Here's what you need to know this morning:
Getting the jump on fires
Next summer's Tasmanian bush firefighting efforts have been bolstered with a new round of recruits.
Thirteen trainees were selected from 724 applicants and are now four weeks into their 15-week training course.
The latest recruits take the number of Tasmanian career firefighters to 323.
The trainees will graduate in October.
Ranking to die for
Tasmanians are dying at the highest rate of any state in Australia, according to new data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
The report found 4,780 people died in 2017, with 81 years the median age of death.
Tasmania has the second highest age-standardised rate of 631.8 deaths per 100,000 people, compared to the national average of 528.8. The Northern Territory topped the list, with a rate of 710.4 deaths per 100,000 people in 2017.
The leading cause of death for Tasmanians from 2013 to 2017 was coronary heart disease, followed by lung cancer, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
For the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population born in 2015 to 2017, life expectancy was estimated to be 8.6 years lower than that of the non-Indigenous population for males, 71.6 years compared with 80.2 years. For females it was 7.8 years lower, 75.6 compared with 83.4.
Whale death to be investigated
Officers from Tasmania's Department of Water and Environment will investigate the death of a humpback whale afters its corpse washed up on an east coast beach.
The whale washed up on Schouten Island, on the Freycinet Peninsula.
The site is only accessible by boat.
West Coast to Hobart Bus service reinstated
The State Government says it will reintroduce an interim bus service connecting Tasmania's isolated west coast to Hobart, after criticism from the local community.
The bus service starts today, and will run on Tuesdays and Fridays until "early next year", starting from Strahan.
The Mayor of West Coast Council, Phil Vickers, is cautiously welcoming the service.
"You know I suppose at the end of the day the Government in their wisdom have decided to reinstate a service to Hobart. I just hope people use it and it's successful," he said.
Weather
The forecast for Tasmania is for showers/storms, cold in the south. Highland snow later. Windy with showers, cold in the northwest. Showers increasing, cold in the northeast.
For Thursday, wind and rain increasing, cold in the southwest. Late showers, cold in the southeast. Late showers, cold in the north.
A full and updated list of warnings can be found on the Bureau of Meteorology's Tasmanian Warnings summary webpage.
As of 6:00am the Pinnacle Road to the summit of Hobart's kunanyi/Mount Wellington was closed at The Springs.
Check the council website for the updated status of Pinnacle Road.
| Forecast * all temperatures in Celsius | Maximum | Minimum |
| Burnie | 12 | 5 |
| Cape Bruny | 12 | 8 |
| Devonport | 13 | 8 |
| Hobart | 14 | 8 |
| King Island | 13 | 8 |
| Flinders Island | 13 | 7 |
| Launceston | 14 | 6 |
| Liawenee | 4 | 1 |
| Port Arthur | 13 | 8 |
| Smithton | 12 | 9 |
| Strahan | 12 | 7 |
| Queenstown | 10 | 6 |
Source: Bureau of Meteorology
