South-east Queensland surpasses 41 degrees, severe storms no longer forecast
The searing heat in south-east Queensland peaked just shy of 42 degrees on Saturday and dry air was forecast to push through the region on Sunday, creating uncomfortable conditions again.
Brisbane exceeded its expected top of 35 on Saturday by 0.6 degrees, but was bracing for a top of 38 on Sunday along with several other parts of the south-east.
Brisbane exceeded its predicted maximum of 35 degrees on Saturday and Gatton reached almost four degrees above the expected top temperature.
Photo: Glenn HuntOn the bright side, potentially severe storms had been forecast to hit the region on the weekend but the expected arrival of the dry air saw the chance of those storms decrease significantly.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Michael Knepp said Gatton was the warmest part of the south-east on Saturday having reached 41.9 degrees just after 3pm. This was almost four degrees above the maximum predicted on Friday.
Meanwhile, Amberley hit 39.7 degrees and Beaudesert reached 39.2.
Looking ahead, the previously forecast storms were "a very outside chance" of happening on Sunday, according to Mr Knepp.
A dry air mass was expected to push through towards the coast on Sunday and Mr Knepp said "storms and dry air don't come together".
However, the dry air meant the south-east was in for another sweltering day.
A south-easterly wind change was expected on Sunday afternoon, but Mr Knepp said the dry air also meant there would not be a refreshing sea breeze along the coast as usual.
The highest temperature across the south-east on Sunday was forecast to be 38 degrees, with Brisbane, Beaudesert, Gatton, Ipswich and Caboolture all expected to reach the maximum.
Overnight minimum temperatures were predicted to be mostly between 24 and 26 degrees.
Looking to next week, top temperatures were forecast to drop down to 29 degrees in Brisbane on Monday and remain in the low 30s for the rest of the week.
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