Victoria gets a taste of summer as Melburnians enjoy hottest day in seven months
Melburnians will swelter through the hottest day in seven months on Tuesday as a tropical air mass moving across eastern Australia brings a taste of summer to parts of Victoria.
Sunny skies and mild east to northeasterly winds will help people make the most of the public holiday, the first since Melburnians emerged from lockdown on October 22.
Punters enjoyed perfect weather at the 2019 Melbourne Cup.Credit:Chris Hopkins
However, the warm spell will be short-lived, with heavy rain and thunderstorms expected to hit Victoria on Wednesday, bringing 10-25 millimetres of rain to parts of the state.
Thousands of spectators at Flemington Racecourse will enjoy the warmest Melbourne Cup in 16 years with temperatures tipped to reach a maximum of 30 degrees by the early afternoon.
Temperatures will steadily warm up throughout the morning, hitting the peak at lunchtime and cooling off to a pleasant 25 degrees by 8pm.
Spectators haven’t enjoyed a 30-degree Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse since 2005.
Temperatures soared to 30.4 degrees on Cup Day last year, but COVID-19 restrictions meant no spectators were allowed in the grandstands.
Those who haven’t been lucky enough to score a ticket will be able to gather in groups of up to 30 people outdoors to celebrate, however, the Bureau of Meteorology predicts a ‘very high’ UV index that will require sun protection between 9.20am and 4.40pm.
Fire ratings in Melbourne remain low to moderate.
On the Gippsland coast, temperatures will hover just below 30 degrees on Tuesday, with afternoon sea breezes bringing welcome relief to beachgoers and holidaymakers.
Temperatures will rise to 27 degrees by 2 pm in Latrobe Valley before cooling down to 19 degrees at 8pm. In Bairnsdale, morning fog will blanket large parts of the area followed by light east to southeasterly winds in the afternoon.
On Wednesday, storms brought by a low pressure system travelling across the country from Western Australia will move across western NSW, eastern SA, Victoria and Tasmania, bringing falls of 10-25 millimetres in usually dry stretches of south-eastern Australia.
Bureau meteorologist Jackson Browne said thunderstorms could drop up to 50 millimetres of rain in parts of the country before the front continues to travel east into NSW on Thursday.
Temperatures in Melbourne will take a dip on Thursday before warming up to 27 degrees on Saturday and dropping back down to 19 degrees on Monday.
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