Mercury rising as heatwave threatens records

Huge swaths of the country are set to swelter this week, with temperatures as high as 50C in some ­regions.

Huge swaths of the nation are set to swelter this week, with temperatures as high as 50C in some ­regions across the country adding an increased danger as firefighters struggle to bring bushfires under control.

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Rob Taggart said the heatwave was being driven by an “extremely hot air mass” that had built up in Western Australia and was being “dragged” across the continent.

He said it was the accumul­ation of hot air produced by the Indian Ocean Dipole, which sees cold air that comes from the Indian­ Ocean into Western Austral­ia carrying less moisture.

“Normally when the sun hits the ground, it evaporates and cools the air, but it’s bone dry ­almost everywhere right now,” he said.

 

 

“There is no moisture to moderate the heat, so that’s why the temperature will feel so extreme.”

He said the heatwave would hit the southern states first before peaking in NSW at the end of the week, with temperatures approaching 50C predicted for some non-coastal areas towards the weekend. Adelaide was expected to reach a high of 40C on Tuesday, with the maximum to stay in the low 40s until the mercury peaked at 44C on Friday.

That day was also forecast to top 41C in Melbourne, while temp­eratures in Canberra would soar to 43C on Saturday.

The BOM was predicting NSW’s and Sydney’s peak day would be Saturday, but sea breezes would spare coastal areas from the extreme heat.

Other places that may exper­ience temperatures in the high 40s include parts of the Eyre Penin­sula, Riverland, far west and northwest of South Australia.

Australia’s hottest day on ­record was in January 2013, when the average maximum temper­ature across the continent was 40.3C, the BOM said.

It said forecasts indicated average­ temperatures would be a degree above the 40.3 record on Wednesday and Thursday.

Senior forecaster Paul Lainio said state records could be under threat during a week of “except­ional heat … the record for South Australia in December is 49.1C in Moomba back in 1972. We would need to get up to those sort of levels to see records. It is possible, in some of those locations in the west and north of South Australia”.