Melbourne is on track for its record-breaking fourth straight day above 41C on Friday.
Temperatures are expected to hit 44C in Melbourne, the fourth day in a row above 41C in what the Bureau of Meteorology says will be a record.
"We're looking pretty good for 44 today," bureau spokeswoman Clare Mullen told AAP.
"All our records in the past only managed to get three days in a row over 41.
"We've had hotter temperatures but what's been different with this one is it's been day after day."
The potentially record-breaking stretch comes a day after Melbourne recorded its hottest day since Black Saturday, reaching 43.9C on Thursday.
The mercury is also tipped to rise to 44C in Horsham near the Grampians on Friday, with the chance of a late storm.
Some struggled with the extreme conditions, with Ambulance Victoria recording 13 cases of heat exhaustion and seven cardiac arrests from midnight until 6.30am (AEDT).
In the previous 24 hours, another 163 heat exhaustion cases, 37 cardiac arrests and nine cases of children locked in cars were reported.
But while the state swelters, the prospect of forced blackouts appears less likely after the repair of a major power generator.
Power use surged to 10,300 megawatts on Thursday afternoon, its highest level yet during this week's hot spell.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) is expecting demand to top 10,000 megawatts again but the state has more power reserves after one of four generators at Loy Yang A power station broke down on Wednesday.
The repair of the generator means forced blackouts, used to manage high demand, are less likely.
"It was partially back on supply yesterday but it's fully back on today," AEMO spokeswoman Mary Tait told AAP.
"That means load shedding is far less likely because we've got extra power over and above what we need."
But extreme heat and fire activities will be monitored closely, she said.
Ms Tait said at this stage nothing is threatening transmission assets but localised electricity interruptions are expected due to the hot weather.
"There are electricity outages here and there but there's not a really big state outage at the moment," she said.
A total fire ban has been declared for the entire state, with extreme fire conditions forecast for the Wimmera and southwest regions.
Fire conditions are rated severe in all other regions except East Gippsland, where they are rated very high.
No comments:
Post a Comment