Geraldton, Carnarvon, Shark Bay and Denham record hottest October days on record

Mid West locals should brace for an extreme summer as weather records keep on tumbling, with Geraldton, Carnarvon, Shark Bay and Denham all experiencing their hottest ever October days this week. Geraldton’s three-day hot spell culminated in a sweltering peak of 41.3C on Monday — breaking a 44-year-old record for the previous hottest October day on record, which was 40.7C on October 28, 1979. Maximum temperatures of 38.8C and 39.7C were recorded on Saturday and Sunday in Geraldton. The average maximum October day temperature in Geraldton is 25.7C. Geraldton has already broken its hottest days on record for August and September this year. In Carnarvon, Sunday’s high of 43.3C broke a 65-year-old October record for the Gascoyne town. Its previous hottest October day was 42.4C on October 24, 1958. However, on Monday, a new bar was set again with a peak of 43.9C. On Sunday, Denham recorded its hottest October day on record when the mercury climbed to 42C, beating the previous high of 38.9C set on October 28, 1996. Shark Bay also broke an October temperature record on Sunday, when its maximum of 42.8C smashed the previous peak of 40C posted on October 20, 2008. Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Jessica Lingard said it appeared Geraldton and the Mid West was in store for a “pretty extreme” summer, similar to the national outlook. “To already have broken so many records (this early) it does lend itself to being a pretty extreme summer,” she said. The Geraldton outlook for December to February indicates a 70 per cent chance that the average temperature will be more than 31.4C, putting it in the top 20 per cent of summers historically. Ms Lingard said background warming caused by climate change and a different climate driver this year would be responsible for the predicted “very, very warm summer”. “This year we have a different climate driver to what we’ve seen the past three years, which was a negative Indian Ocean dipole and La Nina. This year it’s flipped and we’re entering into El Nino and a positive Indian Ocean dipole. Both those work together to create warmer, drier conditions,” she said.