IF you thought January in the Riverina was hot the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has confirmed the high temperatures created a new national record.
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January, for the whole of Australia, was described as being the hottest on record.
And while February has brought some early storms and rainfall across the Riverina the hot weather added to drought conditions. The unrelenting heat also created logistical challenges and as a result the Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre (LMC) management implemented some changes.
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LMC manager Paul Martin said the weekly lambs sale, on Thursdays, was moved to 7am from January 24. Mr Martin said the agreement between LMC and the Wagga Associated Selling Agents will stay in place until the end of February.
“The decision to change the start time has had a positive impact,” he said.
BOM data shows the mean temperature across the nation for January exceeded 30 degrees, the first time this has occurred in any month.
BOM senior climatologist Andrew Watkins said the heat through January was unprecedented in terms of both the duration of hot days and daily maximum temperatures right across the country. High pressure systems loitering in the Tasman sea were the major cause, in particular influencing the weather in the country’s south-east.
“The main contributor to this heat was a persistent high pressure system in the Tasman sea which was blocking any cold fronts and cooler air from impacting the south of the country,” Dr Watkins said.
Further north, a delayed onset to the monsoon, which has broken with a vengeance after dumping a metre of rain over Townsville in the last week, meant cooler, moist air did not keep a cap on temperatures in the tropics.
Dr Watkins said while seasonal climate drivers were a factor, climate change also played a role.