00:00Well, look, we've got severe to extreme heatwave conditions developing right across southern
00:06parts of the country, but in particular for South Australia and Victoria, the temperatures
00:12are really building today with the maximums in both Adelaide and Melbourne expected to
00:16get up to 42 degrees. But even down in Tasmania, that heat is building. Low 30s are forecast
00:22across the northeast for towns like St Helens and St Mary's. So it's a really broad area
00:28of heat that's building across southern parts of the country.
00:31What sort of temperatures are we going to be seeing and how long will this last?
00:37Yeah, look, well, the highest temperatures for today are expected to be in the low 40s,
00:42up into the mid 40s, right through inland parts of Victoria, New South Wales, right across
00:48South Australia and even into WA. Tomorrow, there will be a bit of a reprieve to the high
00:53temperatures across southern parts of Victoria with the southerly change that's going to
00:58be confined to on and south of the divide, but then a quick return back to those 40 degree
01:03temperatures by Friday. So we're expecting this heatwave really to continue across southern
01:08parts until the weekend, but then shifting into eastern parts of New South Wales for Saturday.
01:14And Sydney is going to see their peak heat day on Saturday with a 40 degree day forecast there.
01:19And of course, this increases the fire risk. We're hearing these conditions set to be the worst
01:24since the 2019 summer bushfires. They were catastrophic. A particular, rather, focus on
01:31Victoria and South Australia. We have total fire bans for many parts there.
01:37Yes, that's right. Today, we've got extreme fire dangers right across southern parts of South
01:41Australia, but as well through western parts of Victoria and the central parts. So this includes Melbourne
01:47and Adelaide. As you mentioned, there's been a bit of comparison to the 2019-2025 season.
01:55Today, 42 degrees. That will be the hottest day since January 2020 that we've really seen those
02:02sort of temperatures across those southern areas.
02:06And when is that bushfire risk likely to peak?
02:08Look, Friday is going to be the peak fire danger day across southeastern parts. That's due to the
02:18really high temperatures, those temperatures returning into the 40, low 40s across the area. But it's also
02:24going to be the strongest wind day. So we're expecting the winds to be particularly gusty across
02:29far southeastern parts of South Australia and western parts of Victoria, where we may even see some
02:34locally catastrophic fire dangers. Now, also over the next couple of days, complicating the fire
02:39danger situation is that there's going to be some thunderstorms across Victoria and southern parts
02:45of New South Wales as well, with very little rainfall expected with it. They're expected to be very gusty
02:51and there is the potential for dry lightning to ignite new fires. So any new fires that do start
02:56will be quite difficult to control.
02:58We've got the Northern Territory with active heat wave warnings today. And they also have flood
03:03warnings still in place along the Queensland border as well.
03:07Yeah, look, it's been a very, very wet couple of weeks since Christmas really across particularly
03:13northern parts of Queensland and edging into that sort of eastern boundary of the Northern
03:18Territory. And we still have an active monsoon trough that's lying across northern parts of
03:23Queensland with a tropical low that's developing in the Coral Sea. So this is just off the coast
03:28from Cairns with it, which does have a moderate chance of developing into a tropical cyclone on
03:34Friday or Saturday. But regardless of it developing either into a tropical cyclone or remaining a
03:39tropical low, it is expected to bring a lot more rainfall to northern parts of Queensland,
03:44which will be falling over already very saturated grounds and saturated catchments. So it does increase
03:50the risk or the likelihood for both flash and riverine flooding.
03:56And finally, Sarah, if you can just recap for us when we will get some reprieve from this heat.
04:02Yeah, for southern parts, look, there's a slight reprieve tomorrow for southern parts of Victoria.
04:08For instance, Melbourne's temperature is going to drop down to 29 degrees, quickly bouncing back on
04:12Friday to 40. But a proper change will move through on the Friday into Saturday, looking at temperatures
04:19across South Australia and Victoria sort of in the mid-20s. However, that heat does push into eastern
04:26parts of New South Wales on Saturday with 40 degrees for Sydney, as I mentioned before, but that will
04:32sweep away by Sunday.
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