Millions of Australians will face “summer heat” this weekend as temperatures across much of the country are “higher than average” for this time of year.

As winter draws to a close and warmer weather sets in, some parts of the country are expected to reach temperatures of up to 38 degrees Celsius, with Sydney and Melbourne likely to reach temperatures of around 26 degrees – which is quite unusual for this time of year. And while it may feel like a treat for some, it could be a sign of things to come.

Weatherzone meteorologist Corine Brown told Yahoo News Australia: “The temperatures we see are likely to be well above average”, particularly in and around central Australia.

“It’s a stationary ridge of high pressure over central Australia at the moment. That’s basically what’s causing that heat to build up,” she explained.

While the east coast in particular won’t see the same “extreme” heat, it still looks “a lot warmer” than we would normally see at this time of year. “In some parts of Sydney we’re looking at 7 to 9 degrees above average for this time of year,” she said.

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The mercury is set to hit a high of 26C in Sydney this weekend, around 5C warmer than the same period last year, with a 70 percent chance of up to 3mm of rain. Despite forecasts of up to 8mm of rain on Sunday, Melbourne is also set to smash last year’s temperatures with predicted highs of up to 23C – 4C higher than this time last year.

Further north, the city of Brisbane will see temperatures of up to 29 degrees Celsius, around 4 degrees higher than in 2023, with sunny conditions and winds of between 15 and 20 km/h.

The highest temperatures forecast for the weekend are expected in Oodnadatta, north of Coober Pedy in South Australia, where a potential high of 39C is expected to be reached over the weekend. Fitzroy Crossing in WA is expected to reach a scorching 40C, while parts of Queensland and the NT will experience temperatures in the mid to high 30s.

Climate change and El Niño cause higher temperatures

While the sudden heatwave may seem like an indication of the coming summer, that’s not necessarily the case — but it is a sign of global warming. Spring often brings “changeable” weather patterns — from warm to cool. In fact, the coming months are likely to see “Western Australia and parts of the South East with slightly below-average temperatures.”

“But by late spring we will see above average temperatures again,” Brown said.

As for what’s causing the heat, “there’s the background climate change, the background warming influence,” she explained. “But we also had warming from El Niño earlier this year.

“There may be a bit of a lag effect in how those temperatures respond to things like El Niño, and there may be some residual heat left over. That’s probably what we’re seeing there.”

The warming climate has proven problematic, with an increasing trend of extreme heat waves often endangering lives, especially those of children.

“The Bureau is forecasting above-normal temperatures because the normal or average conditions are from a few decades ago, and the world has in fact warmed,” meteorologist Matthew King said earlier. “Australia has warmed because of our greenhouse gas emissions, it is almost always warmer than the natural temperatures now.”

Cool change will sweep across the country next week

But there is some relief. “There looks to be a bit of a cool change towards the end of this week, early next week as we see another frontal system coming through WA and then slowly moving east,” Brown said. “That will push a lot of the heat away. But for now we’ll see the heat pick up quite a bit.”

While these temperatures are unusually high for this time of year, “we should see temperatures moving back towards average within a week,” Brown said. “Although they’re still slightly above average for places like Sydney, maybe one to two degrees above average.”

While it’s not really unusual, you usually see this type of weather pattern “more around springtime” and not as early as late August. “Generally, it’s a little early,” she added.

with NCA Newswire

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