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Another warm day in the middle of a warm week. I have meetings out this afternoon, necessitating suit and tie, not to mention a formal demeanour. Great nuisance in weather like this, and with the air-con in the car not working (hopefully collect the new car tomorrow).

It seems odd to have such a chunk of warm weather this early in the season. Random days here and there are no issue, but a week of weather in the low to mid-30's is unusual, and does not bode well for a mild summer. In fact I'm beginning to believe mild summers might be a thing of the past. Everyone is on tenterhooks after the bushfires last season, and the reality is that we'll likely have many more scorching days ahead of us and dire risk of further great conflagrations.

I know there are global warming sceptics, but my own experience leaves me in little doubt. Every summer is hotter than the summer before, and to compare today to 20 years ago when I was a kid is to compare two very different things. Now, in early-November, the still, hot summer days we know so well are upon us, and will likely be here until well into March.

What's strange about this spate of weather, though entirely in character with Melbourne's quirky weather patterns, is that there has been no real transition. We've jumped from days of 21 or 22 to temperatures from 29 into the mid-30's. No incremental increase, no pleasant 25, 26 degree days on the way through, it's bang!, mild then hot.