate influences on Australia that can counteract its effects, and weather systems can still bring heat to the continent.
The negative Indian Ocean Dipole, which was combining with La Niña to provide the ingredients for a wetter-than-normal spring, has dissipated. The Madden-Julian Oscillation, which is a pulse of enhanced cloud followed by clearer skies that moves from west to east near the equator, is not very strong at the moment. This allows drier conditions conducive to heat to build over the north of the continent.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting extreme heatwave conditions to persist through the weekend across parts of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. Credit: Bureau of Meteorology