Following a few days of wild weather across Australia’s east coast, much of NSW is now being warned of widespread fire danger heading into Sunday.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines on Saturday afternoon sounded the alarm over a severe storm that reached south east Queensland and northern NSW.
“This is where we could see even more significant weather impacts in the form of giant hail stones potentially 5 cm or greater and destructive winds,” he said.
However, the warnings didn’t stop there, with the NSW Rural Fire Service on Saturday evening warning of widespread fire danger across the state.
A total fire ban was declared for the Lower Central West Plains and Central Ranges regions for Sunday, due to forecast hot and windy conditions.
The ban begins at midnight on Saturday and covers the council areas of Central Ranges, Bathurst, Blayney, Cabonne, Cowra, Lithgow, Mid-Western, Oberon and Orange.
It also covers the Lower Central West Plains, Bland, Dubbo, Forbes, Lachlan, Narromine, Parkes, Temora and Weddin.
Wild weather continues
Saturday’s storm follows Friday’s wild weather across northern NSW and South East Queensland.
Friday’s storms brought reports of 4cm hail, localised flash flooding and fallen trees across affected areas.
Power was disrupted to more than 10,000 properties across Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich, Redland, Moreton Bay, Gold Coast, Scenic Rim, Somerset and Toowoomba overnight, with crews restoring supply to most by Saturday morning.
Prior to the afternoon change, temperatures climbed two to six degrees above the November average and combine with dry air and gusty winds.
The Bureau of Meteorology warns these temperatures bring an elevated fire danger warning across inland Queensland and New South Wales.
Stormy weather is tipped to stretch across most of the country with the Tropical North, inland parts of Western Australia and much of Northern Territory.
“Severe storms may bring damaging winds, locally heavy falls and large hail to parts of Western Australia’s interior and Southern parts of the Northern Territory,” Ms Bradbury said.
On Saturday Sydneysiders can expect a cloudy day with the possibility of storms and showers throughout the afternoon and a maximum temperature of 27C.
Brisbane residents can expect a stormy and wet day, with a thunderstorm forecast for the evening and a top of 26C.
Canberra will have a cooler start before it can also expect showers and storms across the afternoon as it reaches a maximum of 27C.
Conditions in Melbourne are forecast to be overcast with a chance of a shower or two in the morning, before reaching a maximum of 21C.
Adelaide is also tipped to avoid the wild weather hitting the east coast, with a possible shower in the evening after reaching a maximum of 23C.
Hobart will be cooler and cloudy and windy, but no rain is expected as the mercury reaches a top of 19C.
Locals in Perth will avoid the wild weather altogether, with sunny skies and no chance of rain, reaching a top of 25C on Saturday.
Darwin is expected to be warmer but with showers and thunderstorms throughout the day. The mercury will reach a maximum of 32C.
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