Perth heat wave eases over the weekend
AdvertisementPerth, Australia is in the grip of a heat-wave with temperatures set to soar to 40C by the end of the week.
Australia is no stranger to extreme weather. Melbourne was pummelled with hailstones the size of golf balls on Saturday. Long term, droughts, bushfires and floods have all plagued large swathes of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
Currently, with high pressure anchored in the south of the continent, the settled conditions allow fierce heat to build in the interior of the country.
Unlike in the northern hemisphere, high pressure systems in the southern hemisphere rotate anti-clockwise, so winds circulate this hot desert air around to west coast Perth, with the temperature set to peak on Friday at 40C.
When temperatures rocket, the Fremantle Doctor, a cool wind off the sea, brings some release from the intense heat during the afternoon.
Relief from the heat will come as the high pressure sitting to the south of Australia pulls away toward New Zealand.
Dramatic temperature swings not isolated to Perth. Melbourne and Adelaide can see striking drops in temperature of up to 20C when the wind direction changes from the interior to a sea breeze.
Heat waves in Australia can prove deadly, killing more people than any other natural hazard. Between 1802 and 1992 at least 4,287 people died in such conditions.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology predicts a greater number of hot days in future, so heat-waves look set to increase.
