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Updated ,first published
Brisbanites are sweltering through a near-40 degree Australia Day, with the possibility of another storm in the evening.
At its peak, the temperature would be up to 8 degrees above average – at 36 to 37 degrees – in Brisbane, the Bureau of Meteorology’s Shane Kennedy said.
Residents in Ipswich were facing up to 39 degrees, while further west the temperature was expected to exceed 40 degrees.
“It could be a pretty warm night still, but tomorrow we’ll have a southeasterly wind change,” Kennedy said.
“[We’re] expecting that it’ll drop the afternoon temperatures back down to the low 30s, so close to average, and it should stay around those low 30s for the rest of the week.”
Heatwave conditions were expected further inland for the rest of the week, with temperatures of 11 to 12 degrees above average expected through the week.
At 7.30pm, BOM confirmed “a severe thunderstorm likely to produce damaging winds and large hailstones was detected near Hampton” in the Toowoomba region. It was forecast to affect Crows Nest and the area north of Toowoomba.
On Monday afternoon, a thunderstorm had been considered possible for Brisbane, with of similar damaging winds to Sunday night’s storm.
However, the capital has avoided such an event and the hot conditions have continued, although rain could still be possible.
“It’d be more likely in the western suburbs and further west, so well inland, but still is around that 10 per cent chance of storms making it to the CBD today.
“A positive effect of the thunderstorms is that it really cools conditions overnight. That’ll be a big blessing if we get some storms later [on Monday].
“It’s good for the temperatures, but potential to do a little bit of wind damage.”
About 220,000 lightning strikes were recorded across the state’s south-east during storms on Sunday evening.
Strikes on the power network contributed to about 13,600 homes and businesses losing power, with 450 customers affected at 8am on Monday. By 11am, this had reduced to just 66 customers, in Ashgrove and Hendra.
No heat-related outages have been reported.
Other locals took to the water to beat the heat.
After seeing the forecast for the day, Marcelle and Chris were drawn to South Bank’s Streets Beach to cool down.
“We thought it was going to be very packed today,” Marcelle said.
“We’re sweating our hangover off,” the couple laughed.
James, who was visiting from the UK, was also drawn to South Bank, especially the shady spots.
“I knew Brisbane was going to be hot,” he said.
Staff at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary were working hard to ensure animals were kept cool in the heat.
“During hot days, dingoes and Tasmanian devils can walk through or lie down in their ponds to cool off,” said Rebecca Bain, the head of mammals at Lone Pine.
“Keepers might also wet down dirt or sand areas to offer them a cooler place to rest on. ‘Bloodcicles’ [blood ice blocks] can also be a yummy way to help them cool down.
“Flying foxes can use their wings as fans to help cool themselves down in hot weather. We also offer them showers on hot days – the water can cool the flying foxes down as well as the surrounding environment. They can then lick the water off themselves and nearby branches if in need of a drink.”
Lone Pine is open on Australia Day, though visitors are unlikely to see the wombats.
“They tend to retreat underground in burrows during warm days – it is up to several degrees cooler down there,” Bain said.
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