A slow-moving weather pattern will continue to drive a heatwave over Australia's interior, cool winds over the country's far southwest and rain in the northeast tropics. With the exception of far southern Australia, much of the country has been experiencing little day-to-day change in the weather since about Christmas, and there is little change for the next week. In regard to the hot spell, Newman, in Western Australia's Pilbara, has exceeded 45 degrees each day since Christmas, more than six degrees above average for six consecutive days. Nearby, Marble Bar, has exceeded 40 degrees each day for the past fortnight. In NSW, each day since Christmas Eve has exceeded 40 degrees in Wilcannia and 35 degrees in Penrith. Among the cool parts of the country, Albany, on WA's south coast, has been cooler than average since Christmas, staying cooler than 25 degrees. Stuck in the mud and puddles, Cairns, on Queensland's North Tropical Coast, has recorded rain on each of the past nine days. The weather pattern looks fairly stagnant for the next week or so, keeping most of the country much the same from day to day. The main exception will be far southern parts of South Australia and Victoria and Tasmania where weak fronts will occasionally drag them from mild to warm to hot and back again.