Australia’s south-east to face strong winds, storms and hail after unseasonal heat across country

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned people to check their forecasts as “really intense warm conditions” expected to break temperature records in some places across central Australia give way to strong winds, storms and hail across the south-east of the country on Sunday.
“We are moving into a pretty active week, as we’d call it,” said Miriam Bradbury, senior meteorologist. “There are a number of weather systems moving through in southern Australia.”
The warnings come as Australia has experienced some of the warmest August temperatures on record, with much of central and eastern Australia recording temperatures 5-15C above average temperatures.
Temperatures at Oodnadatta, in the north of South Australia, reached 38.5C on Thursday, making it the hottest August day recorded at that location since 1946. Temperatures are forecast to reach 40C at Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia, 35C in Alice Springs and 38C at Birdsville, Queensland over the weekend.
“Unfortunately we’re looking at very warm conditions across central and northern Australia persisting well into next week,” Bradbury said.
Capitals across the eastern seaboard are forecast to be 8C warmer than their August average on Sunday, with Melbourne to reach 23C and Sydney 26C. The BoM is forecasting a string of days above 30C in Brisbane from Monday.
“August is when we generally start to see the weather warming a bit as we head towards spring. But the duration of this heat, and how intense it is, is unusual for this time of year,” Bradbury said.
“I think most of us do really enjoy that first burst of warmer, milder weather after winter, it gives us a bit more energy, gives us a bit more hope. But it is just worth keeping in mind where this sits in a broader perspective … it is very early in the season to be seeing temperatures this high, and it is actually breaking records in some areas.”
Bradbury said it was difficult to make “decisive comments” about the impact of global heating on weather events such as the “unseasonal burst” of heat currently being experienced across most of the country, especially while data from winter 2024 was still being collected. But she said “it is worth noting that August is tracking to be one of the warmest on record so far.”
From Sunday, showers and widespread storms were predicted across most of Victoria, south-east South Australia and southern New South Wales, with strong winds, severe storms and large hail forecast for some parts of northern Victoria and southern NSW.
“It’s the wind risk that we’re taking a closer look at the moment,” she said.
“We will see these windy periods continuing throughout much of this week. So really, just a reminder to everyone, keep an eye on your forecast. Keep an eye out for any warnings as they might come.”