Weather News

Elevated fire danger ahead of seemingly benign cold front

Jacobus Cronje, Wednesday February 22, 2017 - 11:19 AEDT

A weak cold front will clip the southern parts of South Australia today and reach Victoria in the afternoon. The actual cool change will only reach Melbourne by the evening.

While the cold front will lead to only patchy rainfall with the cool change over the southern parts of these states, warm and dry northwesterly circulation ahead of the system is leading to elevated fire danger over southeastern Australia, including the southern parts of New South Wales.

Recent mild weather has contributed to the elevated fire danger.

A ridge of high pressure over much of eastern Australia has helped to keep conditions inland fairly dry and warm in recent days. The same system is also helping to limit frontal activity to the southern parts of the country.

While the mild weather and settled conditions have offered respite from severe thunderstorms over eastern Australia during last weekend, surface and plant moisture across the region would have been depleted by a few days of sunny skies.

Warm and dry northwesterly winds, a common feature ahead of cold fronts over Australia, combined with drier conditions across the region, constitute a dangerous mixture of weather ingredients, albeit from relatively unimpressive synoptic systems.

Total fire bans and severe to extreme Fire Danger Ratings are in place for eastern South Australia, extending into western, central and northeastern Victoria. The Far West and Southern Riverina forecast districts in New South Wales have similar restrictions and warnings in place. Fire weather warnings have also been issued by the Bureau of Meteorology for all affected areas.

Fire danger conditions with weakening winds should lessen significantly for South Australia and Victoria in the wake of the front as a high pressure system quickly pushes in behind the system in coming days, starting in the west later today. However, elevated fire danger conditions could linger over southern and eastern parts of New South Wales in coming days.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2017

Enter a postcode or town name for local weather, or text to search the site. » advanced search

Weather News

» all stories

Satellites capture huge dust storm crossing Mediterranean Sea

14:32 AEST Images captured from satellites have revealed the colossal scale of a dust storm that turned the sky orange in parts of Greece earlier this week.