We've got quite a wintry, punchy weather system moving across the south-east today, and on Friday that's going to be bringing showers and some very strong winds through parts of Tasmania, Victoria and southern parts of New South Wales. Some cold air coming in as well will lead to low snow levels and some hail for Friday, and maybe even pushing into the start of the weekend.
Elsewhere, we're keeping a watch on Tropical Cyclone Maila up near Papua New Guinea. That's still a long way away from the country.
For Friday, remaining parts of Australia are bright and clear. That includes pretty much the entire state of Queensland - another clear, sunny, warm day with temperatures above the average for April. Not much rain anywhere across the state, just a few showers around the Cairns-Innisfail stretch of coastline. Only low rainfall totals are expected and it will be dry everywhere else. We're heading towards a mostly sunny 30°C day in Brisbane, with temperatures out west as high as 37°C.
A really hot day for New South Wales. In fact, some places could be pushing record temperatures for the month of April. Along the east coast we'll be seeing 33°C in Sydney - likely 35°C for the western suburbs, 35°C in Newcastle, 36°C in Maitland and 30°C in Wollongong. All of these places are a long way above the average for the time of year. Warm and a little windy is the expectation for eastern areas. It will be even hotter through the north-west, with Bourke up to 39°C. Across the Tablelands is where we most likely see record temperatures set, with low to mid-thirties expected. There will be some rain in the far south, which could affect Canberra, the Snowy Mountains, Southern Tablelands and Riverina through the morning hours. That should clear up after that, but it will stay a little cooler down there and a bit breezy as well.
And speaking of breezy - it is a windy day tomorrow across Victoria. Gusty conditions are expected through the entire state, and temperatures are really coming down into the teens for large parts of Victoria, maybe low 20s in some areas. There will be showers for many as well. All southern districts will likely see a few passing showers. We're not anticipating any persistent rainfall or big totals, but we will see stop-start intermittent shower activity across the south and through the north-eastern ranges.
It's a wintry old day for Tasmania. The wind is really howling through tomorrow. Maximum temperatures are sitting around 14°C to 17°C, but with the wind chill it will feel much colder - probably around 10°C for most of the day. There will be some wet weather too, with showers across the entire state. We could see some hail out west and snow in the mountains. For eastern areas, just rain - and not too much of it around Hobart - but still some passing showers no matter where you live.
For South Australia, we'll see a little bit of light passing shower activity from Port Augusta and Port Pirie down to Adelaide, across the peninsula and then towards the south-east for Mount Gambier. As with Victoria, no big rainfall is expected. No large totals and certainly no punchy thunderstorms like what we've been seeing in Adelaide recently, but a little bit of wet weather nonetheless through these southern areas. Further north and out to the west, it should be a dry day, but temperatures are definitely cooling with some southerly winds spreading through.
Western Australia will see a bright, sunny day across the west coast to Perth, reaching 26°C - pretty seasonable for this time of year. A little cooler and cloudier along the southern coastline, but we're not anticipating much, if any, rainfall there. It should be dry through the interior and sunny and mild across the north-west.
There is a bit of a dry season feel across northern Australia. Most of the showers and thunderstorms from earlier this week have cleared by Friday and it will be predominantly sunny and bright. Just a couple of light showers between Darwin and Kununurra in the north of WA. Most, if not all, other areas will be dry.
That's what I've got this time around. Check back tomorrow for our weekend forecast. Thanks very much for watching.
Video current: 2:00 pm AEST Thursday 09/04/26.
