Flaviemys purvisi
Very Well-Known Member
Gabriel Polychronis
January 30, 2019
Two brown snakes wrestle at Grange Golf Course. Picture: Matt Shepherd
Snakes of all sizes and shapes have been spotted across the state “basking and energising” in January’s simmering heat.
Two brown snakes, above, were snapped at “play” on the Grange Golf Course recently, but they were not endangering any players.
Snake Catchers expert Rolly Burrell said the deadly brown snakes – which come in a variety of colours – have been recovered in big numbers this summer.
With lotto-like odds of rain falling on Thursday, parched Adelaide will have experienced its driest January in 62 years – and one of its hottest snake-spotting spells.
It will be the first time since 1957, January has been rain-free with not a drop of H20 at the West Tce recording station for the past 43 days.
Its been a long hot summer of setting temperature records, with the city recording its hottest day at 46.6C, which was 16.6C above the average for January 24.
Mr Webb says the current dry spell is a result of a high pressure system in the Southern Tasman Sea that has been blocking cold fronts since mid December 2018.
“With a high there, it makes it very difficult for cold fronts to penetrate the state,” he said.
“And when they do, they’re only very weak.”
Not only has it been dry, it has also been far hotter than the average January.
Adelaide is on track to set its third hottest January on record with an average maximum of 33.1C, behind 33.6C in 1939 and 1908’s 34.2C The average January maximum is 28.6C.
A maximum of 25C is forecast for Thursday, much cooler than Wednesday’s 36C.
For the rest of the country, a climate report to be released on February 4 is expected to confirm this month has been the hottest ever for Australia.
“Temperatures are warming due to global warming, and so we will continue to expect increasing hotter weather in the future,” Mr Webb told The Advertiser.
“We’ve had a 400 per cent increase in the number of days over 40C.”
