A stormy and hot weekend is in store for most of Australia with tempestuous weather continuing in the north and along the east coast, while some parts of the country swelter through dry conditions and severe heatwaves.
Central and south-east Queenslanders were warned that widespread severe thunderstorms on Saturday may bring large hail, damaging winds and heavy rainfall with the threat of flash flooding, while temperatures were expected to climb into the mid-40s in the west of the state.
Brisbane was also expected to be stormy on Saturday with a forecast high of 25C, while similar temperatures and rainfall activity were forecast to continue on Sunday.
Severe thunderstorms were also expected in New South Wales, along with heavy rain and the risk of flash flooding, including in Sydney, where the forecasted maximum temperature was 26C.
Angus Hines, senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said the thunderstorms and extensive rain were partly thanks to prolonged north-easterly winds bringing humidity off the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean and dumping the humidity on land.
“That’s been working in tandem with a slow-moving weather system in the upper atmosphere … a slow-moving upper level trough,” Hines said. “It just provides that extra energy, which means that if any showers and storms do start to form in those humid conditions, then they can really quickly develop and intensify.”
By contrast, higher than average temperatures and sunny conditions were forecast for much of the rest of the country for Saturday.
after newsletter promotion
Melbourne had nearly hit its forecast top of 33C by early afternoon on Saturday, while parts of the Murray River region and the Wimmera in Victoria were set to hit temperatures in the high 30s. Mildura had a forecast top of 39C on Saturday while Horsham was expecting 36C.
Parts of inland NSW, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory expected to hit temperatures in the low 40s on Saturday.
The current heatwaves around the country were mostly low-intensity, Hines said, but there were severe heatwave conditions in some pockets, with temperatures between 4C and 12C above average. Northern parts of Queensland could expect the development of severe heatwave conditions in the coming week.
Despite the stormy weather elsewhere, Australian Open fans could expect a fairly clear start to the first week of the main tournament, with the possible exception of Sunday, said Hines.
“Most of the wet weather around Melbourne [on Sunday] is likely to be to the north and to the east, but it’s the sort of weather situation where you couldn’t rule out something forming to the north-east and then just blowing directly across the city and impacting the arenas,” said Hines.
“So there’s a chance that there could be a bit of disruption there, but hopefully, if anything comes through, it’d be pretty brief.”
Temperatures in Melbourne were expected to hover in the high 20s or low 30s for the first several days of the tournament, with dry conditions forecast from Monday.