Residents of Australia’s southeast corner are bracing themselves for imminent extreme weather. Severe winds and thunderstorms are forecasted over the ensuing days, with a cold front sweeping across parts of South Australia, Victoria, NSW and the ACT from Wednesday evening through Friday morning.
This cold weather system carries with it potential danger in the form of damaging winds, the ramifications of which are expected to be particularly harsh. In anticipation of these adverse conditions, a weather warning has already been issued for high-altitude regions of Victoria, effective from early Thursday.
The NSW Rural Fire Service, foreseeing the prospect of hot and windy conditions, has imposed a total fire ban for Thursday across multiple regions including Greater Sydney.
Accompanying these tumultuous winds will be a dramatic shift in temperatures. As the sun streams down on the southeast on Wednesday, a sharp drop in temperatures is predicted to follow. In Canberra, locals will see a change from the high 20s at midday on Thursday to under 10 degrees by late afternoon.
Big changes in climatic conditions are on the horizon. Temperate and windy weather on Thursday morning may lead to fire weather warnings being issued for Sydney, the Hunter Valley, and the Central and Northwest regions.
Residents of Adelaide will be the first to reckon with this climate shift when the cold front cascades across South Australia on Wednesday evening. Thursday evening may bring heavy rainfall and potential storms to Sydney and Melbourne.
These ominous forecasts are part of a gloomier long-term outlook. Experts warn of a forthcoming “summer from hell,” characterized by an increased risk of heatwaves, bushfires and drought over the next seven months. This inclement weather is anticipated to come as a result of an incoming El Nino event.
As the hottest winter on record has just closed in Australia, Australians are advised to be well-prepared for the intensifying fire risks ahead. This stems from the growth in grass owing to above-average rainfall over the past couple of years.
Some NSW and Victoria residents found it too late to evacuate their homes during the fires that blazed throughout early October. One such sprawl near Bermagui, NSW destroyed three homes and required the effort of 800 firefighters to extinguish.
“The fire season is absolutely here, and we need to take this seriously,” implored NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Rob Rogers. As the nation faces what could be a scorching summer, the need for a collective response to ensure safety and survival is more immediate than ever.
