The overnight minimum in Mount Gambier was five degrees. That’s the usual winter average minimum and six degrees lower than the January average.
For the period from February to April, the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting cooler than average daytime temperatures in the southeast of the country.
After last year’s heat wave, most people will welcome that.
According to the bureau, the pattern of seasonal temperature odds across Australia is due to higher than average temperatures in both the Pacific (El Niño) and Indian Oceans, with the Pacific influence being dominant.
The chance that the average February-April maximum temperature will exceed the long-term median maximum temperature, is between 60 and 85 percent northeast of a line from Derby in northern WA to Sydney, and between 60 and 65 percent in western WA (see map). This means that for every 10 years with ocean patterns like the current, about six to eight February to April periods would be expected to be warmer than average over these areas, while about two to four would be cooler.
In contrast, there is a 60 to 70 percent chance of cooler than normal days averaged across the season over Tasmania, Victoria, southern and western SA and the southern fringes of NSW.
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