Most of the east coast and parts of South Australia are at high risk of bushfire after one of the warmest, driest winters on record, a national conference has warned.
Populated areas of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia have been marked “red” in the 2017 Southern Australia Seasonal Bushfire Outlook.
Weather experts and commissioners from each state’s rural fire services gathered in Sydney on Tuesday, warning residents in all states to be prepared for what is set to be a bad bushfire season.
The outlook said most of Australia had above-average temperatures and below-average rainfall over winter and this had contributed to an elevated fire risk for the bulk of eastern and south Australian coasts.
Australia has had its ninth driest winter on record, said Bureau of Meteorology climatologist David Jones, which has left greater fuel loads across southern Australia.
The outlook said the warmer and drier than average weather over recent months, combined with the forecasts for spring, suggest that the southern fire season was likely to commence earlier than usual and be more active than normal.
“[The] dry conditions now mean that vegetation is already dry with very low greenness evident in satellite data,” the report said. “The dry state of vegetation means that warm, windy conditions are likely to see more elevated fire risk than is normal for the time of year.”
While the bureau expects more average rainfall levels in spring, it may not happen until well into the season.
The bureau has previously said Australia is set for a warm and dry spring with above-average temperatures expected for most parts of the country.
After a string of balmy winter weeks, the chance of higher spring daytime temperatures is greater in the north and south-east of the country, it said.
Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
