News

Extreme fire danger spreading across SA, Vic and NSW

Source Weatherzone Thu 04 Dec 2025

Hot, dry and windy weather will sweep across southeastern Australia over the next three days, causing Extreme fire danger in parts of SA, Vic and NSW. Clear skies associated a large and slow-moving high pressure system have allowed hot air to build up over parts of northern, western and central Australia this week. This hot air will spread across southern and southeastern Australia between now and the weekend under the influence of a broad low pressure trough, which will also cause wind to strengthen over several states. While temperatures will rise over all of southeastern Australia in the next few days. the burst of heat, wind and elevated fire danger ratings will be most notable in SA, Vic and NSW. South Australia North to northwesterly winds will strengthen over SA on Thursday as the low pressure trough deepens over the state. These blustery winds will drive hot inland air towards the south, causing temperatures to reach about 34°C in Adelaide and 36°C around Keith. Further north, temperatures are likely to exceed 40°C in the state’s Pastoral districts on Thursday. Image: Forecast maximum temperatures on Thursday, December 4, 2025. Source: Weatherzone. The combination of heat, blustery winds and low relative humidity will cause Extreme fire danger ratings over central and eastern part of SA on Thursday. Total fire bans have been declared in eight of the state’s 15 districts: Eastern Eyre Peninsula Flinders Mid North Yorke Peninsula Mount Lofty Ranges Riverland Murraylands Upper South East Milder southerly winds will drop temperatures and fire danger ratings in the state’s south from Thursday afternoon into Friday, although intense heat will linger in the north of SA until Saturday. While Adelaide is only forecast to reach 22°C on Saturday, some northern pastoral areas could reach the high-40s on Saturday afternoon. Victoria All of Victoria will be affected by a surge of hot northwesterly winds on Thursday, with temperatures forecast to reach 34°C in Melbourne, 36°C in Mallacoota and 38°C in Mildura. Extreme fire danger ratings are likely to develop in parts of the Mallee, Wimmera and Northern Country districts amid this heat on Thursday, with total fire bans declared for all three districts. Image: Forecast fire danger ratings and total fire bans on Thursday, December 4, 2025. Source: Weatherzone. Milder southwesterly winds will spread through southern Vic from Thursday afternoon into Friday, although northern Vic will remain hot on Friday before cooling over the weekend. Extreme fire danger is expected to linger in parts of the Mallee and Northern Country districts on Friday. New South Wales Hot air will spread over NSW from Friday into the weekend, causing a spike in temperatures and fire danger ratings. Sydney’s daily maximum temperatures are forecast to reach 30°C on Thursday, 35°C on Friday and 36°C on Saturday. The city’s western suburbs will be several degrees warmer, likely reaching around 40-41°C on Friday and Saturday. Temperatures will also reach the low to mid-40s in western NSW on Friday and Saturday. Image: Forecast maximum temperatures on Saturday, December 6, 2025. Source: Weatherzone. Extreme fire danger ratings are likely to develop in parts of southern NSW on Friday and central, eastern and northern NSW on Saturday. Saturday’s Extreme fire danger is likely to affect parts of the Greater Sydney, Greater Hunter and Illawarra/Shoalhaven districts. Thunderstorms possible While much of southeastern Australia will experience hot and windy weather over the next few days, some places could also see thunderstorms. The atmosphere is too dry for widespread storms and heavy rain, so storms are likely to be scattered and fast-moving. The biggest threats from these storms will be damaging and possibly destructive winds, and dry lightning, which could ignite bush or grass fires. Heat and thunderstorm activity will also spread further north into northern NSW and Queensland on Sunday and Monday. Be sure to check the latest fire and thunderstorm warnings in your area over the next few days. - Weatherzone © Weatherzone 2025