The Bureau of Meteorology said a pulse of cloud and rain near the equator, called the Madden-Julian Oscillation, is on its way.

The bureau is predicting falls of up to 25mm in Katherine every day right to Monday as a result of monsoonal trough working its way across the Top End. 

“A weak monsoon trough is sitting close to the north coast and will continue to drift south over the Top End bringing a return to cloudy skies, rain and cooler temperatures into next week,” a Bureau of Meteorology spokeswoman said. 

“Tropical lows commonly form along the monsoon trough and there is a heightened risk of a tropical low developing into a tropical cyclone if conditions are right, and it remains over water long enough.

“If a tropical low does form, the distribution of the rainfall weather pattern will change quite quickly - the heaviest falls will be focused around the system, drawing the wet weather away from other locations.”

While temperatures are expected to drop around Katherine next week, new climate data shows the globe is heating up.

According to data released today, the world has had the hottest five years ever on record. 

Climate Councillor and international climate scientist professor Will Steffen said that the global temperature averaged over the past five years has been confirmed as the highest ever on record for any five-year period. 

This record is part of a sharp, long-term upswing in global temperatures, with 17 out of the 18 years hottest years on record all occurring in this century.

“Just like dominoes, temperature and extreme weather records have toppled one after the other around the globe in 2017,” Professor Steffen said.

“Here in Australia, we are seeing the effects of intensifying climate change first hand. 

“Australians have been touched by soaring temperatures, with some regions in New South Wales and South Australia experiencing daytime temperatures nearing 50 degrees last summer.

“Severe heatwaves are silent killers, causing more deaths since the 1890s than bushfires, cyclones, earthquakes, floods and severe storms combined.”

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said the global data release was timely after the Federal Government admitted that Australia’s greenhouse gas pollution levels were consistently rising, contributing to intensifying climate change.

“Climate change is exacerbating extreme weather events across Australia and around the globe. This was obvious in 2017, from severe heatwaves and bushfires, through to supercharged storms, cyclones and flooding,” Ms McKenzie said.

“The window of opportunity to tackle climate change is rapidly closing. The release of this data is yet another warning to the Federal Government to urgently slash Australia’s rising greenhouse gas pollution levels in a bid to protect Australians from escalating extreme weather events, placing lives at risk.

“Australia has an opportunity now to continue the transition to clean, affordable and reliable renewable energy and storage technology, instead of locking our country into a very dangerous future,” she said. 

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