40C+ Heatwave Under Way In Perth; Will Work Its Way East, Bringing "Extreme" Fire Danger In Its Wake

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Swathes of Western Australia are baking in over 40C temperatures, and the severe heatwave is set to spread east over the rest of the country next week.

Perth will swelter through three days of above 40C temperatures, starting on Friday and continuing until Sunday. On Friday, the state capital was forecast to hit 41C, and is set for 41C on Saturday and 40C on Sunday. And next week, Canberra is set to hit 33C on Monday, 35C on Tuesday, 38C on Wednesday and 40C on Thursday. That 40C temperature would set a December record for the capital, beating the previous high of 39.2C, from December 1994.

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As a result of the extreme temperatures, severe fire danger was forecast for 11 regions: the coastal central west north, coastal central west south, lower west coast, lower west inland, Gascoyne coast, north interior, inland central west – north, Leeuwin, Nelson, Stirling inland and Beaufort. And that heatwave will spread next week, hitting South Australia by Sunday. Adelaide is forecast for maximums of 29C on Sunday, 35C on Monday, 40C on Tuesday and Wednesday, and 41C on Thursday.

Link to tweet

From Monday to Wednesday, the heatwave conditions will cover all of SA. At the same time, nearly the whole country will experience at least low-intensity heatwave conditions. The heatwave will be extreme in SA, western NSW and southwestern Queensland, according to the bureau. The NSW Rural Fire Service says that the hotter temperatures next week would see bushfire conditions deteriorate.

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Link to tweet

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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/13/australia-set-to-swelter-in-heatwave-conditions-above-40-next-week