Temperatures are set to soar across Western Australia this week as the state plunges into another heatwave.
Key points:
- A severe heatwave is forecast for much of the state's coast
- An extreme-level warning is also in place for the Gascoyne
- But the BOM says it's been an average start to summer for most of WA
A severe heatwave has been forecast for much of the state's coast, including Perth, with an extreme-level warning in place for the Gascoyne region.
Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecaster Jessica Lingard said the heat was set to linger for much of the week.
"These are totally normal features of WA summers … but sometimes they get stuck on the west coast," she said.
"You've got this trough forming today and tomorrow, and that's going to hang around the west coast all the way through until Friday."
Esperance heading for 41C
In Perth, the heat is expected to peak on Thursday with a forecast 39C from a low of 24C.
"We just see this constant warming effect as we make our way through the week," Ms Lingard said.
"The heat along the Esperance coastline [will peak] on Friday, where we see temperatures around 14 to 16C above average," she said.
Esperance is forecast to hit 41C on Friday.
"It's not until the weekend when this trough finally makes it way inland that we start to see a really nice cold change … for those further inland, that cool change won't reach you until Sunday," Ms Lingard said.
However, the state's north will see extreme temperatures heading into the weekend, including a forecast 47C in Paraburdoo on Sunday.
Total fire bans are in place today for vast swathes of the state's South West region.
Summer 'fairly average'
Despite experiencing several severe heatwaves in November, Ms Lingard said the 2023-24 summer overall was tracking "fairly average".
"We are slightly above average by maybe a degree or so, but so far December and January have been very kind to us," she said.
"But we are heading into the hottest month of the year."
Just recently the remote northern WA town of Marble Bar — which is often billed as "Australia's hottest town" — sweltered its way through almost a month of temperatures above 43C.
The 26-day streak broke the town's record for temperatures above 43C at the current measurement site, but it still fell short of the record set in 2005 of 27 straight days, when temperatures were measured at a different site.
Several extreme weather systems have wiped out homes, businesses and even an entire city's power grid over the past few months in WA.
Bushfires and 'freak storms'
While temperatures for much of the state have not strayed too far from the norm, bushfires, storms and even normal wet season flooding in the north have caused havoc and kept WA's emergency services on their toes.
A bushfire in the Wanneroo area in November destroyed 18 homes while another three homes were lost in December's Parkerville fires.
The City of Kalgoorlie and several small regional towns were plunged into a blackout during a severe heatwave after a "freak storm" crumpled transmission towers "like tin foil" earlier this month.
Up north, the Kimberley region's annual wet season saw floodwaters cut off two highways and a stack of towns in the process.
While wet season flooding is not unusual, the Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley deputy president Tony Chafer said the simultaneous closure of both the Great Northern and Victoria highways was definitely unusual.