Climate latest: North Brisbane experiences more warm February days

Dr Christa Pudmenzky explains the rise of 30-degree February days in north Brisbane. Plus, resident Lelani Parker discusses how the local climate is changing.

North Brisbane experiences three more February days reaching 31 degrees compared to 50 years ago. North Brisbane, 3 February 2021, Source: Monash University.

Brisbane's northern suburbs are in for another warm weekend with light showers expected, reaching a top of 29 degrees on Saturday and 35 degrees on Sunday.

Data from the Bureau of Meteorology indicates that north Brisbane residents are enduring more February days of at least 31 degrees - like we see in this weekend's forecast.

A typical February has five days reaching 31 degrees - that's three more days compared to 50 years ago.

Voices from your community

The data matched the experience of Dakabin resident Lelani Parker, who said summer is getting longer and warmer.

"I've noticed higher temperatures and more heatwaves," she said.

"Summer seems to start earlier and last longer.

"We used to live in a new estate and noticed a significant increase in temperatures when more trees were removed in order to make way for housing.

"It doesn't seem to get as cold in winter either."

Community voices like Lelani's tell us how residents and business owners in north Brisbane feel about their local climate. If you would like to contribute your voice to our column, you can fill out our 5-minute survey here.

Fast fact

Not only are our summers getting hotter, they're also getting longer.

Research from the Australia Institute found that Brisbane summers are 11 days longer than they were in the mid-20th century.

The research also found Brisbane winters are now 31 days shorter than they used to be.

In fact, all capital cities across Australia are experiencing longer summers and shorter winters.

At least 97 per cent of climate scientists agree that global warming is linked to rising greenhouse gas emissions from human activities such as burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, NASA's Global Climate Change website states.

Dr Christa Pudmenzky is a climate scientist at the University of Southern Queensland.

This column is part of a collaboration between Monash University and News Corp to deliver hyperlocal weather and climate information.

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