Temperatures are going to soar in Perth and other areas of southwestern Australia today, with thunderstorms also on the cards from this afternoon.
A low pressure trough will draw a very hot air mass towards Australia’s west coast on Tuesday. The presence of this west coast trough will help delay the sea breeze in Perth, which should allow the mercury to climb to around 41ºC in the city and possibly a couple of degrees higher at the airport.
This will be Perth’s second day above 40ºC so far this month after the city hit 40.7ºC last Saturday, well above its January average maximum temperature of 31ºC.
Image: Forecast air temperature and wind at 11am AWST on Tuesday, January 16, according to the ECMWF-HRES model.
Tuesday’s hot weather will help cause high fire danger across most of southwestern Australia, while extreme fire danger is forecast in the Burrup District in the state’s far southwest, which contains Busselton, Margaret River and Augusta.
The intense surface heating on Tuesday could also help give rise to thunderstorms across the southwest inland of WA from the afternoon.
The convective shower activity that could mature into thunderstorms will most likely occur to the east of Perth, from the Darling Scarp across the wheatbelt and possibly into parts of the Gascoyne and Goldfields districts. However, storms are possible in the city, most likely in the eastern suburbs.
Some of the storms that develop in the southwest of WA on Tuesday could become severe, so be sure to check the latest storm warnings throughout the afternoon and evening. Also monitor the Emergency WA website for the most up-to-date information on bushfires across the state.
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