Hobart has recorded its hottest October since records began, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s latest monthly climate summary.
The city’s official weather station, at Ellerslie Road in Battery Point, recorded an average maximum temperature of 20.6 degrees for the month.
That was 3.6 degrees above the long-term average. It beat the previous record of 20 degrees, set in 2017.
Across Tasmania, it was the second-warmest October since records began in 1910. Only October 2015 had warmer days.
Hobart was one of 17 sites in the state to record their highest average October maximum temperature.
Launceston matched Hobart’s 20.6 degrees, beating its previous record of 20.5 degrees, set in 2015. Launceston Airport averaged 19.8 degrees, up from 19.7 degrees in 2015.
St Helens averaged 20.2 degrees, beating its 2017 record of 19.5 degrees.
Devonport Airport averaged 17.5 degrees, up from 17.2 degrees in 2018. Strahan averaged 18.7 degrees, up from 18.1 degrees in 2015.
Friendly Beaches had the warmest days in the state on average, at 21.2 degrees.
A high-pressure system in the Tasman Sea brought warm northerly winds over the state from October 16.
Temperatures peaked on October 22 and 23, when Hobart reached 31.7 degrees and then 32.1 degrees.
It was the first time Hobart had two October days in a row above 30 degrees since records began in 1882.
The state’s hottest day was 33.2 degrees, at Dunalley on October 23.
The temperature at Strahan did not drop below 20.1 degrees that night. That beat the October record for the site, 19.2 degrees, set in 2006.
Nights were warmer than usual across most of the state.
Flinders Island recorded an average October minimum of 11 degrees, beating its 2017 record of 10.5 degrees. King Island averaged 10.2 degrees, up from 10.1 degrees in 2017.
Hobart’s average minimum of 10 degrees equalled its 2017 record.
Earlier in the month, cold fronts on October 13 and 14 brought snow to high ground.
Rainfall across the state was 34% below average, at 79mm. It was Tasmania’s driest October since 2019.
Hobart recorded 34.4mm, just over half its October average of 62mm.
The west and south were the driest parts of the state. Flinders Island was the only listed station to record above-average rain, with 66.8mm.
