Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide will bake this weekend as temperatures across the south-east are forecast to climb into the low 40s.
On Saturday, Adelaide could reach a high of 39C and Melbourne 36C, the Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said. Those low-intensity heatwave conditions would on Sunday move north-east into New South Wales, when Sydney could expect 36C.
But as the weekend unfolded, the very warm conditions would give way to a cold front, causing temperatures to drop in South Australia and Victoria on Sunday, and NSW on Monday, Bradbury said.
The cold front would bring strong winds and potential thunderstorms to Victoria, SA and Tasmania on Sunday, causing Adelaide to drop to 22C and Melbourne 18C.
After a hot Sunday, Sydney was expected to wake on Monday to bursts of gusty southerly winds and cooler temperatures of 25C.
Before that cold front swept through, the bureau said various parts of SA, NSW and Victoria could expect high March temperatures, particularly inland towns: Port Augusta in SA was tipped to hit 41C on Saturday and Broken Hill 39C.
The hot, dry weather would bring elevated fire danger.
On Saturday, high fire danger was forecast throughout Victoria and south-east NSW with extreme fire danger for much of southern SA, including the Mount Lofty ranges and mid-north districts, Bradbury said.
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She said the extreme fire danger forecasts would be in place because of “very, very dangerous conditions” for any ongoing fires or fresh fires that develop.
The coldest air behind the front would hit the south-east late on Sunday, and continue into Monday, the bureau said.
“Our coldest temperatures are likely to be seen on Monday,” Bradbury said. “That’s when we’re looking at widespread temperatures in the high teens across the south-east – inland these temperatures are likely to reach the low 20s.”
Bradbury said severe thunderstorms could develop through parts of northern and north-east Victoria from Sunday afternoon, bringing heavy rain or damaging wind gusts.
Rainfall in the south-east would be heaviest in western parts of Tasmania on Sunday, with moderate rain expected in eastern Victoria.
