Here we've got this cold front and a trough with hot, dry and gusty north-westerly winds ahead of it, bringing maximum temperatures of 34 degrees for both Adelaide and Melbourne, and 27 degrees for Hobart. These winds are expected to peak across the Tasmania area.
However, the elevated fire dangers are expected to peak across the mainland, where we have a fire weather warning current with extreme fire dangers across large parts of south-east and south Australia, excluding the Adelaide area but including the Mount Lofty Ranges, and for Victoria including the Wimmera, Mallee and Northern Country fire districts.
Any fires that get going within these orange areas will be very difficult to control, and farmers who are harvesting are being encouraged to postpone any paddock work for today.
We also have a severe weather warning for damaging winds, with wind gusts in excess of 100 km/h throughout central and north-eastern parts of Tasmania. Winds of this strength have the potential to bring down trees and powerlines, cause power outages and create hazardous driving conditions. They are expected to ease through central parts later this afternoon, but will take a little longer to ease throughout the north-east, later this evening.
The front is due to move through Hobart at around 4 pm this afternoon, Adelaide at 5 pm, and Melbourne at 7 pm this evening. Melbourne will see the sharpest temperature drop - 10 to 15 degrees within an hour of the front passing.
It's also worth noting that there isn't much shower or storm activity visible with regard to rainfall. However, the thunderstorm outlook shows thunderstorms are possible across south-eastern parts of South Australia and western and central Victoria. These are likely to be dry thunderstorms with dry lightning, which can ignite new fires, particularly across the Wimmera where this dry lightning coincides with today's extreme fire dangers.
As we move into tomorrow, the cold front is expected to weaken and move into the Tasman Sea, with a trough and lingering heat across northern Victoria. Gusty north-westerly winds will start to build across New South Wales, leading to elevated fire dangers that continue across northern Victoria and extend into southern New South Wales.
From Friday afternoon into Saturday, a strong cold front crosses the south-east for Victoria and Tasmania, bringing a much colder air mass behind it. More significantly, it pushes the trough northwards, with elevated fire dangers expected to move into eastern, inland and northern parts of New South Wales. This includes the Sydney Metro and Illawarra Shoalhaven districts, where fire weather warnings are likely to be issued on Friday.
It's going to be a hot and windy day across south-eastern parts of the country. Now's a good time to stay up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings via the Bureau website, app and social media.
Otherwise, we'll see you again next time. Bye for now.
Video current: 12:00 pm AEDT Thursday 04/12/25.
