An extreme heatwave will affect multiple Australian states between Wednesday and Saturday this week. Extreme fire danger ratings are also forecast, with Friday expected to be a particularly dangerous day of fire weather for Victoria.

Heat has been building over WA during the last few days with temperatures reaching up to 44.6°C at Onslow on Saturday, 45.5°C at Roebourne on Sunday and 46.4°C at Marble Bar on Monday.

While this intense Pilbara heat may seem distant to those living thousands of kilometres away in Australia’s capital cities, it is an ominous sign of an oppressive heatwave that’s going to spread over other areas of the country later this week.

Hot air will spread from WA towards southeastern Australia during the remainder of this week, causing temperatures to exceed 40°C over a broad area of the country, covering parts of WA, SA, the NT, Vic, NSW and Qld. Four of these states, WA, SA, Vic and NSW, could even see the mercury exceeding 45°C by Friday.

The heat will be intense and persistent enough to be classified as a severe to extreme heatwave over part of every Australian state and territory this week.

https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/extreme-heatwave-and-fire-danger-to-affect-multiple-states-this-week/1891121