The heatwave baking northern Australia with temperatures of up to 43C is expected to continue into next week, with southern parts of the country facing warm weather and possible severe storms.
A severe heatwave warning was current for much of inland Queensland, with highs of 43C at Longreach, Boulia and Richmond and 41C in Mount Isa expected on Sunday.
In the Northern Territory, Katherine and Timber Creek were expected to reach 42C while in Western Australia, Derby was expected to hit 38C, and 43C in Marble Bar – frequently one of the hottest places in the country.
The heat was less intense in Sydney where the city was expected to hit a high of 26C on Sunday, with Melbourne’s temperature reaching 20C, but from Monday the chance of thunderstorms will grow along the east coast.
Sydney is expected to hit a maximum of 23C on Monday and 24C on Tuesday with an 80% chance of rain ahead of a high chance of thunderstorms developing.
In Melbourne the mercury is expected to hit 24C on Monday and 25C on Tuesday with a 60% chance of rain before falling back down to 18C on Thursday. Things will heat up going into next weekend, with a long-range forecast of 30C for next Saturday.
Though heat conditions were easing in south-east Queensland, BoM senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said conditions across the north of the country would “linger” into next week.
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“Storms are going to be the story for other parts of the country,” Bradbury said. “Over the next couple of days they’re focused on south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales, which are a bit of a hotspot for storms.
“This will potentially bringing heavy rain that could lead to flash flooding, large hail or damaging winds – these make the difference between a normal storm and a severe storm.”
These conditions will stretch across most of the country, including Victoria, outback South Australia and parts of Western Australia, with Perth looking stable and Hobart the only city on the east coast that is not currently expected to see lightning.
“It’s not that the storms will be widespread, but pretty much anywhere could see a lightning strike through the eastern parts of the country,” Bradbury said.
“These storms will change from one day to the next.”
