Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane weather
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More extreme weather is on the way, with blistering temperatures on one side of the country and damaging storms and hail on the other.
As Perth gears up for a 37C scorching Tuesday, two days into summer, Australia’s east coast will be crushed by more wild conditions as the ongoing New South Wales flood crisis enters its 75th day.
Destructive thunderstorms with large hailstones are heading for parts of the state as regional cities could remain locked down by flooding for up to a month, with stranded residents relying on food delivered by helicopter.
A severe gale warning has been issued for much of NSW and Queensland after thunderstorms battered Sydney, the Central Coast and Wollongong on Sunday night.
It’s been a cool spring for Australia’s six east coast and southeastern capitals, due to frequent downpours and unusually active cold fronts from the Southern Ocean.
Western Australia records its hottest day of the season on Tuesday as temperatures in southeastern Australia remain in the 20s
Both Sydney’s and Melbourne’s CBDs are yet to record another day with over 30 degrees Celsius this season, according to Weather zone.
Both capitals average at least four 30C-plus days each spring.
In the country’s capital, which usually records at least six spring days with over 30 degrees Celsius, the highest recorded temperature in Canberra was 26.8 degrees on November 12.
Adelaide reached 32°C three times in November, while Hobart hit a seasonal high of 28.1°C on November 10.
In the west, last week’s warmest spring day in Perth will be surpassed on Tuesday when the mercury hits 37°C.
The heat wave continues on Wednesday with a top of 35C before temperatures drop by 10C overnight.
Western Australia gets a taste of summer with temperatures reaching 40C
Perth (pictured) will be 37°C on Tuesday and Wednesday will remain a humid 35°C before the temperature dips
On the other side of the country, the Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe storm warning in Queensland.
The forecast area extends from Bamaga in Cape York all the way to the Gold Coast.
“We will see more rain in eastern Queensland throughout the week,” senior meteorologist Jonathan How told Today.
From tomorrow, the showers and storms will increase, especially north of Rockhampton.
“Wednesday and Thursday, those are the wettest days of the week, heading for the Sunshine Coast with daily precipitation totals of 50mm to 100mm.
Brisbane will also see some rain on Thursday, but most of it will be in Central Queensland where we may see rain and possible flash flooding.
“(We’re) reminding residents across Queensland to heed the heavy rain week warnings.”
An unstable air mass could bring large hail, heavy rain, flash flooding and damaging winds to parts of NSW Monday afternoon, the Bureau of Meteorology warned.
“The storms will continue to threaten for most of this week,” the agency said.
The Alert Area includes Port Macquarie on the coast, Kempsey and Comboyne, and extends west to Walcha, Uralla, Armidale and Barraba.
This afternoon, thunderstorms will become more active over parts of the Mid North Coast, Northern Tablelands and Northern Rivers. High winds, large hail and heavy downpours are possible,” an alert from the Bureau of Meteorology said.
The NSW SES received 100 calls for assistance in the 24 hours through Monday morning.
Nearly a third were for storm damage in Sydney on Sunday night, mostly to trees or branches that fell on houses and driveways.
Some flood-ravaged NSW communities will remain under lockdown for weeks as the flood crisis continues. Pictured is Sophie Burge and neighbor Cameron Tweed moving sheep to higher ground near Deniliquin in southwest NSW
There are 68 flood warnings in NSW – 12 of them at emergency level.
SES flood relief continues to focus on the town of Euabalong in western NSW, where the River Lachlan has isolated the town.
Moderate to major flood warnings remain in effect for seven rivers in the state.
Euabalong tax collector Neil Quinn said the city was staring over the swollen river last week with a hastily built bank holding back the floodwaters.
“I don’t know how we did it, but we stopped the river,” Mr Quinn told AAP on Sunday.
It followed a tense week in which the city’s original flood bank began to fail and evacuation orders were issued.
Mr Quinn said the city would depend on helicopters for supplies for at least a month.
The SES also targets the towns of Hay, Balranald, Brewarrina, Bourke and downstream towns of Torrumbarry, Barham, Boundary Bend and Moulamein.
The cleanup job has only just begun in Forbes (pictured) in NSW’s central west as the state’s flood crisis enters its 75th day