Australians should expect hot weather well into April before being hit with one of the coldest winters on record, expert weather forecaster David Taylor has revealed.
Mr Taylor told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday that the nation is in for six more weeks of hot summer-like temperatures before a short autumn season.
After this he warns ‘winter will kick in viciously’ with the coldest temperatures seen for many years.
Australians should expect hot weather well into April, expert weather forecaster David Taylor has revealed
He said Australians will then be hit with one of the coldest winters on record. Pictured: Mount Buller, Victoria
Mr Taylor warns ‘winter will kick in viciously’ this year. Pictured: Map showing the lowest July temperatures ever recorded for major cities, according to the Bureau of Meteorology
According to Mr Taylor, the reason there will be an unusually cold winter is that there is a calm period in sunspot activity.
‘Sunspots will stay at an all-time low for years and not be active again until 2025,’ he said.
‘There is a big cold front developing in the Southern Coral Sea that will affect us in June and we are also seeing a cold front developing south of Tasmania.’
Rounding out his top three predictions, Mr Taylor expects that sometime during the 2018 or 2019 cyclone season we will see a cyclone hit land between Fraser Island and Rainbow Beach – an unusually southern point for a cyclone to cross the coast.
Mr Taylor predicted months ago that a cyclone would cross the coast near Townsville in the beginning of March.
The Bureau of Meteorology is monitoring two possible areas where cyclones may form north of Queensland.
According to Mr Taylor, the reason there will be an unusually cold winter is that there is a calm period in sunspot activity. Pictured: Falls Creek ski resort
Mr Taylor expects that sometime during the 2018 or 2019 cyclone season we will see a cyclone hit land between Fraser Island and Rainbow Beach. Pictured: heavy rain and strong winds on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast
Mr Taylor’s interest in weather was first sparked as a teenager living in Park Ridge south of Brisbane.
His parents had gone out when a freak storm barrelled through the area destroying the caravan they were staying in at the time.
He has been running the Brisbane Weather Facebook page, which currently has 45,000 likes, since 2008 and the East Coast Weather Facebook page for two weeks, which has so far gained 5,000 likes.
His predictions are formulated using a range of sources including the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast, the Canadian Meteorological Centre, and the Global Forecast System.