We’re in for at least another week of dry and mostly unseasonably warm weather – and possibly more of that to come.
The city’s top temperature reached 24.6 on Tuesday, the eighth time this month the typical maximum for May of 19.5 was exceeded by more than 5 degrees.
The outlook for the coming week is for most days to reach 20-22 but nudge 23 degrees by early next week, with little chance of rain, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
The attention of forecasters is now on the Southern Oscillation in the Pacific – El Nino.
El Ninos, which are marked by relatively warm conditions in the eastern tropical Pacific compared with the west, tend to produce drier and hotter conditions for eastern Australia as rainfall shifts eastwards.
The bureau’s latest ENSO report released on Tuesday showed two of eight international climate models now indicate an El Nino will develop during the coming spring, with a third approaching threshold levels.
‘‘Models suggest further warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean is possible over the coming months,’’ the bureau said.
The bureau stressed there have been false El Nino alarms in recent years when there had been stronger model signals than currently seen.
