Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane: Extreme weather warning for Australia over the next three days – with a 46C heatwave and a massive rain bomb
Extreme heat will continue to bake swathes of Australia as cold and wet fronts bring a soaking to the other side of the country.
Severe thunderstorms and an incoming rain bomb are set to sweep the entire east coast, stretching all the way from Victoria through New South Wales, Queensland and up into northern Australia, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Senior meteorologist Jonathan How said the storms are being driven by a surface trough ‘dragging down a lot of tropical moisture from the north and into the east of the country’.
This will lead to heavy downpours across northern NSW and Queensland, while storms smash northern parts of the country.
While the showers will cool down Sydney to the mid-20s in the coming days, many other capital cities will see temperatures climb into the 30s over coming days.
Northern NSW and southern Queensland are on high alert for possible flash flooding and severe thunderstorms, with motorists advised to proceed cautiously and not drive through flooded roods.
Strong winds could threaten to topple power lines and trees, leading to localised power blackouts in country Victoria and north-east NSW.
On the other side of the country, a cold front moving is through parts of southern Western Australia.
Extreme heat over north-western and central Australia will see temperatures soar above 40C
Sandwiched between the cold front and the trough is a high pressure system over South Australia.
Victoria and Tasmania will also become subject to a high pressure system, which will reduce some of the humidity leading to drier air and also clearer skies.
‘We’ve seen some pretty significant wet weather … slowed the heating trend a bit for Australia with all this rain and storm activity,’ Sky News Weather meteorologist Rob Sharpe said.
‘It’s more about the rain and the storms this month.’
North-west and central Australia are in the middle of a heatwave that could see the town of Paraburdoo in the Pilbara region swelter in 46C heat, jut shy of its 48C December record.
Marble Bar is also in for a roasting with temperatures forecast to reach 45C on Wednesday and Thursday.
Here’s the weather forecast for the next few days.
Sydney
Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, becoming less likely later this evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Winds northerly 15 to 25 km/h becoming light in the late evening Min 21C Max 31C
Thursday: Cloudy. Slight chance of a shower in the morning. Light winds becoming southerly 20 to 30 km/h in the morning then becoming light in the late evening. Min 21C Max 25C.
Friday: Partly cloudy. Light winds. Min 19C Max 26C.
While showers will cool down Sydney, other capital city will see temperatures climb into the 30s over coming days.
Melbourne
Wednesday: Sunny. The chance of fog in the southeast suburbs in the early morning. Light winds becoming southerly 15 to 25 km/h in the middle of the day then becoming light in the late evening. Min 13C Max 24C.
Thursday: The chance of fog in the early morning. Sunny day. Light winds becoming south to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the late afternoon then becoming light in the evening. Min 13C Max 31C.
Friday: Mostly sunny morning. Medium chance of showers in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming north to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h during the morning then tending southeast to southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the evening. Min 19C Max 33C.
Brisbane
Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the middle of the day then becoming light in the evening. Min 23C Max 30C.
Thursday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. The chance of a thunderstorm in the west in the morning and afternoon. Winds east to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h becoming light in the evening. Min 23C Max 29C.
Friday: Mostly sunny. Slight chance of a shower. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening. Min 21C Max 30C.
Canberra
Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers in the morning and afternoon. Light winds becoming east to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h in the middle of the day then becoming light in the late evening. Min 16C Max 21C.
Thursday: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower. The chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming northerly 15 to 20 km/h in the late afternoon then becoming light in the evening. Min 12C Max 31C.
Friday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds becoming northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening. Min 16C Max 32C.
Heavy downpours are predicted for parts of NSW, Victoria and Queensland leading to warnings of flash flooding
Adelaide
Wednesday: Sunny. Winds east to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h becoming light before dawn then becoming easterly 15 to 20 km/h in the late evening. Min 12C Max 30C.
Thursday: Mostly sunny. Slight chance of a shower. The chance of a thunderstorm in the evening. Winds easterly 15 to 20 km/h tending northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h before dawn then turning southeasterly in the evening. Min 21C Max 37C.
Friday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm. Winds northeast to southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h tending northwest to southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the day then tending southeast to southwesterly during the afternoon. Min 23C Max 25C.
Darwin
Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the late morning and afternoon. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds. Light winds. Min 26C Max 33C.
Thursday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds. Min 25C Max 32C.
Friday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h during the day then becoming light during the afternoon. Min 26C Max 32C.
Perth
Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers in the morning and early afternoon. Winds westerly 15 to 25 km/h tending southwesterly 20 to 30 km/h in the middle of the day then becoming light in the evening. Min 17C Max 24C.
Thursday: Mostly sunny. Winds south to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h turning southwesterly 25 to 35 km/h in the middle of the day then tending southeast to southwesterly 15 to 25 km/h in the evening. Min 17C Max 24C.
Friday: Sunny. Winds southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h tending southeast to southwesterly 25 to 35 km/h during the day then becoming southeasterly 20 to 30 km/h during the evening. Min 15C Max 29C.
Hobart
Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, becoming less likely later this evening. Winds westerly 20 to 30 km/h. Min 11C Max 25C.
Thursday: Sunny. Winds west to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h shifting east to southeasterly in the late afternoon then becoming light in the evening. Min 11C Max 25C.
Friday: Mostly sunny. Light winds becoming south to southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the late evening. Min 13C Max 26C.
