While southern Australia is experiencing the wintry and windy weather that we expect at this time of year, across the north of Australia you would be forgiven for thinking that you weren’t enjoying a winter’s day.

On Saturday, maximum temperatures across the Northern Territory and Queensland were a couple of degrees above average. In fact it was the warmest July day in:

• 51 years at Low Isles (QLD) reaching 30.0°C
• 24 years Alva Beach (QLD), reaching 29.7°C
• 19 years at Ngayawili (NT), reaching 32.7°C

The combination of relatively warm air and cloud also help trap in the heat overnight, meaning that Low Isles also had its warmest minimum temperature in 51 years on Sunday morning when it stayed above 24.0°C. Much of the North Coast & Tableland district had their minimum temperatures 3-5 degrees above average.

Image: Satellite imagery (Himawari-8) with observed temperature overlay at 8am Sunday morning

Over the next few days it is likely that the mercury will not reach quite as high as it did on Saturday, but for these locations, it certainly won’t feel like the wintry weather in the south.