IT was a hotter and drier than normal start to the year for residents across the Blue Lake city with an average high temperature of 28.2 recorded.
Experiencing an almost three degree rise in the mean temperature throughout January and significantly less rainfall, senior climatologist Blair Trewin said the South East’s weather trends were largely in line with the rest of the state.
“South Australia observed above to very much above average temperatures during January with both maximum and minimum temperatures ranking as tenth-highest on record,” he said.
“For rainfall, January is normally a dry month in much of South Australia and this year was relatively dry in most of the state.”
Mount Gambier recorded a top temperature of 42.3 degrees – the sixth highest ever recorded by the bureau for the city for January – and a minimum temperature of 7.1 degrees with much lower rainfall than the long-term average of 27.3mm at 17.6mm.
Further north, Coonawarra experienced a mean temperature of 29.8 degrees, 2.5 degrees warmer than the average and even less rainfall at 14.8mm.
Now into the third and final month of summer for the year, the forecast shows continuing warm weather and an average amount of rainfall from February to April.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, there is a 60pc chance of Mount Gambier exceeding the median maximum temperature, however only a 40pc chance of exceeding the median rainfall.
