The busiest camping period of the year in possibly the busiest camping year in Australian history is in full swing … and the weather is dishing out very different experiences for different travellers in different parts of the country.
While some have had to deal with heavy rain and high winds, others have been sweltering through record high temperatures.
South-east Queensland has been pretty damp, and rain is still bucketing down in parts of Far North Queensland and will do so in other parts as the tropical low moves. Cairns Regional Council has already closed Greenpatch campground at Gordonvale. The campground, on the Mulgrave River floodplain, is prone to flash flooding and is expected to be closed for the remainder of the wet season.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) meteorologist Adam Blazak said there was opportunity for falls of in excess of 200-300mm around the Cassowary Coast, and further north as well.
Mr Blazak said the weather was the result of an active monsoon trough over the top end of Australia, within which was embedded the tropical low.
After hanging around Darwin at Christmas time, the low has been steadily pushing east.
The view from the caravan window hasn’t been great for many grey nomads.
In the west, of course, the picture has been dramatically different. Perth has seen four consecutive days over 40C … the first time the city has ever experienced such a run of high temperatures in December.
BOM said the hot weather was being caused by a broad trough extending offshore from the west coast, which was pulling hot, dry air from inland WA into the south-west of the state.
The mercury is expected to drop from tomorrow.
Looking ahead to the next part of the holidays, it seems that the western heatwave will be moving across to the south-east.
There will be a high bushfire risk in some parts of the country in the coming weeks.
Sarah Scully, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said the conditions in the west are expected to gradually ease over the next couple of days, with the focus of the extreme heat shifting across to the other side of the country.
“We’re forecasting severe heatwave conditions for South Australia through Victoria and also for parts of Tasmania leading into the weekend,” she said.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting Melbourne’s maximum will reach 38C on New Year’s Eve, a result that would make it the city’s second-hottest day of 2021.
And, with temperatures in Adelaide expected to reach up to 36C, the country fire service assistant chief officer, Brett Loughlin, said the organisation was preparing for extreme heat and dry conditions across the state.
He urged people to take measures to prepare themselves, including creating a bushfire action plan and staying informed.
“Have the radio, have social media, … our website, the ABC, a broad range of information sources,” he said.
He also urged people to work cooperatively with the CFS and observe the bans in place.
“We don’t want our brave volunteers to be seeing in the new year risking their lives somewhere just so someone could have their 30 seconds of whiz-bang.”
BOM says much of the eastern seaboard could expect to see temperatures around the 30C mark for the New Year. In Queensland and the Northern Territory, some rain was expected. In Sydney, a high of 29C is forecast.
In WA we simply call it Summer and get on with life !!
If it gets too cold we go home & enjoy the heater. If it gets too hot we go home & put the air conditioner on.