‘Like opening a fan oven': Australia's rainforest threatened by bushfires

When Michelle Ready first moved to the cane farm she owns with her husband in Queensland nine years ago, it sounded like a jungle at night. “It was lush and green and wet,” she says.

 Unusually hot and dry conditions in Queensland have fuelled
‘frightening’ fires that are forcing a rethink of what the
region can expect in the future.

A week after a “frightening” fire ripped across their property in Finch Hatton, a small township in the subtropical region of Mackay, better known for its humid, rain-drenched summers, it’s obvious that things have changed.

“It has been unbelievably dry here … the last few years we’re just not getting the rain and then, when we do, it’s often associated with a cyclone.”

Read the story from The Guardian by Lisa Cox - “‘Like opening a fan oven': Australia's rainforest threatened by bushfires.”

The heat really will be on in Shepparton

Victoria is bracing for a second bout of extreme heat this month, with temperatures across Greater Shepparton expected to be high and humid.

From Thursday onwards, a heatwave will develop across the entire state, persisting through to the following week across northern Victoria.

Temperatures are predicted to not fall below 30°C for more than a week, and are expected to peak in Shepparton on Friday with a forecast 42°C.

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Rod Dickson said although a slight cool change would offer respite to the south of the state, daytime temperatures across the north would not fall.

With the weather, he said a significant fire danger period would no doubt be imminent.

‘‘North-westerly winds will once again freshen up on Friday and become quite gusty over the central and western parts of the state,’’ Mr Dickson said.

‘‘That’ll produce probably severe fire danger across a lot of central and western Victoria on Friday.’’

Mr Dickson said the predicted high temperatures would be the first time since 2015 when the state had received two consecutive days above 38°C.

‘‘The other thing to note, in northern Victoria we will see minimum temperatures not falling below 20°C throughout that period, and that’s where we’re going to see heatwave conditions with little relief in the overnight hours as well,’’ he said.

Story by Rhiannon Tuffield in the Shepparton News - “The heat really will be on.”

Melbourne weather: Victorians to roast through a Christmas heatwave

Get ready for a Christmas scorcher. 

Victoria has issued a health alert for the Christmas Day heatwave and a total fire ban will be in place from Christmas Eve.

Emergency and health officials are calling on Victorians to prepare for the hot and humid conditions, with five days of 30 degrees or more forecast from Saturday.

The Bureau of Meteorology has raised its forecast to a humid 33 degrees for Melbourne on Christmas Eve, with Christmas Day expected to be a sticky 35 degrees.

The moist heat will hamper those sleeping off the Christmas binge, with the weather bureau forecasting a hot, uncomfortable Christmas night in Melbourne.

Read Marika Dobbin Thomas’s story in the Melbourne Age -  “Melbourne weather: Victorians to roast through a Christmas heatwave.”