Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne weather: Winter scorcher sees records tumble
Australia has recorded its highest winter temperatures on record as the country grapples with an untimely heatwave.
A scorching 41.6 degrees Celsius was recorded in Yampi Sound, in Western Australia’s northwest, on Monday.
The Meteorological Office has “preliminarily confirmed” the temperature. This means they need to do more testing to make sure the reading hasn’t been affected by anything else before they can officially confirm it.
A BoM spokesperson said if legalised it would be “the highest temperature record for Australia in a winter month”.
It surpasses the previous record of 41.2 degrees Celsius set on August 23, 2020 in West Roebuck, about 100 km southwest of Yampi Sound.
Local temperature records were also broken in Derby, Wyndham, Kununurra and Fitzroy Crossing (all in Western Australia) as temperatures rose above 40 degrees Celsius.
The heat wave left much of the interior sweltering, with temperatures up to 15 degrees Celsius higher than average August temperatures.
Outback towns in the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales also broke record temperatures last week.
Millions of Australians are expected to sweat through the final days of winter after a heatwave swept across the country’s interior over the weekend
The warmer air, which has been largely inactive in central Australia until now, is expected to spread into New South Wales and Queensland.
BoM predicts the higher temperatures will continue throughout the week, with some areas seeing temperatures as much as 11 degrees higher than the late winter average.
The unusual weather is far from ideal for ski resorts, with many resorts reporting snow loss and poor conditions ahead of spring.
BoM has also issued a weather warning for areas along the country’s southern coast as a cold front is expected to move north, bringing strong winds.
All of Tasmania was warned on Tuesday morning of potentially “devastating” wind gusts of more than 60km/h.
In the higher areas near the apple orchard and between Swansea and Orford on the east coast, wind speeds of up to 125 km/h can be reached.
Large parts of Victoria and coastal areas in Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales have also been warned to be prepared for “damaging” and “devastating” winds on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The unusually warm weather is expected to heat up areas of Queensland and New South Wales to well above their August averages throughout the week (pictured: Bondi Beach)
Sydney
Wednesday: Sunny. Winds northwest 15 to 25 km/h, increasing to 35 to 50 km/h in the morning, then veering to west in the early afternoon. Min 16C Max 28C
Thursday: Sunny. Wind west 15 to 25 km/h, becoming light in the morning. Min 13C Max 23C
Friday: Sunny. Wind northwest 25 to 35 km/h, becoming light in the evening. Min 12C Max 19C
Melbourne
Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers over the Dandenongs, medium chance elsewhere. Possible small hail over the bayside suburbs in the late afternoon and evening. Winds northwest at 35 to 50 km/h, shifting to west early in the morning, then decreasing to 20 to 30 km/h in the evening. Min 13C Max 18C
Thursday: Cloudy. Average chance of showers. Wind from the west to northwest 20 to 30 km/h, tending to the north to northwest 25 to 40 km/h during the day. Min
Friday: Cloudy. High chance of showers, probably in the morning and afternoon. Wind north 35 to 50 km/h, shifting west 25 to 40 km/h in the morning and tending to west to northwest 20 to 30 km/h in the afternoon. Min 13C Mac 19C
Brisbane
Wednesday: Chance of fog in the early morning. Sunny day. Wind north to northwest 15 to 25 km/h becoming light in the evening and north to northwest 15 to 20 km/h in the late evening. Min 16C Max 31C
Thursday: Sunny. Light wind shifting from north to northwest 15 to 20 km/h during the day and then light in the evening. Min 19C Max 33C
Friday: Sunny. Light wind shifting to northwest to northeast 15 to 20 km/h in the afternoon and then light in the evening. Min 16C Max 32C
Perth
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Chance of morning mist. Small chance of a shower, probably in the evening. Light wind becoming northwesterly, 15 to 25 km/h in the middle of the day. Min 9C Max 21C
Thursday: Cloudy. Very high chance of showers, probably in the morning and afternoon. Wind from the northwest 25 to 35 km/h, tending to the west 25 to 40 km/h in the morning and decreasing to 15 to 25 km/h in the evening. Min15 Max 21
Friday: Partly cloudy. Average chance of showers, probably in the morning and afternoon. Wind from the west 20 to 30 km/h. Min 11C Max 18C
Adelaide
Wednesday: Cloudy. Average chance of showers, probably early in the morning. Wind from the west 30 to 45 km/h, decreasing to 15 to 25 km/h in the evening. Min 13C Max 17C
Thursday: Partly cloudy. Small chance of a shower. Wind from the west to northwest 15 to 25 km/h, tending to the north to northwest 25 to 35 km/h in the morning. Min 11C Max 22C
Friday: Partly cloudy. Chance of showers. Wind from the northwest 25 to 35 km/h, shifting to the west 30 to 45 km/h in the morning. Min 14C Max 19C
Hobart
Wednesday: Cloudy. Very high chance of showers, probably in the morning. Wind northwest 25 to 35 km/h, tending to west 30 to 45 km/h in the morning. Min 8C Max 12C
Thursday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, with possible small hail in the morning. Wind west 25 to 40 km/h shifting north to northwest 15 to 25 km/h in the afternoon. Min 7C Max 14C
Friday: Cloudy. Very high chance of showers, probably in the morning. Wind north to northwest 25 to 35 km/h, shifting to the west in the morning and tending to the northwest 20 to 30 km/h in the evening. Min 10C Max 15C
Canberra
Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Wind northwest 30 to 45 km/h shifting west 35 to 50 km/h in the middle of the day then decreasing to 25 to 35 km/h in the evening. Min 8C Max 18C
Thursday: Partly cloudy. Wind west 15 to 25 km/h turning northwest 20 to 30 km/h in the afternoon and then decreasing to 15 to 20 km/h in the evening. Min 4C Max 16C
Friday: Partly cloudy. Average chance of showers. Wind northwest 20 to 30 km/h increasing to 30 to 45 km/h in the morning then shifting to west 15 to 25 km/h in the afternoon. Min 5C Max 21C
Darwin
Wednesday: Sunny. Light wind that becomes easterly in the morning 15 to 25 km/h and tends to northeasterly in the afternoon. Min 23C Max 34C
Thursday: Sunny. Light wind that becomes east to northeast 15 to 25 km/h in the morning and tends to northwest to northeast 15 to 20 km/h in the evening. Min 23C Max 24C
Friday: Mostly sunny. Light wind that becomes northwest to northeast 15 to 25 km/h during the day and becomes west to northwest in the afternoon. Min 23C Max 33C