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Spring/September temperature records on Australia's East coast are set to tumble in the coming days, due to a heatwave, as described here.

So the hot air is being pulled from the interior of the continent to the coast. That makes sense. But some of the towns in the interior of the country are setting temperature records as well. So what is the explanation for why the air in the interior is the hottest on record? What is the ultimate cause of the hot air?

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  • $\begingroup$ as it says in the article there is a high pressure system over the tasman sea and a weak front over the southern part of the country. I can see it in the geopotential height map at the 500 hPa. I see a ridge over there for the past 6 days and than can cause subsidence.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/tmp/composites/compday.Vlis6Vl6Vg.gif $\endgroup$
    – user1066
    Commented Sep 26, 2017 at 12:56

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There are 2 causes of record high daytime temperatures: insolation and subsidence. As air is forced to subside, heat of compression adds to insolation. This happens at the poleward margins of the tropical Hadley cells, at or near the latitude where the deserts of Australia are located. Cloud cover (or dustiness in deserts) contributes to record high nighttime temperatures by trapping infrared radiation from the Earth.

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    $\begingroup$ @JackDeumur - this is in general why that happens. OP is asking for this specific event what are the causes. $\endgroup$
    – user1066
    Commented Sep 26, 2017 at 23:45
  • $\begingroup$ An extreme specific event is likely when general causes coincide at the same time and/or are unusually strong. $\endgroup$
    – Jack Denur
    Commented Sep 27, 2017 at 18:39

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