Year’s first heatwave to bear down on South Australia
SOUTH Australians are getting ready to swelter during the first heatwave of the year.
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SOUTH Australians are getting ready to swelter during the first heatwave of the year.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Tina Donaldson said Thursday was forecast to be 36C while Friday and Saturday were expected to be a hot 39C.
A heatwave is three or more consecutive days of above average maximum and minimum temperatures that is unusual for that location.
Ms Donaldson said a slow, moving high pressure system in the Tasman with northerly winds would bring hot days and hot nights across Adelaide and the state over the next few days.
A trough is then expected to move through the state on Saturday, dropping temperatures back to 30C on Sunday.
“It’s certainly still on the high side though,” Ms Donaldson said.
Bureau of Meteorology heatwave maps show low intensity heatwave conditions began yesterday in Adelaide and will continue until Sunday, while severe to extreme heatwave conditions develop over the northeast of the state.
Ms Donaldson said the outback town of Oodnadatta was set to be one of the hottest parts of the state, with 43C forecast for today.
“Poor Oodnadatta, possibly even for the next week the temperature there doesn’t look like it’s going to fall below 40C,” she said.
“The trough that moves through Saturday sort of becomes near stationary over the north of the state on Sunday and Monday.
“So certainly the north and far north of the state is likely to continue to experience hot conditions probably for the next week.”
The last “hot spell” felt in SA was from December 22-25, where temperatures were more than 30C in the lead up to Christmas.
Ms Donaldson said Adelaide hadn’t experienced much hot weather this summer.
“Going back to 2015, we had some record breaking heat that year (including) the most number of December days over 40C,” she said.
The average December temperature in 2015 was 32.5C, compared to 28.7C recorded last month.
Authorities are again urging South Australians to look out for the vulnerable and elderly during this next wave of hot weather.
The mercury peaked at 33.3C in Adelaide on Wednesday.
