Sydney: The upcoming 2025 winter will likely be warmer than average across Australia, the country’s Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said on Thursday. The BoM on Thursday released its long-range forecast for winter, which starts on Sunday, showing that day and night temperatures are “likely to be above average” across the country.
According to Namibia Press Agency, the BoM stated that winter rainfall is likely to be above average for interior and central Australia and in the typical winter range for parts of the southwest, southeast, and tropical north. Southeast regions in the states of Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania that have been affected by an ongoing drought are forecast to receive typical rainfall, as are parts of New South Wales hit by widespread historic flooding.
“This winter forecast follows an autumn which was much wetter than average in the north and east of Australia, and much drier than average in many southern parts,” a BoM statement said. It noted that the current autumn has been warmer than usual for most of Australia, with much of the south and west recording daytime temperatures “very much above average.”
“Victoria had its warmest autumn on record, New South Wales had its second warmest, and South Australia and Western Australia had their third warmest autumn on record. Autumn has been drier than average across much of the country’s south and west,” it said.
The seasonal bushfire outlook for 2025 released on Wednesday by the Australian and New Zealand National Council for Fire and Emergency Services (AFAC) identified a heightened risk of fire for southern coastal areas of South Australia and for “significant portions” of western, southwestern, and southeastern Victoria. It pointed out that the unseasonal bushfire risk potential for those southern areas is driven partly by “significant and persistent” dry conditions.
AFAC chief executive Rob Webb mentioned that authorities would closely monitor landscape conditions and climate influences to manage the winter bushfire risk.