Extreme weather to hit Australia this summer
The swift thunderstorm that hammered Sydney yesterday is "just the start" of more extreme weather to come across Australia this summer, authorities have warned.
The storm in Sydney saw the SES hit with more than 500 calls for help, including about 200 fallen trees.
Queensland is next in the firing line with the storms, with giant hailstones and destructive winds expected from the Gold Coast up to Rockhampton today.
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The sudden storm that lashed Sydney yesterday was a sign of more summer to come, authorities have warned. Nine
"This is just the start of thunderstorm season," Nine weather presenter Garry Youngberry has explained on Today.
"Temperatures for the rest of the week will be well above average. We have a very unstable atmosphere. The humidity has arrived for summer.
"Put all these ingredients together it not only spells thunderstorms but severe thunderstorms, and it will be a very active thunderstorm season I'm forecasting across south-east Queensland."
Meanwhile, an extreme heatwave is occurring across northern WA, the NT, bringing record high temperatures.
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The temperature reached 48.5C in Mandora on Sunday. Image: Weatherzone. Weatherzone
Mandora in WA soared to 48.5C on Sunday, marking the area's highest temperature on record, according to Weatherzone.
The last time it came close to this record was on December 22, 1981 when it reeached 48.4C.
The temperature fell just 1.5C off the highest December temperature ever recorded in WA, which was when Eucla reached 49.8C on December 19, 2019.
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