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Low pressure is producing rain & storms across the northern tropics. Ex-TC Luana is weakening but still causing rainfall over WA's southeast, with lighter rain in the SE. Hot conditions over large parts of SA, Qld, NSW & Vic. High pressure over the south is bringing gusty winds.
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Today, 5:59AM UTC
Aussie ski village records its first 30-degree day
Temperatures have exceeded 49°C in the ongoing heatwave in southeastern Australia for the third straight day, yet it was a reading of just 30.5°C in the snowfields that arguably provided Wednesday’s most remarkable heat anomaly. Let’s deal with the hottest temperatures first: On Monday, the SA coastal town of Ceduna hit 49.5°C. On Tuesday, Renmark in SA’s Riverland reached 49.6°C, while the NSW town of Pooncarie hit 49.7°C – the state’s hottest day since 1939. This Wednesday, 49.2°C was recorded at the official BoM weather station at Borrona Downs, a cattle station in far northwestern NSW. It obviously wasn’t anywhere near that hot in mainland Australia’s high country, but in historical terms, it was a scorcher. Sizzling in the snowfields The weather station at Falls Creek ski resort in Victoria had never recorded a 30-degree day in 36 years of records going back to 1990 – until today. At 2:26pm, the temperature briefly spiked to 30.5°C, breaking the old record of 29.7°C from January 2014. Record-breaking temperatures were also experienced in the NSW Snowy Mountains, with Perisher Valley registering its hottest day in 50 years of records (at two different sites) when the mercury touched 30.8°C at 4:22pm. Perisher is said to have received its unusual name when a grazier described an unseasonable blizzard as a "proper perisher" in terms of the survival chances of his cattle. Sunstroke would have been a bigger worry than frostbite this Wednesday. Image: Remnant winter snow patches clinging to life on the flanks of Mt Kosciuszko in the extreme January heat. Source: ski.com.au. Canberra’s second-hottest day on record When it’s hot in the mountains, the mercury usually soars in Canberra, and so it proved today as the national capital endured its second-hottest day on record, with a high of 42.6°C to 4pm. Canberra's hottest day on record was 44°C on January 4, 2020, during the Black Summer. Tuggeranong, in the city’s south, had its hottest day on record with 43.5°C, narrowly beating its 43.3°C from that same scorching January 4 in the Black Summer. Image: Predicted maximums on Wednesday for Victoria and nearby areas. While the hottest air was concentrated in eastern SA and western NSW, a tongue of intense heat reached NE Victoria and the High Country. Why mountains are generally cooler than lower areas The higher you go, the less the air pressure. This means that air molecules are more spread out, which reduces heat retention. In dry, clear conditions during the afternoon, you tend to lose around one degree of temperature for every 100m of altitude gained (this is called the dry adiabatic lapse rate). So for example, the Victorian town of Wangaratta (weather station elevation 152m) reached 45.2°C this Wednesday. Two hours southeast of Wangaratta, Falls Creek (weather station elevation 1765m) reached 30.5°C, as mentioned. So that’s a difference of about 15 degrees between two sites that are separated by about 1600m of altitude – which corresponds pretty closely to the formula. Meanwhile heat will persist throughout the week in Canberra and the high country, although it’s unlikely that Wednesday’s extremes will be seen again. By next Monday, frost could be on the grass in the morning at Perisher with a maximum of 0°C forecast after a southerly change on Sunday.
Today, 3:47AM UTC
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Luana intensifies over central Australia
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Luana has done something tropical cyclones don’t usually do: it gained strength over land three days after making landfall. Luana made landfall as a category two tropical cyclone on the afternoon of Saturday, January 24, 2026, crossing the Dampier Peninsula coast to the northeast of Broome. Luana quickly weakened over the Kimberley region after landfall and had become a tropical low pressure system, below cyclone strength, by Sunday morning. Rapid post-landfall weakening is common for tropical cyclones because once they move over land, they become cut off from the warm sea water that provided energy prior to landfall. However, on rare occasions, tropical cyclones and tropical lows can maintain or even gain strength over land. Luana deepens over WA Interior Ex-Tropical Cyclone Luana gained strength over the interior of WA on Tuesday, with its central pressure dropping slightly into the afternoon. Satellite images also show the tropical low maintaining very good structure throughout Tuesday, keeping a tropical cyclone-like appearance despite being around 600 km inland. Image: Visible satellite images showing ex-Tropical Cyclone Luana moving over the WA Interior on Tuesday, January 27, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. One reason ex-Tropical Cyclone Luana gained strength on Tuesday was a phenomenon known as the ‘brown ocean’ effect. This occurs when heat and moisture provided by water on and in the ground mimics the influence of warm ocean water. The WA Interior had received rain from cloud extending ahead of Luana earlier in the week, and this water helped maintain the system’s strength as it moved further inland. It’s also likely that broad-scale weather systems surrounding the ex-tropical cyclone helped it gain some strength as it tracked south. This included a strong and near-stationary high to the east and a short-wave trough to the southwest. Rain and flood threat for WA Areas of heavy rain and damaging winds will spread south from the WA Interior as ex-Tropical Cyclone Luana tracks towards the south and weakens on Wednesday and Thursday. The heaviest rain and strongest winds will occur near and south of the low pressure system. Image: Forecast accumulated rain during the 48 hours ending at 8pm AWST on Thursday, January 29, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. A severe weather warning was in place on Wednesday morning for heavy rainfall and damaging wind gusts in parts of the South Interior, eastern Goldfields and northern Eucla districts. A flood watch has also been issued for parts of the Salt Lake and Nullarbor district rivers.
Today, 12:13AM UTC
What is a 'heat dome' and why is it super-heating Australia?
The term 'heat dome' has appeared frequently in the media this week with regard to this week's persistent heatwave across a broad area of southeastern Australia. The heatwave is remarkable for both its longevity and extreme temperatures, with numerous records already broken. It’s as though a large part of the country is living under a dome of heat. But what exactly is a heat dome? A heat dome refers to a slow-moving, large high-pressure system in the upper atmosphere which effectively traps and intensifies a hot airmass underneath it. A common analogy used to describe the effects of such a system is that it’s like a lid on a pot which stops heat from escaping. Heat domes suppress the upward movement of air and therefore the formation of rain-bearing clouds. They also prevent other weather systems from intruding and disrupting the persistent heat. Extreme heat continues to circulate over central/eastern Australia, under a persistent upper-level high. The system is expected to break down on the weekend. pic.twitter.com/Rg7q5nsBkv — Andrew Miskelly (@andrewmiskelly) January 27, 2026 Is heat dome an official meteorological term? The term 'heat dome' is one of those weather buzzwords that is becoming more popular. While the BoM does not include it in its official glossary of weather terms, the American Meteorological Society does. So it’s somewhere between "official" weather jargon and a useful (albeit somewhat colloquial) piece of terminology, depending on your location. Why is this week’s heat dome so extreme and persistent? One specific factor at play this week is the influence of ex-Tropical Cyclone Luana, which crossed Western Australia's Kimberley coastline as a category two system on Saturday before becoming a tropical low which is currently still active over WA’s interior. Ex-Tropical Cyclone Luana helped intensify the heatwave by sending upper-level air towards the high pressure system, which then settled towards the surface and increased temperatures further. "What goes up must come down. Air moving upwards in the tropics forming cloud rain and tropical lows or cyclones, then comes down over more southern latitudes," Weatherzone meteorologist Jess Miskelly explains. It should also be noted that the background influence of climate change is an underlying factor in extreme heatwaves in Australia. Australia's mean temperature has increased by around 1.6°C since 1910. Image: Annual mean temperature anomalies in Australia from 1910 to 2025. Source: BoM. What next for the current heatwave? The heatwave will continue to grip a broad area of southeastern Australia between now and Saturday, with temperatures possibly approaching 50°C in parts of four Australian states. After Victoria reached a state record 48.9°C on Tuesday, Wednesday’s highest readings appear likely to occur in western NSW, southwest Queensland and the northwest of SA. On Thursday and Friday, northern and eastern SA look most likely to see the hottest temperatures, with the tiny town of Marree in the state’s North East Pastoral forecast district expected to nudge 50°C on Thursday. It's extremely rare to see 50°C observations at any Australian location – a temperature threshold that has been reliably measured only seven times in Australia, most recently in 2022 at three locations in the Pilbara region of northwest WA.