Melbourne forecast to crack 45 degrees in worst heatwave since Black Saturday
A dangerous heatwave is heading towards Victoria on Tuesday, threatening all-time record temperatures and wildfire conditions; It looks like Melbourne will break 45 degrees.
The northwestern parts of the state are expected to reach a record 49 degrees in the worst heatwave conditions since Black Saturday in 2009.
These include large areas of the Mallee region (including the regional city of Mildura and the country town of Ouyen), where the previous record was 47 degrees.
Ambulance Victoria set up its emergency operations center at the start of the weekend heatwave and is preparing to redeploy paramedics to the state’s hardest-hit areas.
The emergency service was urging Victorians to avoid calling Triple Zero for only the “most serious emergencies” and alternatively use the following services: state’s virtual emergency department And Nurse on Duty.
Powercor, the electricity distributor for Melbourne’s CBD and western Victoria, said it would beef up teams, including dispatchers and controllers, ready for widespread power outages in the coming days as grids are expected to be overloaded with people using air conditioning.
Melbourne is expected to see temperatures rise to a maximum of 45 degrees, slightly lower than the 46.4 degrees recorded on Black Saturday, before falling overnight.
Police and State Emergency Service volunteers knocked on the doors of more than 1,000 homes in the Otways, where the Carlisle River fire is out of control and risks becoming more dangerous. Residents in communities south of Colac and north of the Great Ocean Road were warned to evacuate before sunset on Monday or risk their lives.
Evacuation warnings extended from Gellibrand in the west to neighboring Lorne in the east. People living in popular resort towns between Aireys Inlet and Yuulong, including Lorne and Apollo Bay, have been warned to monitor rapidly changing conditions and prepare to leave.
All visitor areas and state forests of the Great Otway National Park are closed until further notice. Parks Victoria said 53 parks and state forests were closed across the state due to ongoing fires.
A total fire ban was declared for all of Victoria on Tuesday. The Country Fire Authority is warning of “extreme” fire danger in the western, south-western and central parts of the state; and “high” fire danger for the rest of Victoria.
The emergency service did not predict “catastrophic” fire conditions anywhere in Victoria, which were declared before serious fires across the state destroyed livestock, hundreds of properties and killed one person on January 9.
“While all fires across the state are treated with the utmost seriousness, we are particularly concerned about the Carlisle River fire in the Otways,” CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan said.
“We urge everyone to limit unnecessary travel” [on Tuesday]. Agricultural activities should also be stopped.”
Geelong is also expected to reach a maximum of 45 degrees on Tuesday, while the Wimmera region is expected to reach up to 48 degrees.
Simon Timcke of the Bureau of Meteorology said northerly winds would drive warm air towards Victoria, followed by south-westerly winds bringing cooler conditions but would not reach Melbourne until very late on Tuesday evening.
“We have a very warm day ahead for the southern part of the state, and we will definitely see milder conditions in the south on Wednesday,” the senior meteorologist said. Age.
The change will bring limited relief in the north, but will cause temperatures to drop rapidly in Melbourne, with a maximum of just 24 degrees expected for Wednesday.
Timcke said this could also bring more bushfire smoke to Melbourne early Wednesday morning.
A previously predicted week-long heat wave has extended to eight days in some parts of the northern part of the state, with temperatures predicted to be in the high 30s or low 40s through Saturday.
To make matters worse for the fire, Tuesday’s wind shift will be dry, potentially blowing up dust in the western part of the state. Timcke said very little precipitation is expected across the state through next weekend.
“With the change in the Melbourne area, we are not expecting any rainfall,” he said.
“The Northeast may recover a little bit, but very, very little in the short term… and that won’t happen until next weekend.
“If we see any precipitation anywhere, it will be very light and insignificant in terms of helping firefighting efforts.”
There was a slight chance of dry thunderstorms in the western part of the state on Tuesday.
The emergency service said the “rough and stormy” southwesterly shift would reach the southwest coast in the afternoon.
12 aircraft and 300 firefighters are responding to the Otways fire, which reached over 9,000 hectares in area as of Monday afternoon.
“This has increased significantly over the last 48 hours,” state response controller Alistair Drayton said on Monday.
“That’s what we’ve been waiting for [on Tuesday]Again… we are in a very difficult environment for firefighters.
“If it breaks out, it will not be contained in the coming days.”
Maximum temperatures in Gippsland on Tuesday are forecast to be in the mid to high 30s.
While buses are replacing trains on some V/Line services as the heat expands the lines, the speed of Metro services also decreases due to the rail temperature.
“On days when ambient temperatures in Melbourne are expected to rise to 42 degrees and above, the maximum speed limit across the entire Metro network is reduced to 70 km/h,” Metro said.
The Australian Open will open its doors at 9am instead of 10am on Tuesday due to the heat. Organizers have also postponed the outdoor wheelchair competition by 24 hours and games on outdoor courts may also be suspended if conditions are at their worst.
Victoria recorded the highest temperature on Sunday at Kyabram at 45 degrees.
South Australia’s remote outback town of Oodnadatta reached 48.5 degrees on Sunday, while Hay in south-west NSW hit 47 degrees.
More than 1,000 properties, including 289 homes, have been damaged by bushfires in Victoria this summer.
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