Sydney sweats through heatwave while Tasmania awaits snowfall

Meteorologists are warning of another week of unseasonal weather across the country, as Aussies brace for heatwaves, flooding and even snow.

After sweating through its hottest day in two years, with temperatures reaching more than 40C in some areas, Sydney is expected to boil until the arrival of a cool change on Wednesday afternoon.

Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) senior meteorologist Jonathan How says parts of Sydney could reach up to 36C on Tuesday before Thursday’s cool temperatures pull the mercury down to 27C.

Meanwhile, Tasmania and Victoria are bracing for showers and wind amid the possibility of snowfall over elevated areas.

Kunanyi/Mount Wellington are in for some ‘unseasonal but not unheard of’ snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. Picture: Windy.com

“This cold front will see temperatures dropping well below average in Victoria and Tasmania with a chance of some snow later on Tuesday night and the following morning in Tasmania at 800m to 1000m,” Mr How said.

“It will get quite windy in Melbourne on Tuesday as well. The cold front will bring showers and storms from later on Tuesday night for western Victoria, later reaching Melbourne overnight.

“There’s a slight chance of snow dusting on Wednesday in alpine areas across Victoria and it should be a fairly cool day with windy conditions across Victoria and Tasmania.”

This cold front will bring cooler conditions to NSW, however no rainfall is expected.

A number of weather warnings remain in place for elevated parts of NSW for Wednesday, with damaging winds above 90km/h covering the Southern Tablelands and Snowy Mountains.

The same winds will cover Victoria’s northeast Alps and southeast coast, including the Grampians towards the west, as well as most of the west and northeast coast of Tasmania.

Damaging winds will batter parts of NSW, Victoria and Tasmania from Tuesday. Picture: Earth.nullschool.net

A number of fire danger warnings have also been listed for NSW, which continues to manage “a number of active fires”.

“We remind people to monitor the NSW Rural Fire Service (for announcements); there are extreme fire dangers for the Central Ranges and high fire danger for Sydney, Newcastle and Illawarra,” Mr How said.

“Adelaide will see a few showers later on in the evening and on Wednesday morning. As the cold front moves through, we will see conditions quickly improve ahead of the weekend.”

Ongoing widespread storms are expected across the Northern Territory and Queensland with “a lot of flooding” expected.

“There is a warning for northwest Queensland in the Gulf Country for heavy rainfall, wind and flooding,” Mr How said.

“That rainfall will extend across central and southeast Queensland later this week.”

No warnings are in place across northern Western Australia as showers and storms push into the Northern Territory and Queensland.

“Across the southwest of the state it’s still pretty hot and sunny but nothing unusual,” Mr How said.

“Perth will see some relief from the heat on Thursday.”

Sydney will enjoy a few more rain-free days as its third La Niña summer comes to a close. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

What triggers a “heatwave” warning from the BOM

The BOM has confirmed Sydney has officially been under a “low intensity heatwave”, a status triggered by a number of scientific factors.

“We issue heatwave warnings when we see high temperatures over a period of three days,” Mr How said.

“To get this, we look at a number of factors like how much above average the temperatures are. On Monday in Sydney it was 10 to 12C above the March average, which is significant.

“We also look at risk conditions and how the body will cope with hot temperatures – Sydney has been fairly cool all summer, so seeing the highest temperatures in two years means more vulnerable people can be impacted.

“There are a lot of people out there in the community who can struggle (in hot conditions). So far this summer Sydney has only had two or three days above 30 degrees.”

Sydney is sweating through another day of steamy weather after Monday marked the city’s hottest day in two years. Picture: BOM

Week ahead at a glance

Sydney will have a sunny start to the week with high 20s to low 30s, with showers expected on Sunday and Monday.

Melbourne can expect cool weather in the low 20s with showers on Tuesday and Wednesday before warming up to a max of 27C on Monday.

It will be hot and sticky in Brisbane, amid temperatures in the low 30s for the next seven days, with showers Thursday through to Monday.

Maximum temperatures in Perth will range from 33C to 27C, dropping on Thursday following showers and a possible thunderstorm on Wednesday.

Adelaide will see a cooler start to the week with maximum temperatures in the low 20s until Friday, with showers on Tuesday and Wednesday. Things will begin to warm up on Friday ahead of a sunny weekend with maximum temperatures of 32C.

Hobart is set to shiver through another week, with rain again expected on Wednesday. The next seven days will produce maximum temperatures of 15C to 23C, climbing from Friday into the weekend.

Canberra is experiencing north-westerly winds of up to 45km/h to start the week. Maximum temperatures will hover in the mid-20s over the next seven days, with minimum temperatures sinking down to 6C on Friday.

Storms will continue to pelt Darwin through to Thursday before party cloudy skies settle in for the remainder of the week. Temperatures will remain consistent with highs of 33C and lows of 24C.