Warm start to winter sets record

If it has felt like it has been warm so far this winter in Albany, that’s because it has been.

With a mean maximum of 20.8C for the first six days of winter, Albany has recorded its warmest start to the cold season since records began at Albany Airport in 1965.

The warmest start to winter previously was in 2015, when the average maximum reached 20.7C after the first six days.

Temperatures soared above 22C on Thursday and Friday to open the month and, after dropping to around 17C on Saturday and Sunday, there was another spike on Monday and Tuesday.

Three of the last four winters now make up the top-three warmest starts to the season, with 2014 registering a mean maximum of 20.6C.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicted a drier-than-average winter for 2017 in Albany, with cool temperatures in the Indian Ocean and warmer ones in the Pacific expected to limit rain in the region.

BoM Albany station duty observer Jenny Feast said the lack of rainfall would also be matched by warmer temperatures.

“It looks like we will see above average daytime temperatures — night-time temperatures will also be warmer,” she said.

“They are influenced by that warming tropical Pacific sea surface temperature and the cooler Indian Ocean.”

So far this month, just 4.4mm of rain has fallen.