00:00An unrelenting heatwave continues across much of central and southeast Australia
00:04with dangerous fire weather conditions. And although some southern parts will see a cool
00:08change coming through later on Tuesday, inland areas are set to continue to reach the mid to
00:12high 40s all the way into the weekend. First, let's have a look at what we did see on Monday.
00:17And South Australia observes some incredibly high temperatures, reaching 49.5 degrees at Ceduna,
00:22which is an all-time record for that location, and quite a few other places around South Australia,
00:27northwest Victoria, inland New South Wales and southwest Queensland did peak above 45 degrees.
00:33We are still expecting hot weather to come, and so having a look now at Tuesday, this map does show
00:37where we are expecting forecast maximum temperatures of above 40 degrees. The peak of the heat will come
00:42in Victoria today, 45 degrees in Melbourne, the high 40s across the Mallee, and we could see some records
00:47being broken across not just Victoria, but also parts of South Australia and western New South
00:51Wales getting up into the mid to high 40s yet again. But quite notably, we are seeing a drop in
00:56temperatures from the west. We do see temperatures falling quite significantly across western and
01:00southern parts of South Australia, and that's due to this dry southwesterly wind change coming through.
01:05But before we do track that cool change, let's have a look at the fire danger ratings for Tuesday.
01:11With very high temperatures, we are expecting elevated fire dangers yet again, peaking for Victoria and South
01:16Australia and reaching extreme levels for some areas. But of particular concern is a bushfire in the
01:22Otway Ranges National Park. We are seeing that bushfire today, and that could expand quite significantly,
01:27with temperatures reaching the mid 40s, as well as those gusty winds coming through from the north
01:31and then from the southwest. And so having a look at that cool change, we can actually track that by
01:36looking at the winds. We can see here through South Australia these cooler southerly winds pushing through,
01:41and through the afternoon we'll see that cool change gradually making its way across the Adelaide metro area.
01:46Through the afternoon we can see that pushing through parts of southeast South Australia and western Victoria,
01:52the forecast to reach that bushfire across the Otway Ranges around five or six o'clock,
01:56and we'll gradually see that cool change pushing through Melbourne and then northern parts of
01:59Victoria as we head into the evening. But as that cool change pushes through, there is a possibility
02:04of smoke from that bushfire pushing across Melbourne and Geelong. So we can see here, as that cool change
02:10pushes through on Tuesday evening, the southwesterly winds may push smoke all the way into the city
02:15and create some quite challenging conditions for those who are a bit more susceptible to smoke.
02:19So now having a look at the next few days, starting off with Wednesday, we do see much cooler conditions across the south coast,
02:2523 degrees in Melbourne, still reaching the low 30s in Adelaide, but very hot further north where that cool change doesn't really make it quite far enough.
02:33We do see temperatures pushing up to 50 degrees across parts of outback Queensland.
02:37The fire danger ratings also do show high to extreme fire dangers in the south,
02:41and that's because we are still seeing some quite gusty winds coming through from the south,
02:45and with no rainfall expected with this cool change. So we are still expecting to see elevated fire dangers,
02:50including across some parts of Victoria. So now having a look at Thursday, we do see hot conditions
02:55continuing right across the interior of the country, and that's because the heat has nowhere to go.
03:00And so what we see is it circulates around central Australia, temperatures again reaching up into the high 40s
03:05across parts of South Australia, and also a very hot day across western New South Wales.
03:10On Friday, we see those northerly winds return, Adelaide jumping back up to 42 degrees,
03:14and back up into the high 40s all the way up into the interior. Very much the same as we head into
03:19Saturday, but we'll gradually start to see a more significant change coming through. You'll see those
03:23much cooler southerly winds, and they will make it quite a bit further north as we head into the weekend.
03:27And so Sunday, we'll finally see the heat moving away from the southern coastline and contracting into
03:32central Australia, but it does mean that those hot days in southwestern parts of Queensland are set
03:37to continue all the way into Sunday, and possibly even beyond. So with possibly record-breaking
03:42temperatures and dangerous fire weather conditions across the southeast of the country, it is important
03:46that you stay up to date with the latest information and warnings. You can get these on our website and
03:51our app, follow us on social media, and as always, please stay safe.
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