Australian Weather

Today, 2:28AM UTC

An extreme heatwave will affect multiple Australian states between Wednesday and Saturday this week. Extreme fire danger ratings are also forecast, with Friday expected to be a particularly dangerous day of fire weather for Victoria. Heat building in WA Heat has been building over WA during the last few days with temperatures reaching up to 44.6°C at Onslow on Saturday, 45.5°C at Roebourne on Sunday and 46.4°C at Marble Bar on Monday. While this intense Pilbara heat may seem distant to those living thousands of kilometres away in Australia’s capital cities, it is an ominous sign of an oppressive heatwave that’s going to spread over other areas of the country later this week. Heatwave spreading east Hot air will spread from WA towards southeastern Australia during the remainder of this week, causing temperatures to exceed 40°C over a broad area of the country, covering parts of WA, SA, the NT, Vic, NSW and Qld. Four of these states, WA, SA, Vic and NSW, could even see the mercury exceeding 45°C by Friday. The heat will be intense and persistent enough to be classified as a severe to extreme heatwave over part of every Australian state and territory this week. Image: Heatwave severity forecast for the three days starting on Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. Cities and towns to swelter Adelaide and Melbourne will be in the thick of this week’s hot air mass over the next few days. Maximum temperatures are predicted to reach 41°C in both cities on Wednesday, with Adelaide also tipped to hit 39°C on Thursday and Melbourne 38°C on Friday. Further inland, the heat will be relentless. Renmark in SA could see three consecutive days reaching 44 to 46°C from Wednesday to Friday, while Mildura in Vic is forecast to reach 44 to 45°C on each of these three days. Overnight minimum temperatures in the mid-to-high twenties will make this run of heat feel oppressive. Sydney is also predicted to have four days over 30°C from Wednesday, peaking at around 39°C in the city and 44°C in the western suburbs on Saturday. This will be the hottest run of days in years for some areas. The last time Mildura had three days in a row above 43°C was in January 2019. Bankstown, which is forecast to reach 38 to 44°C from Thursday to Saturday, hasn't had three consecutive days over 37°C since 1994. Extreme fire danger ahead This week’s heat will combine with dry air and blustery winds to cause dangerous fire weather in parts of southern Australia, particularly SA, Vic and southern NSW. Fire danger ratings are predicted to reach the extreme category – one level below catastrophic – in parts of SA and Vic from Wednesday to Friday, and possibly in southern NSW on Saturday. Image: Forecast fire danger ratings for Friday, January 9, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. Friday will be a dangerous day for fires in Vic, as temperatures in the low to mid-forties combine with wind speeds possibly exceeding 40km/h and gusts exceeding 70 km/h. A wind change will further exacerbate the risk of fires becoming difficult to control in Vic on Friday. Unfortunately, fires are already burning in parts of Vic and smoke could be seen billowing from a large fire to the east of Albury-Wodonga on Monday and Tuesday. This fire was not under control as of midday on Tuesday and will likely become more difficult to manage over the coming days, with Albury-Wodonga forecast to reach 41 to 43°C between Wednesday and Friday.

05 Jan 2026, 4:16AM UTC

A burst of monsoonal rain will bring further heavy rain to parts of Queensland from later this week, with potential for a Coral Sea tropical cyclone to form by this weekend. Heavy rain has affected parts of northern and western Qld over the past two weeks under the influence of a near-stationary low pressure trough. Some stretches of the state’s North Tropical Coast have received more than one metre of rain over the past week, with the heaviest falls occurring between Cairns and Townsville. Cowley Beach received a whopping 1284 mm in the seven days ending at 9am on Sunday, January 4, while Townsville picked up more than 500mm in the week ending on January 5. Image: Observed rainfall over Qld during the week ending at 9am AEST on January 4, 2026. Source: Bureau of Meteorology. Further inland, heavy rain in late December and the opening days of January caused major flooding in parts of northwest Qld. Some areas around Cloncurry, Julia Creek, Richmond, Winton and Normanton have received 200-500 mm of rain over the past week. Satellite images captured on Monday revealed extensive flooding across northwest Qld as this rainwater slowly meanders northwards towards the Gulf of Carpentaria and southwards towards Lake Eyre. Image: False-colour satellite image showing floodwater in blue. Water near Julia Creek and Mount Isa will will flow to the north, while water near Winton and Cannington will flow towards the south. Source: Weatherzone. Major flood warnings were in place on Monday for the Western and Flinders Rivers. More rain on the way While rain is expected to ease over northeast Qld from Tuesday, further heavy falls are expected to develop over parts of the state from later this week and possibly extend into next week. This impending rain will be fuelled by a monsoon surge that will cause moisture-laden winds to flow from the north of Australia out over the Coral Sea, before wrapping around a low pressure system and being driven towards eastern Qld. Image: Forecast 850 hPa wind and precipitable water showing monsoon winds carrying moisture towards Qld on Friday, January 9, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. Rain is expected to increase over northern and eastern Qld from later this week as the low pressure system develops and moves closer to the coast. This system is currently likely to target the northern and central coasts of eastern Qld from Friday into the weekend and possibly continuing early next week. Some heavy rain could also extend inland towards flood-weary areas in the state’s northwest. Some computer models suggest that the low could become a tropical cyclone before reaching eastern Qld later this week. The Bureau of Meteorology currently gives the tropical low pressure system a moderate chance of developing into a tropical cyclone from Friday into the weekend. Regardless of whether the system becomes a tropical cyclone or remains below cyclone strength, it will still produce lots of rain that will be falling into already saturated river catchments. Flooding will be a high risk from late this week and next week over parts of northern and central Qld. Image: Forecast accumulated rain between now and Sunday, according to the ECMWF model. Source: Weatherzone. Flood watches and warnings, and severe weather warnings are likely to be issued as this event unfolds, so be sure to check the warnings in your area to stay up to date with the latest information.