Peter Hannum
Sydney (click here) will be the envy of much of south-eastern Australia this week as a heatwave sends temperatures soaring elsewhere in the region.
Sea breezes will keep temperatures in a daily range between 21C (69.8 F) and 29C (84.2 F) until Saturday, when the tail end of the heat pushes maximums in the CBD up to 31C (87.8 F).
In western Sydney, temperatures are expected reach 34C (93.2 F) on Tuesday and between 36C (96.8 F) and 39C (102.2 F) until Saturday, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Victoria, southern NSW and South Australia can expect even more scorching conditions. The prolonged hot spell will be the most intense since conditions in the days leading up to the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria in 2009, forecasters say.
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The second day of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park should coincide with the first of four days of temperatures reaching about 40C (104 F) , possibly 43C (109.4 F) on Tuesday.
Adelaide, where the mercury shot up to 42.1C (107.8 F) on Monday, is forecast to have four more similar days in a row. Each could reach 42C (107.6 F) or higher, making it the longest such run for the city, Weatherzone meteorologist Rob Sharpe said....
Heat in Australia equates to fire.
By Greg Ansley
January 14, 2014
Health and high fire danger alerts (click here) are coming into force as the heatwave that scorched Perth and ignited huge fires close to the city moves up the east coast from South Australia. The toll from the weekend's Western Australia fires yesterday rose to 44 homes destroyed, large areas of bush incinerated, one man dead and two others taken to hospital.
Temperatures soared into the 40s in South Australia and Victoria is now braced for the most severe conditions it has faced since the 2009 heatwave that sparked the Black Saturday fires....
...In Melbourne, which will endure a series of days in the high 40s, on-court temperatures at the Australian Tennis Open could reach as high as 50C (122 F) ....
