Victorians and tennis fans will enjoy “fantastic” weather for Australia Day and the Open finals before temperatures soar across the state on Monday, bringing strong winds and extreme fire danger.
Melbourne is forecast to reach a top of 26 degrees on Sunday, with partly cloudy conditions and the chance of a morning shower in the city’s north-west.
Rod Laver Arena’s roof is expected to be open on Sunday with pleasant weather for the Australian Open finals.Credit: Eddie Jim
“It’s fantastic weather for the women’s final and for the men’s final, which is really positive, and even the winds are quite pleasant,” said the Bureau of Meteorology’s Lincoln Trainor.
“We’ve got a light to moderate southerly wind during the afternoon, and that’s becoming light in the evening.”
Temperatures are tipped to climb rapidly on Monday, with Melbourne forecast to hit 42 degrees on the public holiday.
The mercury is set to hit a scorching 44 degrees in Mildura and Swan Hill, 42 degrees in Shepparton, and 41 degrees in Bendigo and Geelong, with the fire danger rating “extreme” in Victoria’s central, north central, south-west and Wimmera districts, and “high” in the northern, Mallee, north-east, and West and South Gippsland regions.
Monday’s public holiday is expected to be a scorcher, with temperatures above 40 degrees in Melbourne.Credit: Joe Armao
A front will enter Victoria on Monday morning, dragging an inland trough across the state and scattering light showers over Melbourne, increasing the risk of storms east of the city, said Trainor.
“It’s a settled weekend before what we call spike day on Monday … it’s really the day to watch,” Trainor said. “The day is going to be 12 to 14 degrees above average for January.
“As this front enters the state in the morning, we’re going to start to see these northerly winds.
“Ahead of that front, we’ll have 30 to 40 kilometre winds gusting up to 60 kilometres during the day, and that’s really going to drive those temperatures up.
“It’s also going to be driving the fire danger up.”
A dramatic cool change is expected to sweep through Victoria about 6pm on Monday, dropping temperatures by 10 to 15 degrees.
Cooler temperatures are expected next week, with a top of 23 degrees in Melbourne from Tuesday to Friday.
Experts have issued grave warnings about water safety ahead of Australia Day, which is one of the two worst days for drownings across the country.
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