There are no active warnings for this location.
Weather Maps
Daily Forecast
Intense heat is drawn from the interior into southwest WA, NSW & Qld. A cold front over the Tasman Sea brings a few showers to Tas and southern Vic, while a southerly buster moves up the NSW coast. Showers & storms in the tropics, Qld & NSW & southwest WA in humid, unstable air.
Latest Warnings
AUS
Latest News
Climate Updates
Latest News
Today, 5:28AM UTC
Vast arc of heat to sear Australia’s interior for a week
A huge band of heat has entrenched itself across the centre of Australia and it’s not going anywhere soon. For at least the next week, parts of Western Australia, Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales will all bake in relentless furnace-like conditions. Temperatures will likely fall a degree or two short of record-breaking status in most areas, but this event will still be remarkable for the duration of extreme temperatures. For example: Birdsville (southwest QLD) has already reached 46.5°C this Wednesday, with maximum temperatures expected to reach 45°C, 43°C, 43°C, 45°C, 45°C and 45°C over the next six days. Alice Springs (southern NT) has already reached 42.9°C this Wednesday, with maximum temperatures expected to reach 44°C, 42°C, 42°C, 42°C, 43°C and 43°C over the next six days. Bourke (northwest NSW) has already reached 44.8°C this Wednesday, with maximum temperatures expected to reach 41°C, 37°C, 39°C, 42°C, 43°C and 44°C over the next six days. Warburton (eastern WA near the SA/NT border) has already reached 44.0°C this Wednesday, with maximum temperatures expected to reach 45°C, 45°C, 45°C, 46°C, 42°C and 40°C over the next six days. Moomba (northeast SA) has already reached 42.7°C this Wednesday, with maximum temperatures expected to reach 41°C, 39°C, 39°C, 43°C, 45°C and 44°C over the next six days The image below shows the expected maximums this Wednesday, January 22, according to the ECMWF model. Image: Areas of pink represent maximums of 44°C or higher. And the next image shows expected maximums next Wednesday, January 29, according to the same model. As you can see the pattern hasn’t changed too much. Image: The heat will again spread to the central WA coast, where this week Geraldton equalled its record of 49.3°C, although temperatures are not expected to come close to that mark. Why such unrelenting extreme heat? A large part of this story is the persistent, near-stationary high pressure ridge sitting over the centre of the continent, fed by the outflow from tropical systems to the north, As is common for this time of year, the cold fronts to the south of the continent lack sufficient strength to inject cooler air, so the heat just 'sloshes' back and forth across the centre of Australia. Clear skies in the absence of the monsoon are also playing their part in allowing an uninterrupted run of scorching days. This event is now part of an officially designated heatwave, according to the BoM. Image: Heatwave map for the next three days, beginning this Wednesday, January 22. Source: BoM. It might sound strange to have a heatwave in Central Australia and nearby areas, but the term "heatwave" is a relative measure, and even by local standards, this looks to be an exceptionally long spell of heat.
21 Jan 2025, 11:39PM UTC
Sydney's hottest day of 2025, then strong southerly
It'll be a scorcher this Wednesday right across the Sydney basin, with coastal suburbs heading for the mid-30s and the outer west likely to give the 40-degree mark a serious nudge under blustery northwesterly winds. Sydney is yet to experience any heat extremes yet this year. In descending order, here are the highest temperatures recorded in each Australian capital city (at the main weather station) for the first three weeks of 2025: Perth 43.6°C on Jan 20 Adelaide (West Terrace/ngayirdapira) 38.7°C on Jan 19 Melbourne (Olympic Park) 38.0°C on Jan 5 Brisbane 37.4°C on Jan 16 Canberra 36.4°C on Jan 5 Darwin 34.3°C on Jan 12 Sydney (Observatory Hill) 31.7°C on Jan 6 Hobart 31.5°C on Jan 11 As you can see, Sydney (based on data at the Observatory Hill weather station on the fringe of the CBD) is the mainland capital with the lowest max temp to date this year. But that looks set to change this Wednesday, with the city heading for a top of 35°C in what will be a relatively brief burst of heat before an afternoon southerly change roars through, dropping temperatures by around 10 degrees in a short period of time. The combined satellite and radar loop below shows an influx of cooler air making its way northwards to Victoria with the passage of a cold front south of the mainland. Image: Cooler air pushing onto Tasmania and the southeast mainland on the morning of Wednesday, January 22, 2025. Melbourne's Tuesday maximum of 28.3°C actually occurred in the morning before the cool air arrived not long after lunchtime. That cool air has now enveloped all of Victoria, and will wrap around the SE tip of the mainland and surge as far north as the NSW Mid North Coast by Thursday, arriving in Sydney around mid-afternoon on Wednesday. WHAT IS A SOUTHERLY BUSTER? READ MORE IN OUR STORY FROM DECEMBER 2024 Strong winds are likely as the cool change charges up the NSW coast, and gale warnings have been issued for parts of NSW as well as Victoria's Gippsland coast. Please check the latest on our warnings page.
21 Jan 2025, 5:59AM UTC
Perfect Melbourne weather for Australian Open finals
The weather forecast for both the men’s and women’s singles finals of the Australian Open this Saturday and Sunday respectively at Melbourne Park could hardly be more perfect. Yes, this is Melbourne weather we are talking about here, but for once – rather than being predictably unpredictable – it's going to be predictably predictable. Melbourne is going for a top of 25°C on Saturday with the mercury likely to be hovering around 21°C when the women's final starts at 7:30pm. Winds will be light and skies should be mostly clear with only a very slight chance of a light shower. Melbourne is forecast to reach 26°C on Sunday and it should be a slightly more balmy 24°C in the stands when the men’s final starts at 7:30pm, ahead of some much warmer air arriving Monday. Expect clear skies. CLICK HERE FOR OUR UPDATED MELBOURNE FORECAST Monday actually looks pretty uncomfortable in Melbourne with a maximum of 35°C ahead of a cool change into Tuesday which may be accompanied by showers. So the Australian Open's timing this year is impeccable. Losing your racquet and then nabbing yourself a triple tweener...only in legends ????@marriottbonvoy • #MarriotBonvoy • #Legends • #AusOpen • #AO25 pic.twitter.com/4VBsxGHrqN — #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2025 This has actually been a pretty friendly tournament weather-wise. Since the main draw started on Sunday, January 12, the hottest temp was 34.6°C on January 20, while the coolest maximum was 21.4°C on January 17. That's a difference of 13.2 degrees between the coolest and warmest day but by Melbourne standards, that's not too crazy. To illustrate the above point, Melbourne’s highest January maximum on record was 45.6°C, while its lowest January maximum was 14.6°C. That's a 31-degree difference between the hottest and coolest January days, which just goes to show how volatile Melbourne weather can be – even in midsummer. But not at this year’s Australian Open, thankfully. Meanwhile Melbourne’s max temps will stay stay in the low 20s for the remainder of the working week until those mid-20 maximums arrive on the weekend.