What? You thought just because it was March now that we’d all be safe from the ravages of summer?
BAH. PHOOEY. PISH-POSH.
Melburnians went to bed last night with visions of a pleasant, calm, manageable Friday of 27 degrees in their heads. But the Bureau of Meteorology had other ideas, and in the dead of night suddenly realised that a fierce northerly that was previously forecast to affect only inland areas like Mildura (aka An Actual Oven) would also be pushing the temperature skywards in the Victorian capital as well.
The BoM bumped the scheduled temperature for today up a whopping NINE WHOLE DEGREES, meaning instead of the pleasant 27, we’ll now be sweltering through an Autumn scorcher of 36.
The dramatic increase is extremely unusual, and caught meteorologists and their computer modelling completely off-guard, according to BoM senior forecaster Dean Stewart.
“We rely on computer modelling on the atmosphere and we look at all the information and provide the best estimates we can, but that has changed overnight.”
The soaring temperatures are set to only affect the city areas, with bayside suburbs remaining cool. At the time of writing (LIVE from PEDESTRIAN.TV‘s Melbourne HQ in sunny Cremorne!) the temperature was already pushing 26 degrees, and the forecast peak temperature is set for around 3pm this afternoon.
And is if that weren’t bad enough, an Autumnal heat wave will see the city blasted with temperatures above 30 degrees for much of the next week.
Whilst Saturday is forecast to drop back down to a more respectable 26, the five days that follow are gonna be a tough time, with temps of 32, 30, 33, 29, and 34 predicted.
There’s no relief in Sydney, either. The NSW harbour city is set for a string of warm-to-hot days in succession, with 29, 30, 30, 30, 32, and 30 predicted for the next 6 days.
Enjoy being fire people, everyone.
Source: Herald Sun, Bureau of Meteorology.
