Australian Weather

Today, 12:13AM UTC

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.

27 Jan 2026, 6:38AM UTC

Temperatures in Victoria have soared to the highest levels ever recorded, with the mercury reaching 48.9°C in the small Mallee region towns of Walpeup and Hopetoun, south of Mildura. The old state record was 48.8°C at Hopetoun. Meanwhile just over the border, Renmark in South Australia's Riverland region recorded 49.6°C at 2:23pm. This not only broke the old town record of 48.6°C, but was the hottest temperature recorded anywhere in Australia to date in 2026. Let’s break down some key observations in the northern border region of Vic and SA, where the hottest air in the ongoing southeast Australian heatwave was concentrated this Tuesday. Victoria Notable readings included: 48.6°C at Mildura, which broke the old record of 46.9°C in Victoria's largest Murray River city. 48.1°C at Longerenong in the Wimmera district, about 300km south of Mildura, which broke the old record of 47.6°C. 46.3°C at Mortlake in the South West forecast district, the first time a temperature has been recorded above 46°C in the town of approximately 1200 residents. 45.0°C in Warrnambool at 2:22pm. The state’s largest coastal city outside of the Port Philip Bay area is usually protected from extreme heat, but before the sea breeze kicked in around 3pm, the town reached its hottest temperature in records dating back to 1897. 42.7°C in Melbourne just before 5pm, where the hottest air arrived later in the afternoon. Earlier, Australian Open matches on outside courts were suspended under the tournament’s extreme heat policy. 45.6°C at Laverton in southwest Melbourne just before 5pm, Tuesday’s hottest reading in the metropolitan area. South Australia Notable readings included: 49.6°C at Renmark, as mentioned above. 48.3°C at Lameroo, in eastern SA’s Murraylands forecast district. 48.2°C at Marree in SA’s North East Pastoral district, which might be considered a "warm-up" for the consecutive days of 49°C forecast for this Thursday and Friday. 42.2°C in Adelaide, which quite remarkably was recorded before 11am. It’s the fifth time this month temperatures have hit 42°C or higher in the SA capital. What caused today's record heat? As Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino explained in his story earlier on Tuesday, a slow-moving upper-level high pressure system is causing air to heat up as it descends from higher altitudes towards the surface. "This 'subsidence warming' will occur for numerous consecutive days due to the slow-moving nature of the upper-level high, causing temperatures to remain at record-challenging levels for another few days," Domensino wrote. How long will this extreme heat last? Image: Heatwave forecast for Australia for the three days starting Wednesday, January 28, 2026. As the map above shows, there are several more days to go, although the worst heat will tend to track a little further north of where it was on Tuesday, with western NSW, northern SA and SW Qld copping the worst of it. Please check the Weatherzone warnings page for the latest information on extreme weather. For up-to-date bushfire information in states currently affected by extreme heat, check VicEmergency, the NSW Rural Fire Service, or the SA Country Fire Service.  READ MORE: South Australian seaside sizzles at 49.5°C