Overview
- - A stalled high over the Tasman Sea funneled warm northerly winds into the region, pushing temperatures more than 10°C above average and breaking May records across multiple states.
- - Hobart reached 26.9°C, its hottest May day on record and a mark that topped a 144‑year benchmark, while at least 20 Victorian stations also set new May highs.
- - Forecasts point to a cooler change this weekend with a strong cold front bringing showers and gusty winds, followed by a much colder polar air mass midweek.
- - The midweek blast could drop temperatures to well below average, bring small hail and snow on the ranges, and produce patchy rain that may be heavy on the Alps and parts of northern Tasmania but light across the Murray Basin and the NSW coast.
- - Officials warn the heat comes after the driest April in eight years, with out‑of‑season fires reported and 56% of NSW now in a drought category, raising concern for farmers and fire crews even as cooler weather arrives.