Bureau of Meteorology warns of heatwave conditions lingering into next week
North Queenslanders will need to find ways to stay cool with severe heatwave conditions expected stay in place right through the weekend. See how hot it will get.
Townsville
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North Queensland is set to swelter over the coming days with the Bureau of Meteorology extending a severe heatwave warning for parts of the Herbert and Lower Burdekin, particularly near Ingham where extreme conditions were anticipated.
BOM community information officer Daniel Hayes said the heatwave began last week in western Queensland and continued over the weekend, with a trough moving across the state on Wednesday pushing the hot air across to the east coast.
“We’re not getting anywhere near as hot on the coast, we’re talking more around 36-37 degrees for the (temperature) peaks and more commonly around the 34-35 degrees,” Mr Hayes said.
“We are still significantly above the average, and it is an ongoing thing running through for a number of days.
“Our minimum temperatures are also quite a bit higher, in part because we have more humidity generally along the coast, so that has the impact of keeping our temperatures warmer overnight.”
The latest heatwave warning from BOM, issued on Thursday, showed that extreme conditions are expected to peak over the weekend for areas including Townsville and Ingham.
Conditions over inland parts of Queensland are expece to ease by the weekend, with a milder southerly change.
Townsville will endure a maximum temperature of 34 degrees on Thursday, 36 degrees on Friday and Saturday, and 35 on Sunday.
The trough was expected to create some instability and the slight chance of a few showers or thunderstorms, delivering 0-2mm to the Townsville region over the coming days.
He anticipated that the hot conditions would continue to impact the Townsville region across the weekend before easing in the middle of next week, when shower and storm activity returned.
Cricketers eagerly anticipating this weekend’s Goldfield Ashes cricket carnival at Charters Towers will need to stock up on water and sun protection, with temperatures expected to peak in the vicinity of 40 degrees.
“(Possible) showers or storms … might not even provide a great deal of relief, it might just make it even stickier with those sorts of temperatures,” he said.
The Bureau warns that severe heatwaves can be dangerous for many people, especially older people, babies, children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, people with medical conditions and people who are unwell.
They advise people to seek a place to keep cool, close your windows and draw blinds, curtains or awnings early in the day to keep the heat out of your home and use fans or airconditioners to keep cool.
Thursday forecast
• Townsville: Min 27, Max 34, partly cloudy, medium chance of showers 40 per cent chance of 0 to 2mm. Light winds becoming northerly 15 to 20 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the evening.
• Ayr: Min 25, Max 35, Possible shower. 40 per cent chance of 0 to 3mm.
• Ingham: Min 25, Max 37, Shower or two. 50 per cent chance of 0 to 6mm.
• Charters Towers: Min 25, Max 36, Shower or two. Possible storm. 50 per cent chance of 0 to 4mm.
Friday forecast
• Townsville: Min 27, Max 37, partly cloudy, slight chance of a shower with the chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon and evening.
• Ayr: Min 25, Max 37, Partly cloudy, medium chance of showers in the north, slight chance elsewhere. The chance of a thunderstorm
• Ingham: Min 25, Max 38, Partly cloudy, medium chance of showers in the north. The chance of a thunderstorm.
• Charters Towers: Min 24, Max 39, partly cloudy, slight chance of a shower. The chance of a thunderstorm in the morning and afternoon.
Originally published as Bureau of Meteorology warns of heatwave conditions lingering into next week
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