Heatwave to scorch Australia as Western Australia and Queensland sweat through high temperatures
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Scorching temperatures will hit parts of Australia with the mercury rising to 38C as a deadly heatwave hits the country, already claiming the life of a child left in the back of a car in Sydney.
Western Australia and Queensland will bear the brunt with the mercury rising to 30 degrees on Friday with temperatures set to stay high into next week.
A severe heat wave warning has been issued for south east Queensland with the city of Ipswich, west of Brisbane, reaching 37C today and 36C on Saturday.
Brisbane will endure two days of temperatures of more than 34°C from Friday before the mercury dips to 31°C on Sunday.
Perth will sweat up to 36°C on Friday before the temperature peaks at 38°C on Saturday and drops back down to 36°C on Sunday.
The intense heat has raised fears that power grids in both states will reach their limits as residents and the elderly are encouraged to stay cool indoors.
Scorching temperatures are hitting parts of Australia with the mercury rising to 38C as a deadly heat wave hits the country.
Queenslanders will be heading to the beach this week to escape the severe heat wave (pictured, bathers on the Gold Coast)
The Australian Power Market Operator is forecasting a new record peak on Friday afternoon of some 10,400 megawatts of electricity demand, Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said.
“That significantly exceeds the records that were set last year,” he said Thursday.
“Queensland’s previous peak demand was 10,085 megawatts, and we expect additional demand of over 200 megawatts tomorrow.”
High dew points, a measure of moisture in the air that affects how warm the weather feels, are expected over coastal Queensland, with warnings of ‘oppressive’ conditions between Brisbane and the Wide Bay-Burnett region.
It comes as parts of the inland tropics of Queensland and the Northern Territory will receive a month of rain.
It’s a different story at the other end of Australia’s east coast, as temperatures plummet amid rainy and windy conditions, with Melbourne expecting a high of just 18C on Friday.
“It’s hot all over the state (Queensland),” Dean Narramore of the Met Office told the Today program on Thursday morning.
“Low intensity heatwave conditions are expected from Cairns to north-eastern New South Wales.
“That includes much of South East Queensland, the Gold Coast, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.
“We’re going to see temperatures on the coast in the 30s to 30s, but inland areas of South East Queensland and up through Capricorn, you could see temperatures in the 30s and into the 40s in West Queensland.” . stay a few days.
Large swathes of Queensland will experience muggy (orange) and oppressive (red) conditions
Sydneysiders will also head to the beach this weekend with good sunny conditions forecast.
Narramore warned that south-east Queensland would experience some sleepless nights due to the damp.
“Not only are these temperatures really hot, there’s so much moisture in the atmosphere that it can feel three to eight degrees hotter than it really is, particularly on the coast,” Narramore said.
‘Overnight lows will be higher than normal. We see 21s and 22s in Brisbane but we’re talking 24-25C but it ‘looks’ like nighttime temperatures are closer to 30 in SE Queensland over the next few days.
Further north, the inland tropics of Queensland and the Northern Territory will receive a month of rain in the coming days.
Over 200mm of rain is expected, enough to cause flash flooding and isolated communities.
Darwin is also set for rain with up to 20mm possible on Friday.
The Met Office has warned that an intense heat wave will sweep through parts of Queensland and Western Australia.
Melburnians (pictured) should keep an umbrella handy for cold and windy conditions
It will be hot in most of Queensland over the weekend (shown here are bathers cooling off on the Gold Coast)
Sydney is also enjoying a dose of sunny weather with the mercury expected to hit 30C on Friday and conditions to remain good over the weekend.
Meanwhile, southern and south-eastern Australia are bracing for a summer cold snap as temperatures plummet.
Rainy and windy conditions are forecast for Adelaide over the next few days and will only peak at 19C on Friday.
Further east, it will also be rainy and windy in Melbourne with a high of 18C on Friday and highs remaining in the 20F.
In the nation’s capital, Canberrans will enjoy a moderate 26°C on Thursday before temperatures drop to a high of 18°C on Friday and 21°C on Saturday.
In the west, the heat wave continues in Perth with a sweltering 38°C on Saturday and a sweltering 36°C on Sunday.