Catastrophic fire danger across the south-east

Australian Community Media

Extreme fire danger continues on January 9, 2026.

Transcript

00:00Hello, Sarah from the Bureau here with a severe weather update on the catastrophic fire dangers

00:04that are being observed across Victoria at the moment.

00:08The temperatures are already rising well into the 40s and we're starting to see damaging

00:12wind gusts across the region.

00:15Today we're expecting extreme fire dangers across southern parts of South Australia and

00:19for the Riverina district of New South Wales as well, but just focusing in on Victoria.

00:25Extreme fire dangers with fire weather warnings occurring right across the state with reaching

00:30catastrophic through the southwest, the Wimmera, the northern country and the north central

00:34districts.

00:35Now, any fires that are ongoing or are ignited within this area will spread very quickly and

00:42be difficult to control or unable to be controlled.

00:46It's a very hot day that's contributing to these fire dangers with maximum temperatures

00:51in the low to mid 40s extending all the way from Melbourne up through the interior.

00:56In fact, for the Melbourne metro area, forecasting maximum temperatures between 43 to 45 degrees.

01:02Now there's also a severe weather warning for damaging wind gusts.

01:06This is associated with a cold front with those hot, dry and gusty north-northwesterly winds

01:11ahead of it with these wind gusts in excess of 90 kilometres per hour anywhere within this

01:16yellow area.

01:17Now winds of this strength have the potential to bring down trees, power lines, cause power

01:23outages and create really hazardous driving conditions.

01:27In addition to that, there's also severe thunderstorms that are possible again associated with that

01:32cold front extending from South Australia all the way down into Victoria, but are most likely

01:37throughout central and western parts of Victoria.

01:40Now damaging wind gusts are possible with these severe storms that can create really erratic

01:45fire behaviour, but as well, the thunderstorms are expected to be very high based, with most

01:51of the rainfall evaporating before it reaches the ground, which means there is a risk of

01:56dry lightning igniting new fires.

01:58So there is a number of contributing factors that's making today a particularly dangerous

02:05fire day.

02:06We've had the recent heatwave conditions with the extreme heat that's dried the landscape

02:11out considerably, leading to an increased fuel load.

02:14Plus as well, we've got the dry lightning, potentially igniting new fires and a wind change.

02:20Now wind changes are notoriously difficult to fight fires in and create really erratic fire

02:26behaviour, but as well, we have those damaging wind gusts as well.

02:30So I thought I'd show you the wind change and where to expect it across the region.

02:37So here it is with this blue line.

02:39We're expecting it to push into southwestern parts of Victoria during the early afternoon,

02:45and then a line generally reaching between Mildura and Melbourne by the early evening.

02:50As we head into this evening, it moves eastward into northern country of Victoria, and also

02:57skirts across the southern coast of Gippsland as well.

03:01We're not expecting it to reach the northeastern fire districts until tomorrow morning though.

03:08As we head into tomorrow, there'll be much cooler conditions behind the cold front with

03:11maximum temperatures in the mid-20s for Victoria and also for southern parts of South Australia,

03:17but that heat really does contract into eastern parts of New South Wales.

03:22In fact, tomorrow is expected to be the hottest day this week for Sydney, forecasting a maximum

03:27of 42 degrees, but even warmer about those western suburbs.

03:30Now, damaging wind gusts are also possible throughout elevated parts of southeastern parts

03:36of New South Wales tomorrow.

03:37So a combination of those windy conditions with the high temperatures will elevate fire

03:42dangers through the area.

03:44So we're forecasting extreme fire dangers, including across the Sydney metropolitan area

03:49with fire weather warnings to be issued, but as well, some extreme fire dangers through

03:54eastern parts of Tasmania too.

03:57So today is shaping up to be a particularly dangerous fire weather situation across southeastern

04:02parts of the country.

04:04Now's the time to stay up to date with our warnings via the Bureau website, Apple social media, and

04:09as always, listen to the advice from your local emergency services.

04:13Bye for now.

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