Autumn is the time of year when hazard reduction burns begin in southern Australia, and you can see several of them over Victoria in this satellite video loop captured on Wednesday.The two fires in the forested area just to the left of the centre of the video above are in the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park in Victoria.

The time of year when folks in VIC set fire to things. pic.twitter.com/zSxbnghJVu

— Andrew Miskelly (@andrewmiskelly) April 5, 2023

The current planned burns map on the Forest Fire Management Victoria map shows two red dots in the Grampians which correspond to what you can see in the satellite loop.

READ MORE: THE GRAMPIANS WEATHER STATION WHICH SNOW LOVERS LOVE

As for the smoke plumes you can see in nearby unforested dryland areas in the loop near the top of the page,  and in the image below, those are likely crop stubble burns.

• According to Agriculture Victoria, the practice of burning the dry remnants of a crop which has been harvested was traditionally done to manage weeds, diseases and reduce biomass to make sowing easier
• It is declining as a preferred land management option in favour of retaining stubble to protect soil from erosion, however there are still some cases where it is necessary
• This year, much more stubble burning is being conducted than in recent years, for a number of reasons discussed on ABC's Victorian Country Hour. That explained why it shows up so dramatically on satellite imagery
• Indeed, one Weatherzone reader told us that on a recent drive to Melbourne from western Victoria's Wimmera region, smoke haze cloaked the sky for most of the trip

On the weather front, this Thursday is a relatively mild day for April across Victoria, but a chill will set in statewide over the Easter weekend.

Mildura in the state's far northwest should reach 30°C today, but the whole of the state should see max temps below 20°C by Sunday, with snow on the alps while Melbourne is looking at potentially its coldest Easter Sunday in 80 years, with a forecast high of just 15°C.