A spell of warmth is coming to northern parts of the continent which is highly likely to break winter heat records in some places, and the airmass will spread south this weekend, giving southeastern capitals a strong taste of spring.

• Alice Springs is expected to reach 35°C this Friday and Saturday, and there's every chance that its August record temperature of 35.2°C (which is also the record winter high) could be exceeded.
• In northern South Australia, Coober Pedy is heading for 33°C on Friday, 34°C on Saturday, and 33°C again on Sunday. Its winter record is 34.3°C.
• Also in northern SA, Oodnadatta (which holds Australia’s equal-highest recorded temp in any month of 50.7°C) is heading for a pair of 36-degree days on Friday and Saturday. Its winter record, as well as the states winter record, is 36.5°C. 

A strong, near-stationary high pressure system centred over the heart of the continent this week is the engine that will enable heat to build up in the interior of the country under clear skies. You can see Saturday's expected maximums illustrated in the chart below.

Central Australia is like the oven of Australia. When it heats up, that warmth often spreads to other parts of the continent, and as the high slowly moves into the Tasman Sea later this week, winds circulating anticlockwise around it will push warm air southwards.

• As mentioned, temps in most southeastern capitals will be exceptionally warm for winter, with an early Sunday forecast of 24°C for Adelaide, 23°C for Melbourne, 21°C for Canberra and 19°C for Hobart.

No records are likely to be broken down south due to the influence of a relatively weak cold front clipping the SE corner of the continent, but it will still feel decidedly un-wintry this coming weekend, which is the last full weekend of winter.

As for the period beyond this weekend, models show early signs of a strong cold outbreak towards the end of next week, but that's too far in the future to discuss with confidence at this stage.

For now, the main item on the meteorological menu is that exceptional Central Australian winter warmth, and we'll keep you up to date with this hot topic as the week progresses.