Severe heatwave set to continue today
A SEVERE heatwave that hit Toowoomba and southern Queensland across the weekend is set to continue well into this week.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Sam Campbell said the mercury could reach a top of 35 degrees in Toowoomba today.
“A hot air mass developed over the interior and then moved over to southern Queensland,” Mr Campbell said.
“Temperatures will be well above average for this time of year.
“So Toowoomba is looking at between 34 and 35 degrees well into the mid week.”
Mr Campbell said there wouldn’t be that much relief at night either.
“The main thing people will feel is the hot conditions persisting overnight,” he said.
“Overnight temperatures will be staying up as high as 21 degrees, the average for this time of year is 15 degrees.
“The warm overnight temperatures and the hot daytime temperatures will likely have an impact on the community.”
Mr Campbell said that was why BoM was labelling this as a severe heatwave.
“There is also a very high fire danger for much of the coming week,” he said.
He said there was some relief from the heat coming.
“A cooler southerly change will move up the coast on Thursday,” he said.
“Temperatures will drop from 34 degrees on Wednesday to 23 degrees on Thursday.”
To reduce the risk of heat related illnesses this week, the Queensland Government recommends people to drink three litres of water a day and avoid going out in the hottest part of the day (11am–3pm).