Styx

Aside from the continuing environmental impacts there were no human losses from bushfire in Tasmania today. The worst aspect is the burning of rain forest and alpine vegetation which hasn't evolved to easily regenerate after fire. We got a state maximum of 40.1 today and a city maximum of 37.9. These are the sorts of extremes we get every few years. Victoria may have a new record for January with a maximum of 47.5 in the north-west of that state and another manual reading site yet to report, that very likely went higher. Melbourne didn't quite manage to reach 44c. I think this particular event is over but maybe a return to extreme temperatures near mid February.

'Dry lightning, windy and temperatures in the high 30's' an ominous but intriguing weather day ahead for Hobart and much of Tasmania. Not sure to what extent the media and fire authorities are ramping up the bushfire threat ( for commercial ratings and public vigilance ) - because we have had these warnings before - but under the worse case scenario, things don't look good today. Potential property losses will be to towns and villages to the south of Hobart from existing fire fronts, if it unfortunately comes down to that. Max temperatures shouldn't go near the Tasmania and Hobart record of 42 but what a spectacular warm month this will turn out to be. Victoria on the other hand might do something no other state or territory has managed to do this summer and that is to pull off a new monthly extreme. Forecast highs are 47 for a number of towns in the north-west pretty much equaling the January Victoria record of 47.2 in 1939. Melbourne has a forecast maximum of 44c. Top 5 January rank for them in records dating back to 1856.

Wow a major heat day for South Australia, probably exceeding expectations! Reports say one-third of stations in the state potentially have a new record high. I snapped the latest temperatures from Meteye a few moments ago. As of 3:30pm local time temperatures are still rising but a cool wind change is making its way in from the west. Adelaide has a new record of 46.6 and the state high is 49.1 so far. Temperatures are higher than forecast in Victoria and western New South Wales too so going to be interesting to see if tomorrow's maximums are revised upward.

I think that may be the hottest temperature every recorded along the entire stretch of Australia's southern coastline. Not completely sure about that but seems plausible. Only coastal stretch in Australia that normally bakes like that is central Western Australia, but infrequently. BoM still forecasting 45c for Adelaide on Thursday and a South Australia state high of 49, then cooling down. Friday is dangerous for Tasmania and Victoria in regards to bushfire.

It really is cool for them but some distance from summertime records. Perth will end up with a pair of days near 22c ( 9 below average ). They have a brisk southerly flow from a deepening low which formed over waters near the south-west coast, an extension of the inland trough which extended all the way south. I see there's been some daily rainfall records south of Perth too. It is this activity and pressure in the west which is drawing down the core of the extreme heat on the eastern side, toward the coast.

Adelaide has a forecast maximum of 45 on Thursday ( 16 above average ). Has only reached 45c five times since records began in 1887. All of those top temps were in the month of January : 2014, 2013, 2009 and twice in 1939 two days apart. The record for Adelaide is 46.1c in 1939. This is shaping up to be Australia's hottest January for average temperature and conditions are priming for very serious bushfire threat in the weeks ahead. Thursday:

Sunrise is less than an hour away and there are quite a few towns that haven't dropped below 36.0 degrees overnight ( nor since the 9am reset yesterday ). The Australia record highest minimum is 35.5c at Wittenoom, WA in 2003.

It got to 41.6 in Canberra today, an equal record for January. All time record is in fact 42.2 in February 1968. Another go at the record tomorrow, forecast high of 41..

It's really hot this morning. Wednesday's forecast extreme maximums will be 49 in the state of South Australia, 47 in New South Wales and 45 in Victoria. These numbers are still about 2 degrees off the records for those states though, but individual locations and regions continue to break January daily records in what is turning out to be an unusually hot summer. Marble Bar in NW Australia so far has a January average maximum of 45.1 ( +5.2 above average ), Alice Springs 900 miles away in the centre is 41.5 ( +5.2 ) and Canberra is 32.6 ( +4.5 ). So big anomalies stretching across the country up to the middle part of January. Canberra's forecast maximum of 41 for Wednesday is not too far off the record of 42.0 ( in 2013 ).

Its been phenomenally hot across most of Australia for two-three weeks. Yep Alice Springs did indeed record its highest temperature - 45.6 - but this happened on December 29th, only to be equaled again yesterday, January 3rd. The previous record was 45.2c in January 1960. Alice's December record, previously 44.2, was actually exceeded three days in a row late last month! Alice Springs AP has records since 1941. The high daily anomalies across vast areas made it Australia's hottest December on record for average temperature. Even though quite a number of individual locations in most states and the Northern Territory have broken daily records for December and now January, there have been no major ones to fall. Major as in highest temperature ever recorded in a state or territory for a month ( but it has got very close, like Western Australia's 49.3 at Marble Bar late last month). No capital city has really got close to their respective monthly records ( yet ).

Well..this is really beautiful sight...mesmerising. When will our planet rise to deliver the big one? Been a while now since there was a globally significant event

Some of the videos of the flash flood on twitter and facebook are really amazing, a great demonstration of nature vs the city. I am not able to link anything on here from those sources for some reason, but that's the place to go for anyone who likes to see the forces of nature at work! This will do : ^ That is not a river/rivulet channel, it is one of the city's main streets

Everyone is managing very well and getting on with things. There were no casualties. We haven't had an extreme high rainfall record since 1996 here - ( for an entire month or wettest day ). The trend is in fact for drier weather all year round. The city has an annual average of 600mm and the big falls almost always come from east coast lows, but they have not delivered enormous rain totals here in modern times. This is surprising because of the dramatically warming sea off the coast, in large part due to the extension of the sub-tropical East Australian Current. It is really elevating temperatures for us that is for sure. Apparently, this area of sea is one the greatest warming areas in the world. Whether it is directly related to global warming or not is open to conjecture and further study around all these teleconnections. Despite the absence of extreme rainfall records when you might expect them to be happening more regularly I have had a look at the Hobart climatology statistics and it shows that there is a very heavy bias toward high rainfall totals and rates in the last 60 years compared to the first 60 years. I am in awe at the big record with this flash flood just enormous. On the mountain range behind the city 236mm fell over the space of a few hours which ended up funnelling into the city rivulets in one big push, eventually, they couldn't handle the quantities of water. The meteorological term for what happened was training thunderstorms. Tasmania's entire east coast was wet in a good way with prevailing easterly winds wrapping around the exploding low off the coast, with multiple depression centres. The extreme rainfall was quite localised but obviously unprecedented.

I would like to post a video I have seen from a Facebook page. I add the Embed code/address (below ) by copying it, but only the address shows up like this when i try to post it. Whats the problem, how can I fix it? <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fabcnews.au%2Fvideos%2F10158560527744988%2F&show_text=0&width=476" width="476" height="476" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>

Thank you Gray-Wolf

Huge Hobart flood overnight with cars washed down the main streets, as the rivulet which runs through the city collecting water from streams which run down the mountain overflows. In a truly epic record event, 129mm fell over the space of a few hours in a ferocious non-stop line of storms. The total wiped away the May daily record which stood at 47mm, from 1973! Rain record broken almost three-fold, in 120+ years of records. This morning the city has in effect been shut down as people survey flood damage to their businesses and clean up the mess and debri. A multi-million dollar damage bill and probably the worst city flood since April 1960. I am having some problems attaching some photos/video to my post, but I will try again later on.

Ah very interesting discussion points, 'Likes' all round for interesting points of views and knowledge from different sources. Hey Gray-Wolf I'm going to ask you because you like hypothesising, what is your forecast for Tasmania based on your readings and hunches. We are noticing the poleward contraction of the Southern Ocean westerly wind belt which seems to be delivering a very dramatic change to the climate. Whats your views on future consequences of Antarctic and ocean melting, and effects on the climate down here in the long-run.

Oh no, don't bow down to my experience that's only useful when talking about statistics, trends and historical events. Am in no way a weather expert when it comes to complex, unfolding events like this! Well done on your very early predictions! The BoM at this stage might be leaning conservative when it comes to temperatures and snow levels. We shall see what unfolds. Yes hold on in NZ as this thing explodes over the Tasman on the weekend.

Possibly significant snow for the Australian Alps at the end of the week, a rare early start to the ski season? Possibly significant rain in tasmania's east which has been very dry this year. All dependant where the deepening low tracks. Very windy. Quite cold for a time, but nothing special.

April - Hobart, Tasmania A warmer and drier month than average. The mean temperature anomaly was +0.8c above 1981-2010 or +0.7c above 1961-1990. Rainfall this year is one-quarter down from the long-term average so far. Our annual trend over the last 20 years or so is: much warmer and drier. Average maximum: 18.8 ( +1.0 ) Average minimum: 10.0 ( +0.6 ) Rainfall: 30mm ( average 50mm ) Rain days (+1mm): 7/from 13 Significant heat spread across most of Australia during the first half of the month, but Tasmania was much milder and cloudier during this time in a westerly weather pattern, with fronts and low pressure occasionally bringing rain periods and a few showers. 8mm on the 6th was the months wettest day, it took about four hours to accumulate. A significant cold front crossed on the 14th bringing a cold night with showers ( 5mm ) and snow settling to 600m into the morning. Sunday the 15th was cold, windy and dry with a significant wind chill and with a snowcapped mountain it was pleasantly wintry, but it wasn't to last. Another intense low and front was approaching from the southwest, veering winds warmer and galeforce overnight from the opposite direction. The temperature rose from a Sunday maximum of 13c to a pre-dawn temperature of 17c on Monday, with gales bringing down trees and ripping away some loose structures. Monday the 16th turned progressively colder behind the front with winds easing a lot, with a 9am maximum of 13.5c ( the month's coldest day ). A shower or two following behind with snow settling down near 800m. The 18th-30th was predominantly dry with broad high pressure across southern Australia. Inland frosts at first, quite severe. Only a shower or two on the 26th and 28th, associated with weak cold fronts. Extremes in daily temperature for April ( records since 1882 Highest maximum: 24.6.....4th ( record 31.0 in 2014 ) Lowest maximum: 13.5.....16th ( record 7.7 in 1967 ) Highest minimum: 14.1.....3rd ( record 18.6 in 1959 ) Lowest minimum: 5.1.....18th ( record 0.7 in 1888 )

Just in. Second warmest April on record for Australia ( mean anomaly +2.38c ) ... with a record April maximum anomaly ( +3.17c ).

On a practical level cool weather is more comfortable to operate in for me ( as long as it's not raining ). Like most people on here, the weather involves thinking about the statistics, we just can't help it, right? I have a preference for cool weather because it goes against the bias of warm events in this global warming environment and makes things statistically more interesting. Out of season coolness is great, I treat it like a faux victory over the trend which is happening in the other direction.

...also today Adelaide ( records since 1887 ) recorded 36.3c today and on Monday - it's fourth and fifth hottest April days. Up to the 11th, Adelaide is +6.8c above average, which is 22c for April. 1..... 36.9.....2005...9th 2......36.9.....2005...2nd 3.....36.8......2014 4.....36.3......2018...11th 5.....36.3......2018...9th Canberra ( records since 1939 ) recorded 31.8c today it's third hottest April day. Up to the 11th, Canberra is +8.9c above average, which is 20c for April. 1.....32.6.....1968...12th 2.....32.6.....1986...4th 3.....31.8.....2018...11th 4.....31.5......1986...3rd 5.....31.1.....2016...6th

Here is my final daily report on Australia's mid-autumn heatwave - highly likely I think to be classed as the most significant April heatwave for Australia in terms of breadth, peak intensity and duration. The heat will be levelling off from tomorrow before a return to "average" ( a bit of a slippery term to use nowadays ) by the weekend. I will be very surprised if the April average maximum temperature for the country doesn't turn out to be an easy record with the way the anomalies are at the moment. Only a good run of cooler nights everywhere will keep the mean temperature record intact too. New South Wales became the third state since Monday to record its highest maximum temperature for April. The NSW record stood for almost 100 years. The old 40.0c record was broken at Menindee ( records since 1914 ) and Pooncarie. At least 4 other locations were 39.0c+. Victoria today equalled yesterday's record April maximum with 39.3c. At least 7 other towns in northern Victoria were 38.0c+ so the entire Top 10 temperatures recorded in Victoria in April is from this event alone.

Big April heat records in north-west Victoria today. The town of Mildura ( records since 1890 ) broke the 1986 Victoria state record ( and its own ) by 1.5c. Two other towns exceeded the old state record and one other tied. New South Wales had a maximum of 39.0c which is the fourth highest temperature ever recorded in that state for April. Western NSW may break the April state record of 40.0c tomorrow. Locations in south-east South Australia also had records today, some by margins of near 2c.