Hobart smashed a May temperature record that had stood for 139 years today as unprecedented warmth swept across Tasmania, with multiple locations across the state logging their highest-ever readings for the month of May.
Senior meteorologist Matthew Thomas from the Bureau of Meteorology said Hobart city hit 26.9 degrees, eclipsing the previous May record by 1.2 degrees, while Hobart Airport reached 27.5 degrees.
“The most significant one was Hobart,” he told Pulse.
“That has 139 years of data.”
Launceston reached 24.3 degrees at Tea Tree Bend, beating the old May record of 23.5 set on May 3 1988.
Launceston Airport also hit 23.5 degrees, surpassing records at two separate sites dating back as far as 95 years.
King Island recorded 26.4 degrees, while Strahan hit 25.2, St Helens reached 25 and Devonport climbed to 21.1 – all May records.
Thomas said a slow-moving high-pressure system over the Tasman Sea was responsible for the extreme warmth.
“It was hot air pushing over Tasmania from the mainland due to a slow-moving high-pressure system to the east of Tasmania,” he said.
He said similar records had been broken through South Australia and parts of Victoria.
Thomas said the warm air would linger but temperatures weren’t likely to return to the same highs.
“We’ll still see that warm air mass tomorrow, but we’ll see an increase in cloud tomorrow, so we’re unlikely to see the temperatures get back to where they were today,” he said.
“The warm air plus the sun just pushed us over the record for a number of locations.”
A cold front is expected to cross Tasmania on Sunday, bringing showers at first before turning to heavier rain across the north and west of the state as the day goes on.
