‘Stinker’ night ahead for Melbourne’s east, north as cool change hits Victoria
DONCASTER, Ringwood and the Yarra Valley will swelter through another ‘stinker’ night despite a cool change sweeping through the city, dropping Melbourne’s CBD temperature under 30C.
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DONCASTER, Ringwood to the Yarra Valley will be hit with another “stinker” night despite a cool change sweeping through the city, dropping Melbourne’s CBD temperature under 30C.
The drop is a welcome change after the city marched towards its predicted top of 42C.
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It comes as the Department of Health is warning all Melbourne hospitals to check their emergency generators are working in case they lose power this afternoon to ensure the safety of patients and staff.
Geelong, in the state’s south west, dropped about 10 degrees Celsius within 15 minutes this afternoon bringing it down to 30C.
Avalon was the first place in Melbourne to hit 40C today at 10.21am.
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Emergency Services Minister James Merlino said despite the scorching heat it had been a “relatively good day”.
“This is the hottest Melbourne day in two years and that hot weather will continue across the northern parts of the state of the next number of days,” he said.
There have been 10 fires, however those have been brought under control quickly.
Paramedics attended more than 30 cardiac arrests on Thursday, recording a spike of seven in one hour.
It prompted warnings for vulnerable people to stay cool today.
Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Craig Lapsley said Mildura would hit the 45C predicted.
He praised firefighters for acting quickly using both aircraft and tankers to bring blazes under co trip early on.
A fire near Beaufort was caught early helping “keep a small fire small”, he said.
Mr Lapsley confirmed the cool change had hit but had not moved inland.
The total fire ban will remain in the Mallee on Saturday
Mr Lapsley also flagged a hot Australia Day and highlighted the risk for swimmers, with five people pulled from the water including two serious cases.
Public Transport Victoria reported only minimal impacts with a few train services slowed but no major delays.
The forecast remains at above average for the rest of summer with dry areas, particularly in the north west.
Parents are also being urged to not leave children in their cars.
Portland was the first in the state to feel the cool change this morning, with Warrnamnbool and Airley’s Inlet the next to enjoy the change along the southwest coast.
UNCOMFORTABLE NIGHT SLEEP AFTER THURSDAY SCORCHER
Residents in Cape Otway, along the Great Ocean Rd, had the most uncomfortable Thursday night’s sleep in the state with the temperature not dipping below 25.4C.
While those in Ferny Creek, Frankston and Aireys Inlet sweltered through the second hottest night in the state at 24.7C, while those in bayside suburbs will be the best off tonight.
Swan Hill dipped to 24.2C while Essendon dropped to 23.6C overnight, Scoresby hit a low of 17.3C at 5am and the city reached 22.5C at 6am.
Taking the dubious honour of first to 40°C today, Avalon Airport at 10:21am. Most areas to join them soon enough. Keep cool. 😎 #survivetheheat #Summerheat https://t.co/e7H134YSvy pic.twitter.com/vt454eiBvd
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) January 18, 2018
Please take extra care out on the network today in this extreme heat.
— Metro Trains (@metrotrains) January 19, 2018
If you need assistance, please press the red button on any station platform, or see our Customer Service staff. pic.twitter.com/bqHq8bRIHv
Yesterday was hot and last night uncomfortable. We had fires and we'll have more today. We'll see heat impacts on people and infrastructure. It's our summer but we need people to be tuned to where they are, to take care and to check in on others. pic.twitter.com/hDvQVlZOMY
— Craig Lapsley (@craig_lapsley) January 18, 2018
Metro Trains is also urging commuters to take extra care in the heat.
And temperatures are still on the march in the state’s northwest towards to 45C but the possibility of thunderstorms to hit.
Emergency Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley earlier warned people to keep safe during the heat.
“Yesterday was hot and last night uncomfortable. We had fires and we’ll have more today,” he tweeted today.
“We’ll see heat impacts on people and infrastructure. It’s our summer but we need people to be tuned to where they are, to take care and to check in on others.”
A total fire ban is in place across the Mallee, Wimmera, South West, North Central and Central regions and 14 public parks will be shut.
Senior forecaster Dean Stewart said “it was not a good day for fires” due to the fresh northerly winds, high temperatures and low humidity through parts of the state.
SUMMER SCORCHER BAKES VICTORIA
When will the #coolchange arrive? Here is our current expectations at select locations. #Melbweather Unfortunately the change will weaken significanly with distance from the coast or into the east of #Victoria. All current obs at https://t.co/NzSOfF0Gvg pic.twitter.com/PzdwAfICpJ
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) January 18, 2018
As the mercury hit 40C in the CBD on Thursday and a state high of 43C in Dartmoor, paramedics were called to 15 heat-related cases across the state.
Six people were taken to hospital. Ambulance Victoria was called to nine children locked in cars and lifesavers rescued 26 people at the beach yesterday.
A woman, in her 40s, was dragged from the water at Killarney beach near Port Fairy about 5.15pm on Thursday but died at the scene.
At one stage more than 9000 households were without electricity on Thursday night.
About 1000 properties are off the grid today including 554 at Docklands, part of a planned outage, while 195 homes in Torquay and 176 in Sunshine West are having an unexpected power outage.
AusNet Services customers may be out of luck again today as the provider plans to go ahead with several planned power outages despite the predicted hot weather.
Elderly residents will be among those sweltering through the day without airconditioning.
AusNet Services spokesman Hugo Armstrong said the company was not responsible for assessing risk to customers caused by outages.
“If the works are going ahead, there would be good reason such as emergency or safety works,” he said, adding several outages had been cancelled due to conditions.
“We are not responsible for assessing risk. People need to assess the risk and take action appropriately.”
Police have arrived. Assisted pedestrians and cyclists to cross while gates were down. #murrumbeena #metrotrains pic.twitter.com/EfdKgwpwbJ
— Justin (@Juz1093) January 18, 2018
VicRoads us urging motorists to take care on the roads and don’t take unnecessary trips, leave earlier or postpone trips in days of extreme weather.
A VicRoads spokesman urged motorists to take plenty of fresh drinking water and check your car before you get behind the wheel to prevent breakdowns or running out of fuel.
Plus there is a warning not to leave children. elderly people or pets in a car.
V/Line trains to Geelong suffered major delays on Thursday night, with unconfirmed reports of heat-affected commuters getting off and walking on tracks.
A V/Line spokesman told the Geelong Advertiser he could not confirm the individual reports from on-board the trains but said signal faults due to the extreme heat at Lara and Corio had caused delays.
@VLine Due to heat restrictions, passengers have climbed off the train half way down the tracks after an hours wait with no aircon. #vline
— Matthew Burrell (@Swallows83) January 18, 2018
Major delays are continuing to be experienced on the Geelong line due to heat related speed restrictions and various signal faults.
— V/Line Geelong Line (@vline_geelong) January 18, 2018
@vline_geelong you have truly outdone yourself today -100s of dehydrated passengers stuck
— VlineCommuter (@CommuterVline) January 18, 2018
Firefighters continued to battle two out-of-control fires in Victoria’s southwest overnight, with an emergency warning issued at Alvie, Wool Wool, Dreeite South, Coragulac, Dreeite and Warrion.
Police on Thursday released footage of three women running from a suspicious grassfire at the Roslyn Park Drive overpass in Melton West around 8.50pm on January 3.
The state government was on Thursday slammed for delaying laws to crack down on louts flouting fire ban laws.
A parliamentary report found most magistrates issue fines of up to $300 for breaching a fire ban, and four per cent of fire bugs were jailed for lighting a fire or allowing one to remain lit in the open.
The maximum penalty for ignoring a total fire ban day is two years in prison, or a fine of up to $15,857.
The inquiry into fire season preparedness recommended the government introduce an on-the-spot fine, strengthen enforcement and impose significant penalties.
Despite accepting the recommendation, the government will not introduce harsher penalties until after this year’s fire season.
Opposition emergency service spokesman Brad Battin said the government had failed to introduce new penalties.
“Arson attacks are deadly, and penalties should reflect this,” he said.
A government spokesman said it would consider putting stronger penalties in place in the future.
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