By KATHRYN BERMINGHAM
FEELING the heat? This may be why.
Pakenham has just capped off an unusually warm summer, according to a local meteorologist.
Dean Sgarbossa, who specialises in thunderstorms, said that this summer’s average maximum temperature was 28.4 degrees Celsius – more than three degrees higher than the usual average of 25 degrees Celsius.
“December started off significantly warm compared to January or February, which is unusual given that usually it heats up throughout the summer,” he said.
Temperatures were consistently high throughout the three months, with Pakenham recording a total of 34 days when the mercury hit at least 30 degrees Celsius.
“To put that into perspective, a third of all summer days were over thirty,” Dean said.
The mercury peaked at a very warm 43.9 degrees Celsius on 13 January, before fluctuating around the mid-twenties for most of February.
However we did record slightly above-average rainfall, thanks to one particularly wet day. On 29 January, Pakenham recorded 42 millimetres of rain, which is almost the equivalent to the average January rainfall.
Looking to autumn, Dean says we can again expect a warmer-than-usual season.
“Effectively we’re looking at the chance of exceeding average temperatures, so it will stay quite warm,” he said.
“Minimum temperatures are also likely to be warmer than average in the autumn.”
