BOM warns more warm weather coming

GET ready to swelter as the winter we still haven't really had goes all summery over the next few days.

Bundaberg's temperature hit a high of 25C yesterday, but the Bureau of Meteorology is warning there is more warm weather to come.

In fact, Bundaberg's high temperature was in line with our nearest neighbours, with Hervey Bay on a high of 25C too and Maryborough beating that with 27C.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Vikash Prasad said the average temperature for July was 22C, so yesterday was only 3C hotter.

But today the temperature in Bundaberg is predicted to hit 26C.

“It should stay at 26C for Saturday and Sunday,” he said.

“Then it will drop back to about 22C on Monday and 21C on Tuesday.”

Mr Prasad said the high temperatures were not unusual, but they did not often stretch over a period of days.

The warmest July day recorded in Bundaberg was back in 1964, when the temperature hit 29C.

Bundaberg's coldest July day was in 1967, when the temperature struggled up to a high of 10.7C.

“It's not going to be a record, but it will be an above-average couple of days,” Mr Prasad said.

Mr Prasad said the warm days were the result of a high pressure system that had been hanging around off the coast since last week.

“The high pressure system in the Tasmanian Sea is pushing north to north-easterly winds on to the coast, and that's the reason for the warmer temperatures,” he said.

“In July it's more usual for winds to come from the south or the south-west, and that keeps things cooler.”

The warm days ahead seem to give weight to a Bureau of Meteorology forecast of a warm spring.

In its national forecast for the next three months the bureau said the whole country was in for warmer nights.

Temperatures in Queensland are tipped to be well above average.

The forecast, which covers August to October, says warm conditions in the Indian and Pacific oceans are behind the sunny spring forecast.

Bureau data shows June was a little warmer than usual nationally.

The bureau's spring forecast shows rainfall is expected to be about average.

According to the US-based National Climatic Data Centre, the world is experiencing its hottest year on record.