BOM: Severe heatwave, high fire danger forecast for Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Lincoln Trainor said Victoria and Tasmania would likely break heat records for March, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees in some districts on Sunday and Monday.

“We will see very hot temperatures reaching into the high 30s and low 40s,” he said.

Melbourne is forecast to swelter through a maximum temperature of 39 degrees for the next two days, which pushes the city close to all-time highs.

“We have only seen three consecutive days of above 38 degrees in Melbourne, three times during March, in the past 100 years,” Mr Trainor said.

“It happened in 1934, 1940 and 1942 and in 1940 it was the only one that saw three consecutive days above 38 degrees after March 9.”

Forecasters say the heatwave could bring Melbourne its hottest day of the summer, even though it’s technically autumn.

The weather bureau also expects temperatures to soar above 40 degrees in Victoria’s southern districts, including 41 degrees at Avalon near Geelong, and 41 degrees at Warrnambool in the southwest.

“The Mallee will see temperatures between 39 and 40,” he said.

A Total Fire Ban (TFB) has been declared for the South West region in Victoria for Monday.

Elevated fire danger will be driven by moderate northerly to north-westerly winds across Victoria.

CFA Acting Chief Officer Garry Cook said community members should be aware of the fire danger throughout the long weekend.

“With the predicted hot and dry northerly winds and high temperatures across the South West, the Fire Danger Rating has reached extreme and communities should continue to remain aware and be prepared” Mr Cook said.

“If you are anywhere in the South West region, no fire including any campfire can be lit on a day of Total Fire Ban.”

“We ask all members of the community to please cooperate and abide by the Total Fire Ban requirements as we move through another day of very high to extreme fire danger across much of Victoria.”

Monday’s conditions will continue to be hot and dry across the state with temperatures expected to be in the mid to high 30s.

Severe heatwave conditions continue to persist and are expected to ease on Tuesday.

Melbourne is forecast to reach a top of 37 degrees on Monday.

It comes as the southwest and central district were issued an extreme fire danger rating on Sunday, followed by high fire danger ratings across all other Victorian districts.

The Country Fire Authority had issued total fire bans for the Wimmera, southwest, north central, central and west and south Gippsland districts for Sunday.

“So essentially a total fire ban for all southern districts across Victoria, plus the Wimmera and north central districts,” he said.

“The southwest in general today will see maximum temperatures 14 to 16 degrees above the March average across that district.”

CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said communities should be aware of the fire danger in the areas they were travelling to this long weekend and remain informed.

“We’re expecting 40km/h north-westerly winds across the South West in the morning with gusts of 50km/hr in the afternoon before a south westerly change later in the day,” Mr Heffernan said.

“The Central district will see northerly winds of up to 45km/hr and gusts of 80km/hr in the central ranges.”

High fire danger ratings are in place across the remainder of Victoria with widespread wind gusts of up to 60km/h expected to reach the western part of the state in the afternoon.

“We’re asking people to follow the strict conditions associated with the TFB declaration and consider the activities they plan on undertaking this long weekend,” he said.

“Understand how the increased fire risk will impact you and ensure your bushfire survival plan covers all possible contingencies, and stay up to date via the VicEmergency App.”

Tasmanians will also suffer through unusual heat conditions, with Hobart set to record temperatures in the mid thirties.

Mr Trainor said Launceston would likely record temperatures around 30 degrees across Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

There is also an elevated fire danger across most districts in the state on Saturday.

Senior meteorologist Angus Hines said temperatures would remain high throughout the weekend but start to cool on Monday.

“(There will be) 25 degrees plus for much of South Australia and Victoria, while staying above 20 degrees all through the night for all parts of Tasmania,” Mr Hines said.

Millions of residents will have to suffer through two more days of high temperatures before the heatwave starts to abate.

“The heat will begin to break for Victoria and Tasmania during Tuesday when winds turns southerly,” Mr Trainor noted.

Heatwave forces cancellations

A popular Melbourne festival event has been scrapped as the city swelters through a major three day heatwave.

Organisers of the Moomba Festival, which coincides with the city’s Labour Day long weekend, have cancelled the iconic Moomba Parade on Monday night due to safety concerns for performers, spectators, workers and volunteers.

“This is a very difficult decision, particularly in Moomba’s 70th year – but we must prioritise people’s health and safety in these extreme conditions,” they wrote in a statement shared on Saturday afternoon.

“Parade participants are required to spend several hours outdoors in hot, heavy costumes – putting them at greater risk.”

While most activities in the five-day festival will continue as planned, organisers warned changes and interruptions may be needed due to the heat.

The news comes as all of Victoria is on alert amid “extreme” fire danger warnings and a severe heatwave engulfing millions of Aussies this weekend.

Another festival in regional Victoria is also urging ticket holders not to attend as heat and fire dangers escalate across the state.

The Pitch Music Festival, held at Moyston about 220km west of Melbourne, put out a notice to ticket holders on Friday night warning of the rising heat and fire danger at the festival site.

“The CFA (Country Fire Authority) recommends that the safest option for those who are already on site is to leave the site tonight or early in the morning,” the Pitch statement, released on Instagram, states.

“The CFA advises the fire danger rating is extreme which recommends you reconsider travel through bushfire risk areas and that leaving bushfire risk areas early in the day is your safest option because fires will spread quickly and be extremely dangerous. Expect hot, dry and windy conditions.

“If you are arriving on Saturday we recommend delaying your arrival until further notice.”

But despite the risks and a plea to ticket holders to reconsider their need to attend, the festival will go ahead, with Pitch confirming on Saturday afternoon musical performances would kick off at 6pm and continue through the weekend.

“We are diligently following the guidance of relevant authorities to prioritise the safety of our community and have a full team of emergency services including medical, police and on site fire response who are on call throughout the event,” the festival organisers said.

“Prior to 6pm today, the festival will program some light entertainment under the shade within the arena at Pitch One and Pitch Black, including yoga and other low level entertainment in an effort to ensure patrons are not remaining in their campsites in the heat of the day, as per the advice of Ambulance Victoria.

“For anyone who wishes to leave and does not have their own vehicle, there are free shuttle buses running from Gate 3 to Ararat station until 6pm today.”

Some social media users reacted with anger to Friday’s Instagram statement and claimed the festival was trying to avoid refunds.

“Very disappointing,” one user said.

“Blatantly avoiding refunding people and putting festival attendees in danger.”

Another said the festival had not communicated the situation effectively to festival-goers.

“My sister is on site and no one had come and talked to anyone and she ofc cant reach the insta or website so tf are you guys doing she wants to leave but is trapped by tents ffs,” one user said.

Festival organisers said on Saturday they would employ “various methods” to communicate important information to festival-goers “who may not have service”.

“This includes multiple info hubs, helper hubs, friendly staff, and Wi-Fi available at the box office and the food trucks/market stalls.”

The organisers said they were “working through the specifics” of refund inquiries.

“Rest assured, ticket holders will receive an update as more information becomes available,” they said.

About 18,000 people are expected to attend the three-day event.

A premium camping ticket sells for $135 while a three-person glamping tent is priced at more than $1500.

Queensland

Brisbane is set to reach a top of 29 degrees on Saturday.

Mr Hines said Sunday could see some rainfall across the southeast.

“Much drier for the eastern part of the county but we’ll see a few showers along the (east) coastline mostly north of Sydney, not a lot of rainfall but a few spits and spots in northern NSW and Queensland,” he said.

NSW

Coastal NSW is set to hit the upper 20s over the weekend and some slight rainfall.

Sydney residents can expect the 30s in the city, though to the west it could get as high as the mid-30s.

Western Australia

Meanwhile in the west, Mr Hines warns there could be heavy rainfall of up to 100mm to 150mm in some parts of the state with temperatures fluctuating.

“It’s about average across the north, and then cooler than average for south Western Australia but not too many complaints there after what has been a very hot summer,” he said.

“A slow-moving weather feature across southern WA is bringing consistent rain.”

The northern parts of WA will see the heavy rainfall on Friday, while southern parts of the state will see the brunt of the rainfall on Saturday.