Another heatwave is looming. It won’t be as hot, but the nights will be sweatier

Victorians are set to sweat through yet another possible heatwave next week.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting the low-intensity heatwave to last about three days, brought by northerly winds and affecting western and central parts of the state – with a cool change expected by the weekend.

A kite surfer struggles with the wind as the heat gives way to a cool change at St Kilda beach on Friday afternoon.Credit:Simon Schluter

“We might start seeing a heatwave from the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in the south-west, and then getting stronger and spreading further across the state,” she said.

In Melbourne, temperatures are not expected to trouble the peaks seen during this week’s scorcher, when it reached 40.5 degrees – the hottest temperature recorded in the city since January 2020.

The bureau is forecasting temperatures of 31 degrees on Wednesday, 33 degrees on Thursday, and 36 degrees in the city on Friday.

The mercury is expected to tip 40 degrees in Hamilton and Mildura.

However, meteorologist Briony Macpherson warned that overnight minimum temperatures could be hotter this time around.

The bureau expects the overnight minimum to be 23 degrees on Thursday and 25 degrees on Friday. Despite the high temperatures last week, the overnight minimum topped 23.1 degrees.

“Those higher overnight temperatures can affect people worse if their body doesn’t recover overnight [from the heat],” Macpherson said.

To be considered a heatwave, temperatures are averaged over a minimum three-day period, taking into account overnight minimums.

A southerly change, bringing cooler temperatures, is expected to move over Victoria by the weekend.

However, Macpherson said there was a chance that could stall over South Australia, keeping temperatures higher for a little longer.

The cool change is not expected to reach Gippsland and other towns in the state’s east until later on Saturday.

“We are unsure if there will be an extreme fire danger warning, which are largely driven by wind strength. It won’t be as dry or as hot as the last heatwave, but it might be windier,” Macpherson said.

Sydney is also in the midst of a heatwave, which began on Friday and is likely to end mid-week. While a southerly change is expected to arrive around midnight on Sunday, bringing temperatures down, meteorologist Neale Fraser said the heat would likely climb again on Monday into Tuesday.

“It will be about 35 for Penrith and probably 30 for city on Monday and Tuesday, and then another southerly change coming in Tuesday afternoon,” he said.

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