Perfect Christmas weather, then heatwave looms for most of the state

A warm and pleasant Christmas Day is set to give way to a scorching heatwave in most of Victoria which will see the mercury soar into the 40s for days on end.

A three-day heatwave across inland Australia will hit northern parts of Victoria on Boxing Day, with places such as Mildura forecast to hit 45 degrees by Friday.

Most of the state enjoyed a warm Christmas Eve. A pleasant Christmas Day was in store ahead of the scorching conditions.

Read the story from The Age by Simone Fox Koob - “Perfect Christmas weather, then heatwave looms for most of the state.”

Bureau of Meteorology tips pleasant Christmas weather

The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting a "beautiful day for many parts of the country".

Christmas Day will be much cooler in Melbourne than 2016's Yuletide heatwave.

This year is shaping up as Australia's fifth warmest, but Christmas Day won't be a record-making day.

Read Madeleine Heffernan’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Bureau of Meteorology tips pleasant Christmas weather.”

'Seeking shelter from the storm' - Age Editorial

(“Here are the facts:

■Last year was the world's warmest year on record. The planet's three hottest years are 2016, 2015 and 2014.

■2016 was Australia's 4th hottest year on record.
■Around Australia ocean temperatures were the warmest on record.

■We experienced our warmest autumn on record for Australia.

■The 2015/16 El Nino was one of the strongest on record. It brought the warmest wet season on record for northern Australia.
■It was also Australia's wettest May to September on record”)

Yes, populism punished the body politic, but we had to seek shelter from more literal storms.

The most recent, on December 29, lashed Victoria. The deluge in Melbourne alone turned domesticated creeks decidedly angry. And the roads, well, as the gutters disappeared they conspired against pedestrians and vehicles alike.

Way up north, just a few days before, the Bureau of Meteorology described a Christmas Day storm as a "once-in-a-half-century" weather event. The flooding flashed its way through the Northern Territory.  Uluru  wept unforgettably – majestic cascading streams.

In retrospect, we shouldn't have been surprised that 2016 had more mad weather to throw our way.

There were the massive storms and king tides that swept along the east coast of Australia in June, washing away sand, beaches and property, including a swimming pool yanked from its bed and left dangling.

As one Sydney local, Craig Graham, said: "I have never seen it come up this high with this amount of storm surge and I've been living here about 40 years."

Read the Editorial in today’s Melbourne Age - “Seeking shelter from the storm.”

Victoria's Christmas heatwave in the severe category

Neelima Coahan - Christmas
heatwave in Victoria.

Victoria's first summer heatwave will be severe, the weather bureau warns, with a cool change not expected until three days after Christmas.

The weather bureau released new maps on Wednesday showing the predicted Christmas heatwave is in the severe category for much of Victoria.

The mercury is set to soar on Friday, with Mildura set for a top of 38 degrees, Swan Hill 37, Echuca 36 and Bendigo 33.

The scorcher will continue on Christmas Day, with Melbourne set for a top of 35 degrees, Mildura and Swan Hill 41 degrees and Echuca 39 degrees.

In Bendigo, the peak will come on Tuesday with a maximum of 39 degrees.

"On Christmas Eve, the temperature is going to be low-30s," Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Tony Bannister said.

"But Christmas Day itself is going to see a further increase, so it's going to be pretty hot for your Christmas lunch It's probably a better idea to have it inside than outside."

On Boxing Day, the mercury is set to top 31 degrees in Melbourne.

Read Neelima Coahan’s story in the Melbourne Age - “Victoria's Christmas heatwave in the severe category.”

Second hottest year ever - US roasted

It's official. The United States roasted in 2015. All that unseasonably warm December weather that saw flowers blooming in Central Park and shirtless Christmas Day volleyball set a record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which released its year-end findings on Thursday.

In fact, 29 states in the eastern half of the country experienced their hottest Decembers on record, a phenomenon that sealed 2015's fate: It was the second-warmest year ever recorded in the contiguous United States.

Read the Mother Jones story - “It's Official: 2015 Was America’s Second-Hottest Year on Record.”

A hot Christmas Day 'with a chance of thongs'

Melbourne is expected to get the Christmas Day it puts on greeting cards, hot with a strong chance of thongs.

Those feasting outside will be popping up the sunshades, umbrellas and marquees to provide shade. The early prediction is for 31 degrees.

But Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Alain Baillie said the predicted top could rise slightly as Friday approaches.

After a scorching weekend, Melbourne's temperatures are expected to dip to the low to high 20s from Monday to Wednesday.

Read the story in the Melbourne Age - “Melbourne Christmas Day weather: Top of 31 degrees tipped, with chance of late rain.”