The end of summer won't bring the end of warm temperatures in Canberra, with the first days of March expected to stay unseasonably warm and reach above 30 degrees.
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With spectacular storm activity and soaring high temperatures that broke the city's heatwave record, summer has been harsh on the capital, and preliminary Bureau of Meteorology data shows it was the warmest Australian summer on record.
Canberra sweltered through four days at 40 degrees or above, its worst heatwave since January 1939.
The city also recorded 12 days above 32 degrees in January, breaking an 11-day record set in January 1947 and equalled in December.
Evening storms in January, driven by high daytime temperatures, took out power lines and trees and interrupted radio broadcasts – but also provided photographers with perfect conditions to take impressive lightning shots.
Bureau forecaster Craig Ryan said Canberra would likely see temperatures slowly increase over the next few days, with daytime temperatures slightly above average for this time of year.
In the February to March period, the average daytime temperature was 27 degrees, he said.
"A high pressure system in the Tasman Sea is leading to quite settled conditions in Canberra," Mr Ryan said.
He said that system was expected to move away in the first half of next week, and could bring cooler temperatures if a cold front doesn't slip past the ACT.
"But at this stage it's a little bit too far out to say whether it's going to be a significant [temperature] job."
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast drier and warmer than average conditions in its Autumn outlook, with a more than 80 per cent chance Canberra will record temperatures above the median maximum between March and May.
The bureau forecast also shows a very likely chance median minimum temperatures will be higher than normal.
Rainfall is expected to be below the median between March and May.
Long-range forecasting manager Andrew Watkins said the summer had been Australia's hottest on record and respite from the hot and dry conditions was unlikely.
"After a record hot December and January it won't come as a surprise that this summer will be our warmest on record and, apart from areas of northern Queensland, many locations fell short of their summer rainfall averages too," he said.
The bureau will release its report into Australia's summer weather conditions on Friday.
