Tibooburra recorded 31.9 and 32.2 degrees last Wednesday and Thursday and this was the highest May temperature since 32.7 in May of 1978.

Other higher May readings at Tibooburra happened in 1922 and 1942. Sydney last Thursday, May 10, recorded 29.1 degrees and this was the hottest May day since 1942. This near record-high May temperature was nearly three degrees higher than the highest temperature recorded during last December.

Never before has the highest temperature during May been higher than the highest temperature recorded during the previous December in 160 years of records.

It came close in 1953 when a temperature of 29.8 on April 26 was two degrees higher then the highest temperature recorded in December 1952.

It is very interesting to note that after that high temperature of 29.8 in April 1953, very heavy rain fell in Sydney at the start of May 1953 and many places in inland NSW had moderate to heavy rainfalls.

Only four days last summer in Sydney were hotter than last Thursday.

Another burst of hot weather invaded the coast of Western Australia last Saturday, May 12.

Carnarvon recorded 35.4 degrees and this was the latest date a temperature of 35 was recorded at Carnarvon.

It has been the sixth warmest first half of May at Carnarvon since 1883.

A cold change following the last week’s high May temperatures has resulted in maximum and minimum temperatures falling to well below normal for May last weekend and there were widespread frosts on Monday morning.

Rutherglen, with minus 3.5 degrees, recorded its coldest May morning since 2006. The change brought further rain to southern Victoria at the weekend.

It was the coldest and wettest Mother’s Day in Melbourne since 1996.

The cold change will effectively delay the next rain event, now not expected until after this weekend.

— Peter Nelson is a retired CSIRO weather forecaster, based at Wangaratta.