It’s Official: Brisbane Summer of 2016/17 Hottest Yet

I’ve been very quiet lately on this blog, my last post being Heatwave in Australia: Part One. There is a good reason for that, I’ve just moved house for the first time since moving to Australia over nine years ago. I mentioned that in my post called Moving House in Australia.

Thankfully everything is beginning to come under control now, so I have time to post a few videos. I remember mentioning somewhere on this blog that this year it has been the hottest summer since I arrived here. Well, autumn began on Wednesday, 1 March and it’s now official; Brisbane has just had its hottest EVER summer on record.

Just in case this video disappears as they sometimes do, here are the highlights of what was said:

  • Brisbane recorded its hottest summer to date
  • The average temperature in Brisbane throughout summer was 26.8°C when you combine the minimum and maximum temperatures and that was the highest value on record
  • South-east Queensland had two significant heatwaves this summer
  • Thargomindah, approximately 1100 kilometres west of Brisbane, recorded the highest temperature of 47.2°C
  • Electricity useage was at an all-time high due to air-conditioning use
  • Brisbane CBD recorded 30 consecutive days of 30°C or higher
  • Water consumption was up by an average of 10 litres per person during this summer
  • Strangely though, we have only had a small number of severe storms and no cyclones at all this year in Queensland

It may have been the hottest Brisbane summer ever, but for Queensland it was only the second hottest. Hot enough though to send millions of people to the beaches putting extra pressure on the lifeguards. They responded magnificently.

Again, just in case that video disappears, here are some of the facts from it:

  • The water was hot, over 25°C, beautiful for swimming, but…
  • More than 38,000 people were stung by bluebottle jellyfish, almost 10 times more than last year
  • Surf Life Saving performed 1400 rescues in Queensland during this summer
  • Zero drownings were recorded on Queensland beaches this summer

Yes, zero drownings. That, as I say, is a magnificent achievement by Surf Life Saving. What is disturbing is that 75% of those rescues were from outside of the flags. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS Swim Between the Flags!

It’s been pretty hot this year in Sydney as well. The CBD had an unprecedented 26 days at or above 30°C. Sydney also recorded the following new summer temperature highs:

  • Average minimum – 20.9C
  • Average maximum – 28.7C
  • 24 hour average – 24.8C

Strangely though, Perth is reported to have had its coolest summer for 11 years.

Here in Brisbane, with autumn underway, there is no sign of any letup yet. It’s still scorchio.

Next week I’ll let you know how the house move went. And did I sell my old house? Or am I lumbered with that massive bridging loan now? More to come.

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