Weather wrap: Kyabram braces for extreme heat

A heatwave warning was issued for parts of Victoria from Sunday, January 4 to Wednesday, January 7, with temperatures expected to build later in the week.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, extreme weather is predicted on Thursday, January 8 and Friday, January 9 with the mercury expected to hit 44°C both days at the Kyabram weather station before Saturday’s forecast shower will drop the temperature to 35°C.

This accompanies the CFA's extreme fire danger warning and total fire ban, which was issued on Monday, January 5.

However, looking back, the summer heat was a slow burner.

Kyabram residents started their summer by pulling the jumpers out of the wardrobe, with Monday, December 1 bringing a cool top of 19°C.

By the end of that same week, it started to feel a bit more like a typical Aussie summer, leaving Kyabram residents flocking to the pools to withstand a top of 40.1°C on Friday, December 5.

The temperature stayed under 40°C for most of December until Kyabram’s Christmas carols needed to be rescheduled after the temperature hit its peak of 42.3°C on Thursday, December 18.

Christmas itself was a tad cold for Kyabram residents, where they celebrated in a cool but comfortable top of 22.5°C. However, New Year's Eve was warmer, with a top of 25.7°C.

Heading into a predicted heat wave, BOM advised everyone, especially older people, babies, children, people with medical conditions and pregnant women, to be careful during the severe heatwave.

It advised people to seek a place to keep cool and to close blinds, curtains and awnings early in the day to keep heat out of homes.

For further safety information before, during and after heatwaves, visit betterhealth.vic.gov.au/campaigns/survive-heat