It's going to be a hot old afternoon session for the England bowlers in the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval, as Adelaide heads for its hottest day in 10 months.

• On February 17, Adelaide reached a top of 37.9°C and all indications are that today’s maximum will approach a similar level.
• If (as seems likely) today's temp exceeds the 36.9°C of February 18, then it will be the hottest day since February 17 – exactly 10 months ago.
• For the record, Adelaide's hottest day of 2021 to date was 42.7°C on January 24.
• And if you really love your records, you'll want to know that Adelaide's hottest day on record reached 46.6°C, also on Jan 24, but a year earlier in 2019.

Image: Not the worst day to seek shade under the rotunda. Source: Michael18 via Pixabay.

Here at Weatherzone, we told you on Monday morning that while Friday's official forecast had a top of 35 on the cards for Adelaide, it was possible that the mercury could climb a few degrees higher.

That now seems pretty likely, with temps already having soared to 33.9°C at midday.

Interestingly, our Adelaide forecast today mentions the chance of a thunderstorm later this evening "with little or no rainfall about the hills".

That essentially means that there will be dry gusty storms, perhaps with a rumble of thunder and even a flash of lightning, but significant rain is highly unlikely in the exceptionally dry atmosphere (the relative humidity at midday was just 16%).

As for the weekend ahead, Adelaide will be significantly cooler on Saturday with a predicted top of 27°C, and a good deal cooler again on Sunday, with an expected max of just 22°C and the chance of a few light showers.