While the grey nomad migration north may be well and truly under way, those who are still lingering in the south may well be asking ‘what’s the rush?”
Despite the odd wintry blast, temperatures in much of Australia have been significantly higher than normal at this time of the year.
May was an extraordinary month with temperature records tumbling across the south east.
In Sydney, the May mean maximum temperature was 23.3C — 3.9C above what the city usually experiences. Melbourne basked in 13 days of 20C or above from May 11 to 23, beating the previous longest run of 10 days, set in 1972. Its 2014 May mean of 19.4C was 2.7C higher than usual.
According to news.com.au, records have also tumbled in Adelaide with 16 days of 20C or above.
And, according to climatologists, there’s more of the same on the way.
The latest seasonal outlook from the Bureau of Meteorology predicts the entire Australian continent is likely to have a warmer-than-average winter and, all but the eastern half of Tasmania, is likely to get average or sub-par rainfall.
There is also ongoing speculation that we could be about to return to an El Nino weather pattern.
Climate Change Research Centre research fellow Sarah Perkins told news.com.au that these unseasonably warm spells are becoming more common.
“From a climate science perspective, unfortunately, it’s no surprise,” she said. “I can understand why people are enjoying the warm weather — it’s lovely — but if I put my climate scientist hat on, it’s a little bit scary.”
We decided to winter down south this year just for the fun of it! Although it is cold (Fleurieu Peninsula) it is definitely warmer than it should be and spring flowers are already blooming in places. The good thing is there is plenty of room for us as most travellers are further north.