Warm weather expected for Christmas, Boxing Day this year
Despite a sunny outlook for the holiday weekend, Melburnians have been warned to not swim at a number of city beaches.
Victoria
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Melburnians can down their brollies heading into the festive weekend as the weather bureau forecasts a return of summer sunshine.
After days of grey skies and heavy rain, duty meteorologist Sarah Scully of the Bureau of Meteorology said Melbourne was expected to be relatively mild and partly cloudy with a top of 21 degrees – “perfect for a game of backyard cricket”.
Across the state, Echuca is set to be 27C and sunny, Horsham 26C and mostly sunny, Geelong 19C and cloudy, Mildura 30C and sunny, and Lakes Entrance 17C and windy.
Ms Scully added: “It looks like it’s going to be a mild Christmas Day pretty much right across the country – perfect for a roast dinner.”
Cricket fans will also be in luck – the crowd of 30,000 at the MCG for the Boxing Day test can expect the first two days at least to be rain free.
“It’s going to be a warm one at the G’ for the first day of the test, mostly sunny and 30 degrees,” Ms Scully said.
While beachgoers will be keen for a dip on Boxing Day, the Environmental Protection Authority this week warned people of health risks regarding poor water quality at popular beaches in Port Phillip Bay following heavy rain.
The EPA rated 20 beaches as ‘poor’ on Christmas Eve, which it says are not suitable for swimming.
Meanwhile, Sky News Weather Chief Meteorologist Tom Saunders said Melbourne has endured its coldest year in 24 years, even though temperatures were slightly above the long term average.
“This is an interesting one … because our recent years have been so warm it’s looking pretty much guaranteed this will be the coldest year since 1996,”
Helping to keep temperatures cool was abundant rainfall – 756mm for the city so far in 2020, the wettest year in 9 years.
“Even though it has been a cool and wet year, thankfully it looks like Christmas is going to be dry.”
The La Nina phase will mean Australians should expect a wetter summer than normal.
“The La Nina will most likely peak in December before weakening to neutral by late summer or early autumn,” Mr Saunders said.
“Many La Nina’s are back to back events which means 2021 is also likely to be a wet year for Australia, which is good news for regions still battling drought and low water levels.”
For more information about water quality at beaches visit: www.epa.vic.gov.au
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