00:00 In reality for most Victorians today it will be quite a hot and sweltering day.
00:05 In fact at 6.30 this morning we already have seen 27 degrees here in Melbourne and up to
00:10 29 degrees in Mildura.
00:12 But that will rapidly climb and we do expect the low 40s across many parts of the North-West.
00:18 What's concerning for firefighters today will be those hot northerly winds.
00:22 Averaging around that 30 to 40, even up to 50 kilometres an hour will bring challenging
00:27 fire conditions which has led to those catastrophic fire conditions being declared for the Wimmera
00:32 Weather District.
00:33 We haven't seen these catastrophic conditions before.
00:35 In fact it's the first time Victoria has had a catastrophic fire day since the introduction
00:40 of the Australasian Fire Danger Warning System.
00:44 So it will be a challenging day.
00:46 It does mean for communities in those areas if your plan is to leave early you should
00:51 have already done so or be in the process of leaving those particular areas.
00:56 There are a couple of communities of concern today which are directly underneath those
01:00 patches of catastrophic rating conditions and they are for Rainbow, Wariknabeel, Minyip,
01:06 Rapunyip and Matoa.
01:08 Those communities are of particular concern for firefighters today as conditions will
01:12 be very, very nasty in those communities.
01:16 Total fire bans are also in effect across a fair chunk of the state, being Mallee, Wimmera,
01:22 Northern Country, Northern Central, Central and South Western Weather Districts.
01:27 The best thing for communities to do today is have that Vic Emergency app, download it,
01:31 have it on the phone, always have more than one source of information, listen to your
01:35 emergency broadcaster, watch the ABC for emergency updates and take advice from authorities because
01:42 today is a day that you cannot be complacent about fire.
01:45 When are we expecting those hot northerly winds that are worrying firefighters so much
01:49 to peak, Jason?
01:51 Those hot northerly winds have already started and in fact they are making their way across
01:57 the state.
01:58 I do anticipate them to be running in that direction for most of the day, which means
02:03 that those fine fuels, those grass fire fuels, will be baking in those hot temperatures and
02:08 those hot winds.
02:10 We are expecting quite a sharp westerly and southwesterly change to come through the state
02:15 later on in the evening.
02:16 However, that in itself is going to bring some dangers to firefighters and communities.
02:21 We are expecting thunderstorms and storm events, potential for dry lightning and winds up to
02:26 100 kilometres an hour.
02:27 So it's not beyond the realms of possibility today where we will see fire, but also storm
02:32 effects affecting communities as well.
02:34 Okay, I've got to ask, given those winds picking up already, any signs so far of even small
02:39 grass fires, outbursts in the areas we're talking about?
02:44 This is the third day in a row that Victoria has had quite hot conditions and we have seen
02:50 a number of haystack fires and other grass fires that have been occurring over the last
02:54 48, 72 hours.
02:56 Fire authorities are keeping a very close eye on those fires that have been in the landscape.
03:01 Again, our advice to communities, if you had a campfire, if you had some sort of planned
03:06 burn or other activity using fire, go out and check it today.
03:10 Make sure that it is out.
03:13 We are also very mindful that we're off the back of a weekend, so many people would have
03:17 been having campfires.
03:18 In fact, the Southern 80, like a large water skiing sporting event, occurred over the weekend.
03:24 So again, campfires, one of the leading causes of bushfires here in this state.
03:29 We're asking people to make sure that they are fully extinguished, cool to touch, before
03:33 leaving.
03:34 A number of parks closures and public lands have been closed today, in particular places
03:39 like the Grampians National Park, as well as a number of school closures.
03:44 So a lot of people getting ready for what is going to be the worst fire day we've seen
03:49 in this state since the 2019-20 black summer season.
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