Alerts remain in place as a severe heatwave continues across Queensland today, breaking records and coinciding with destructive winds that fuelled bushfires.
Source: QFD
In western Queensland, the mercury passed 40 degrees at Charleville and St George, while further north temperatures ranged from 41 C to 43 C, hitting 42 C at Mount Isa.
The heat continued moving east after monthly records fell at Birdsville (46.1 C) in the state’s south-west, and Bourke (44.8 C) in far north NSW on Tuesday.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines said the record-breaking temperatures were unusual.
“Both of these temperatures were state records for the warmest ever temperature recorded in October anywhere in the state,” Hines said.
“These are typically temperatures that we would only see in a summer heatwave, but it’s still spring.”
The hot and windy conditions also could put animals in harm’s way, International Fund for Animal Welfare officer Robert Leach warned.
“Animals like koalas are only just recovering after the devastation of Black Summer, we cannot afford another catastrophe.”
Across the border, a severe heatwave also hit NSW, breaking records and coinciding with destructive winds that fuelled bushfires.
Parts of western Sydney baked in temperatures nearing 40 C on Wednesday.
The mercury maxed out at 39.8 C in Bankstown and 39.5 C at Penrith after 1pm, both record highs for October.
Closer to the harbour temperatures topped out at 37 C about 2.30pm in Sydney’s city centre, slightly below the October record.
Strong winds helped it feel slightly cooler in some parts as the mercury rose.
Temperatures in NSW were 10-12 C higher than average as total fire bans were declared for much of the state on Wednesday.
Taree on the state’s mid-north coast hit 41 C while Walgett in the north-west also passed 40 C.
Dozens of fires were burning across NSW and Queensland on Wednesday afternoon, although many were under control.
Further south, wild and dangerous winds wreaked mayhem in Victoria, where two people were swept off a pier and died.
The men plunged into a fierce swell at Melbourne’s Frankston Beach, with police responding to reports of two people in trouble in the water.
After a search of Port Phillip Bay, the police helicopter found the pair unresponsive in the water just after 5pm. Both men were winched back to shore but could not be revived.
The two victims are yet to be formally identified.
Victoria Police will prepare reports for the coroner.
Frankston Mayor Kris Bolam said the devastating event was a reminder of the “power of nature and the real risk posed by severe weather”.
Victorians faced destructive gusts pushing up to 125km/h along the coast on Wednesday.
At Malvern, in Melbourne’s south-east, a large tree fell on a tram near a hospital, closing a major road in both directions for two blocks.
More than 12,000 Victorian households and businesses remained off power at 7.30pm on Wednesday because of unplanned outages.
Racegoers at the Geelong Cup were urged to steer clear of the marquees, while strong winds caused the races to be abandoned.
Maximum temperatures were forecast to reach 35 C in Brisbane on Thursday, with a top of 32 C forecast on Friday.