A BLAST of hot inland air will bring furnace-like conditions to the North Queensland coast later this week, with temperatures set to soar well above the November average.
Temperatures will rise to the high 30s in Mackay and Townsville at the weekend as a dry weather system which has been stagnant out west migrates to the coast.
Mackay will start to heat up later this week, before also reaching 37C on Sunday, which will be its hottest November day on record. The temperature is forecast to remain at 37C throughout Monday and Tuesday. The previous hottest Mackay November day was in 2008 when the temperature reached 36.6C. The average for November is 29.5C
Townsville will have a little reprieve with the temperature steadily climbing before reaching a top of 37C on Tuesday, more than 6C above the long term November average of 30.8C. The hottest November day recorded in Townsville was 41C in 1971.
“It is a different weather system causing this blast of heat,” Bureau of Meteorology Townsville forecaster Andy Kemp said.
“What’s driving this is quite an active trough system that will effectively bring quite a bit of storm activity to North Queensland throughout Wednesday.
“Behind that is all the heat which will migrate northward.”
Mr Kemp said Mount Isa had reached 36C on Wednesday, with the likelihood of a decent storm keeping temperatures down to the low 30s on Thursday. The reprieve will be short-lived though with the temperature set to reach the 40s again on Sunday and into next week.