Several states are steeling themselves for scorching temperatures this weekend, after one city suffered its hottest day in two years.
Meteorologists have warned of ‘record challenging extreme heat’ over the next several days as a heatwave moves easterly from inland Western Australia.
Melbourne residents sweltered through their first day 40C day in three years on Friday.
Victoria’s capital quickly reached high temperatures with 30C recorded at 9am before the city hit 40.5C at 3.47pm.
The last time Melbourne reached 40C was on January 31, 2020, meaning it went 1,112 consecutive days below 40C.
Melbourne copped a 40C day for the first time in three years (pictured, pedestrians at St Kilda’s beach)
High temperatures were felt across Victoria on Friday (pictured, a temperature map of Victoria)
‘This is the longest stretch of days below 40ºC in 50 years, since the record-breaking 1790 day run that started on February 26, 1968 and went until January 3, 1973,’ Weatherzone’s Ben Domensino said.
From Saturday onwards, Melbourne is expected to dip back into the 20s, with partly cloudy conditions for the next week.
Residents in NSW are bracing to suffer through the state’s hottest conditions in over 400 days, with hundreds set to flock to beaches to cool down.
Sky News Weather meteorologist Alison Osborne confirmed NSW could record its hottest summer day so far, with parts of Sydney’s west expected to hit 38C degrees on Saturday.
‘Temperatures across NSW will spike on Saturday. In outback NSW it will be over 40C in many areas,’ she said.
After hovering around 30C through Saturday, Sydney will enjoy temperatures in the high 20s for the next seven days, with possible showers expected from Tuesday through to Thursday.
The heat brings other concerns, however, with the state recording one of its worst summers for drownings on record.
So far this summer, 23 people have died in coastal drownings, all at unpatrolled locations.
Meanwhile, 16 properties have been engulfed in a bushfire in Port Lincoln in South Australia which broke out on Thursday afternoon.
While the fire has been contained overnight, warnings remain in place across the area for potentially hazardous smoke caused by the fire, which began at the town’s dump.
Residents have been advised by the CFS to keep their windows and doors shut.
A severe heatwave is set to hit Western Australia from Friday (pictured, the heatwave forecast)
While investigations into what caused the fire are ongoing, the CFS confirmed ‘several properties’ had been lost in the blaze.
A CFS spokesperson estimated two commercial structures, believed to be at the waste management facility, and ‘some residential properties’ might have been affected.
It took more than 80 CFS and 14 MFS firefighters to bring the blaze under control.
Temperatures in Adelaide will hang around in the high 20s over the weekend before moving into 33C over Monday and Tuesday, climbing to sweltering highs of 38C through Wednesday and Thursday.
Forecasters have also warned of the possibility that parts of WA could hit 50C early next week for only the second time ever in the month of February.
While heatwave conditions persist in WA for the foreseeable future, hot temperatures will leave the southeast over the weekend but will remain in much of SA.
Perth will reach 34C over the weekend before cooling down slightly early into next week. The city isn’t expecting any rain for the next seven days.
Hobart saw it’s hottest day in two years on Friday at 36.1C, 14C above average.
The Tasmanian capital’s temperatures will begin to drop, bringing some possible showers on Saturday and Monday.
Canberra’s temperature will climb to 35C on Saturday as a possible storm moves in.
Meanwhile, Australia’s north is expected to cop more stormy weather in the days ahead.
Queensland, which is still reeling from recent cyclone conditions, can expect monsoonal rains, bringing about the chance of heavy rainfall and flash flooding.
Severe weather warnings have been put in place for Cairns, Cooktown and Port Douglas.
Melbourne’s streak of days below 40C was the longest recorded in 50 years (pictured, St Kilda’s beach)
Darwin will experience temperatures of around 32C every day until Thursday next week, with thunderstorms rolling in on Saturday and expected to persist until Thursday at least.
Brisbane will be partly cloudy and hover around 30C for the next seven days.
Darwin will experience temperatures of around 32C every day until Thursday next week, with thunderstorms rolling in on Saturday and expected to persist until Thursday at least.
