Australia Is Hit By Hot Waves, Air Temperature Reaches 41 Degrees Celsius

Melbourne, Australia/ILLUSTRATION UNSPLASH/Simona Sergi

JAKARTA - Australia's southeastern region was hit by heat waves on Monday, increasing the risk of forest fires and prompting authorities to take fire prevention efforts in parts of Victoria.

Extreme temperatures brought back memories of the "Black Heat Museum" disaster in 2019-2020 that caused fires to destroy an area as wide as Turkey, killing 33 people.

The country's weather forecast warned that temperatures in Victoria's capital Melbourne could reach 41 degrees Celsius, more than 14 Celsius above the city's maximum temperature average in January.

Authorities rated the danger of the fire as extreme, the second-highest hazard rating, in five areas of Victoria on Monday.

Dean Narramore, senior meteorologist in weather forecasting, told Australian Broadcasting Corp the hot and windy conditions could trigger a "big fire" ahead of the cold weather changes that would occur in Victoria on Sunday night.

Elsewhere, the states of New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory were on a heatwave warning on Monday, weather forecasters said on their website.

In New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, Narramore said "light to severe heat wave conditions" are expected to occur on Monday, and expect heat waves to rise on Tuesday.