SYDNEY, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Australia is expected to experience warmer than usual weather conditions in the upcoming winter this year, authorities reported on Thursday.
In its latest long-range forecast, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said that temperatures during days and nights are very likely to be higher than average across the country from June to August.
"This follows an autumn that was warmer than usual for most parts of Australia and brought very dry conditions to the far south of the country and south-west Western Australia," said the BOM.
Preliminary data suggested that the mean temperature of autumn this year sat around 0.5 degrees Celsius above the 1961-1990 average, with almost every state and territory, except for the Northern Territory, recording above-average mean readings.
After a warm and wet autumn, the winter will see an increased chance of unusually high maximum temperatures across the continent, with four times the normal likelihood across much of eastern, southern and far northern Australia.
Meanwhile, a large part of the country is estimated to have a greater than 80 percent chance of confronting unusually high minimum temperatures from June to August.
As for rainfall, the BOM predicted that the majority of Australia would experience rainfall that is typical for the winter period.
Above-average rainfall is likely for parts of the west and some central southern areas, the weather bureau added.
Last year, Australia had gone through its warmest winter since records began in 1910, with the national mean temperature 1.53 degrees Celsius above the 1961-1990 average. ■
