Scorcher sees weather records smashed

WEATHER forecasters predicted hot conditions would hit, and they did, with temperature records smashed across the region.

Yesterday’s heatwave-like conditions caused all-time September high temperatures in Toowoomba, Warwick and Gatton.

SCORCHING SEPTEMBER: Toowoomba builder
Luke Maiden cools off during yesterday’s hot conditions.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jim Richardson said Toowoomba hit 34.9 degrees at 3.04pm yesterday after hitting 33.3 degrees on Sunday.

The previous Toowoomba September record was set on September 26, 2013, with 34.4 degrees.

Mr Richardson said Warwick also broke its record for its hottest September day, recording 36.6 degrees at 2.13pm yesterday.

Its previous hottest temperature was 35.1 degrees.

Gatton was the hottest of them all, getting a maximum temperature of 39.5 degrees at 1.57pm yesterday.

That broke the record set on Sunday with 38.7 degrees.

Also breaking September records were Applethorpe with 31.7 degrees, Miles with

39.5 degrees, Dalby with 37.6 degrees and Wellcamp airport which recorded 37.4 degrees.

Mr Richardson called the conditions a “low-intensity heatwave”.

“So (it will) probably moderate a bit today and then cool down by the

weekend a fair bit,” he said.

Toowoomba will see a reprieve from the hot weather that will set in from today, with 32 degrees forecast for today, 28 degrees for tomorrow and 23 degrees for Sunday and Monday with the chance of showers.

Outside of the Toowoomba region, other Queensland towns also broke September all-time high records yesterday including Ipswich 39.3, Beaudesert 37.3 degrees, Kingaroy 35.9 degrees, Maroochydore 35.7 degrees, Nambour 35.9 degrees and Tewantin 35.4 degrees.

Read The Chronicle story - “Scorcher sees weather records smashed.”

Melbourne weather: Hotter than average summer despite plenty of cool days

Feeling confused about the weather in Melbourne this summer? You're not alone - it's been a strange one.

A summer storm rolls across the city on
Christmas Eve. Three days later
Melbourne sweated through its hottest
 day of the season. 

The city is on track to pass an entire summer without cracking 40 degrees, despite early predictions of a particularly hot and dry season.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Rod Dixon said Melbourne has experienced unusually cool weather, with multiple days where the mercury has stalled at 17 degrees.

But repeated spells of scorching weather have nonetheless led to a slightly hotter-than-average summer.

Read Alexandra Laskie’s in today’s Melbourne Age - "Melbourne weather: Hotter than average summer despite plenty of cool days.”