BOM predicts extreme heat, catastrophic fire conditions around Australia

Updated

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Vast swathes of Australia are in the grip of a heatwave that is forecast to worsen over the weekend, with temperatures reaching as high as 47 degrees Celsius in western New South Wales, and warnings of catastrophic fire conditions for the ACT, NSW and South Australia.

Firefighters are warning of dangerous fire conditions across many parts of New South Wales, with temperatures in the high 30s and mid-40s expected over the next few days.

The Bureau of Meteorology was expecting the area of temperatures 45C or hotter would be roughly the size of NSW today and tomorrow, with a slightly smaller area on Sunday.

Today's hottest temperature was in the western NSW town of Hay, where the mercury hit 47.4C. The nearby township of Ivanhoe is forecast to be hotter tomorrow at 48C.

Residents have been warned to prepare for extreme temperatures over the next three days that have the potential to break records.

The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) said bushfire conditions would be the worst they had been in four years, with total fire bans in place in the Southern Ranges, Southern Slopes and Southern Riverina areas.

Sheep shearers doing it tough



Imagine being in a tin shed in 40C heat with no air conditioning.



Jock Campbell manages Mungadal Station, near Hay, in the New South Wales western Riverina.



He and his team were up at 3:00am today to beat the heat.



The workers knocked off at 2:00pm when the temperature hit 45C, but locals were told the mercury could hit 47C. Jock Campbell manages Mungadal Station, near Hay, in the New South Wales western Riverina.He and his team were up at 3:00am today to beat the heat.The workers knocked off at 2:00pm when the temperature hit 45C, but locals were told the mercury could hit 47C.

The state is bracing for record power demand, Utilities Minister Don Harwin said, with peak usage expected between 4:30pm and 6:30pm, during which there may be a shortfall.

In the ACT, emergency services took the unusual step of issuing a 48-hour total fire ban ahead of Canberra reaching an expected 41C two days in a row.

The predicted top temperatures could go close to becoming Canberra's hottest days ever, a record that has not been touched since 1968 when it reached 42.2C at the airport.

Authorities have warned they may also be forced to switch off electricity in parts of Canberra.

But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has played down the chances of large-scale blackouts in New South Wales and the ACT.

Mr Turnbull said it was too early to say what will happen in the eastern states.

"[The Australian Energy Market Operator] said there may be load shedding in New South Wales but so long as it's controlled and planned so it's shed in a way that doesn't impact on vital services on households and so forth, then it can be managed," he said.

South Australia's heatwave woes — the state is forecast to be among the hottest, with Adelaide hitting a top of 38.5C today and the north pastoral districts well into the 40s — are being magnified by power outages and uncertain power supply.

Load shedding during extreme heat on Wednesday night resulted in 90,000 customers losing electricity supply.

'Bloody hell, not again'



Daryl Muller is a butcher from the town of Monash in South Australia's Riverland region, where temperatures have risen above 40C and the state has been plagued by power outages.



"I got to work … and I was getting the signs out to open the shop and preparing my next job, and bang, the power goes off," he said.



"Thankfully it was only off for an hour, and we sort of set everything up and got going again.



"It is not the actual stress of the loss of trading, it's the worry about all your perishables that you've got on hand.



"People say, 'Why don't you get a generator?' … but it's got to be a fairly big one and I've heard prices [for a generator] quoted around $10,000.



"Things seem to be not working that well — there's something wrong with the system." "I got to work … and I was getting the signs out to open the shop and preparing my next job, and bang, the power goes off," he said."Thankfully it was only off for an hour, and we sort of set everything up and got going again."It is not the actual stress of the loss of trading, it's the worry about all your perishables that you've got on hand."People say, 'Why don't you get a generator?' … but it's got to be a fairly big one and I've heard prices [for a generator] quoted around $10,000."Things seem to be not working that well — there's something wrong with the system."

The State Government said it was planning a dramatic intervention in the electricity market but has not yet gone into detail about what this means.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the extreme heatwave was moving through the southern parts of South Australia and much of Victoria, while spreading further east into New South Wales' coastal regions and south-west Queensland.

Temperatures soared in northern Victoria, with Mildura reaching 46C in the afternoon.

South-east Queenslanders are in for a steamy few days, with temperatures rising 7 to 10 degrees Celsius above average across the region and through inland towns.

Just north of Brisbane, three high-school students were hospitalised on Friday due to "heat-related symptoms".

The Queensland Ambulance Service said 16 teenage students were assessed after a call-out to a North Lakes high school just before 10:00am.

On Saturday, it will be 36C in Brisbane and 39C at Ipswich, rising to 39C in Brisbane on Sunday and 42C at Ipswich.

Stay inside to avoid heat

Energy Queensland spokesman Peter Price said despite the hot weather, power outages like those which caused blackouts in South Australia were unlikely in Queensland.

"We experienced peak demand in south-east Queensland in late January — on the 18th — and the network performed really well through the peak demand," he said.

"On that day when we had the peak demand, we also had 1,000 megawatts of solar generating throughout the day, so I am not expecting any problems on the weekend."

NSW Health has urged people to stay out of the heat as much as possible and ensure they stay well hydrated, especially though the hottest parts of the day.

"Drink plenty of fluids, that [do not] involve alcohol or caffeine. Water is best," the department's Ben Scully said.

"If you have air-conditioning it's great to use it, otherwise keep your house cool by drawing the blinds and shutting the windows."

In contrast, Perth and Western Australia's south-west has been hit by torrential rain, causing widespread flooding and power blackouts.

Perth has recorded more than 106 millimetres of rain since 9:00am on Thursday, making it the second wettest February day on record.

A tropical low which formed off the Pilbara coast earlier this week before dumping more than 200 millimetres of rain on Karratha is responsible for the wild weather.

Topics: weather, bushfire, australia, sa, nsw, vic, qld

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