July was Australia's warmest on record

[Willoughby]

The sheer magnitude/extent of the warm max temp anomalies was more than enough to outweigh the cold min temp anomalies to cause the 3rd highest mean temp anomaly since 1975:

" Warmest July maximum temperatures on record nationally, and for Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia

The mean maximum temperature for Australia as a whole was clearly the highest on record for July, at 2.62 °C above average, 0.66 °C above the previous record set in 1975.

Average maximum temperatures were the highest on record for July over large parts of Queensland, Northern Territory and the northern half of Western Australia, with all three regions recording their warmest July days on record as a whole. Queensland and the Northern Territory also had their highest monthly mean temperatures on record for July.

Records were set at numerous long-term stations in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

The warmth in Queensland and the Northern Territory was marked by consistently above average temperatures rather than individual extreme events. However, an episode late in the month saw July record high temperatures set at various locations in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. " - BOM

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/m ... mary.shtml

[Richard]

Was a lack of cloud cover the cause of such extreme Will

[Willoughby]

Was a lack of cloud cover the cause of such extreme Will

Don't think so, northern Australia is normally pretty cloud-free during the winter.

Following the global trend though of a rapidly warming world.

[Nev]

Yes, although high pressure systems tend to dominate northern parts of Australia around this time of year, they have been even more prevalent in recent months, preventing southerly flows from pushing cooler air up into the central and northern regions. This has been largely due the positive Southern Annular Mode (SAM) phase contracting the westerly wind belt more towards Antarctica. So cold fronts and rain bands have tracked further south, merely skirting southern parts of Australia. Climatologists expect that as the climate warms and the westerly wind belt generally gets pushed further south, this pattern will become more common.

[RWood]

I'll welcome any change in overall pattern that is an improvement on the wet, cloudy and unsettled conditions that have plagued my area for many months with few periods of respite.