Heat and extreme fire dangers for south-east Australia on the first weekend of 2025

Australian Community Media

Heat and Extreme Fire Dangers for south-east Australia on the first weekend of 2025. Video provided by Bureau of Meteorology

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00:00Another round of heat and elevated fire dangers is forecast across southeast Australia this weekend,

00:05including for areas that were recently impacted by bushfires.

00:08First, a look at the fire danger ratings for Saturday,

00:11and we can expect high fire danger ratings for much of South Australia,

00:14all of Victoria and parts of eastern Tasmania and southern New South Wales including Sydney.

00:19This increases to extreme fire danger ratings for the Mount Lofty Rainers in South Australia

00:24and the Wimbera District in Victoria, where there is an ongoing bushfire in the Grampians.

00:28Extreme fire danger ratings mean that conditions can become dangerous very quickly,

00:33and even into Sunday, we're still expecting to see some districts under that extreme fire danger rating risk

00:38in South Australia and Victoria, and high fire danger ratings for many other areas.

00:42It's not until Monday that conditions ease across South Australia and Victoria,

00:46but remaining high for eastern New South Wales.

00:49And these ratings will be updated through the weekend,

00:51so be sure you have the latest information for your area,

00:54especially if you are in South Australia or Victoria.

00:57We're also forecasting heatwave conditions,

00:59and looking at the heatwave maps we can see low intensity heatwave conditions stretching

01:03all the way from central Australia and into the far southeast corner,

01:07and these pockets of orange show areas where we will see severe intensity heatwave conditions.

01:11With the cool change moving through later on the weekend into early next week,

01:14the heatwave signal will gradually shift towards the north.

01:17Low intensity heatwaves are common at this time of year,

01:20but once we get into the severe category, especially with a run of hot days and warm nights,

01:24some people can find it quite challenging.

01:27So looking at those temperatures starting off with Saturday,

01:29we see those hot northerly winds move down from the north,

01:32maximum temperatures climbing into the mid to high 30s along the coast,

01:35and the high 30s to low 40s for inland areas, also a very warm day on the way for Tasmania.

01:40But not much relief on Saturday night into Sunday morning,

01:43with many centres not dropping below 20 degrees, including for Melbourne and Adelaide.

01:48Sunday will be another very hot day right across the region,

01:51but this surface trough will bring a cool change behind it,

01:53and it is expected in Adelaide late on Sunday night,

01:56and for Melbourne Sunday night but more likely into Monday morning.

01:59The cool change will also bring some patchy showers,

02:02but there is a chance of thunderstorms bringing dry lightning,

02:04which may ignite new fires on the landscape.

02:07Into Monday we will see more substantial showers across the southeast,

02:10and the cool change will push into New South Wales,

02:12not due in Sydney until late Monday night or early Tuesday morning.

02:16So with plenty of heat and a spike in fire dangers coming this weekend,

02:19make sure you have the latest forecasts and warnings for your area

02:22on our website or on our app, follow us on our social media channels,

02:25and as always, please stay safe.

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