CANBERRA, Australia – Australia surpassed its fourth warmest year on record last year, despite the recent return to the cool La Niña weather pattern, the country’s meteorological agency said on Friday.
The wetter than average 2020 year followed Australia’s warmest and driest year in 2019, which came to a catastrophic conclusion with drought-fueled forest fires that killed at least 33 people, destroyed more than 3,000 homes and razed 19 million hectares (47 million acres).
Globally, 2020 is expected to be recognized as the third-hottest on record once December weather data are calculated, said Bureau of Meteorology chief climate operations Andrew Watkins.
La Niña, the cooler side of the more well-known El Niño, was declared in the Pacific Ocean in September. La Niña occurs when the equatorial trade winds become stronger, changing currents from the ocean’s surface and pulling in cooler deep waters. Waikins said the La Niña cycle generally runs between March and May, but the weather pattern did not affect Australia’s temperatures until October.
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“You could say that the fourth warmest year on record is our warmest La Niña year,” said Watkins.
“But this year started out very hot and dry and ended up more like La Niña. So it is debatable whether you would say you were really influenced enough during the year to expect it to be cooler, ”he added.
The hottest temperature in Australia in 2020 was 48.9 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit), recorded at the height of the forest fire in Penrith, New South Wales, on January 4. It was the warmest temperature ever recorded in the Sydney area.
Australia’s other warmest years were 2013 and 2005.
Australia’s daily temperature was 1.15 degrees Celsius (2.07 degrees Fahrenheit) above average last year and rainfall was 4 percent above average, despite an arid start to the year.