The Australia Day long weekend is set to be among the hottest on record in South Australia and catastrophic fire conditions are forecast for the Yorke Peninsula on Saturday.
The Country Fire Service (CFS) is asking tourists to reconsider their need to travel to the Yorke Peninsula on what is usually one of the busiest weekends of the year for the region.
The area is known for its beaches but visits have been down in recent months because of the algal bloom.
The CFS and the Bureau of Meteorology are forecasting extreme fire danger on Saturday for southern parts of South Australia and catastrophic fire danger for the Yorke Peninsula.
Long weekends tend to be busy on the Yorke Peninsula. (ABC News: Eugene Boisvert)
CFS state duty commander Ray Jackson urged people to reconsider travel to the Yorke Peninsula for the long weekend.
“These fire conditions are significant and, if something starts, our ability [to] control a fire and protect people is a challenge, so I would suggest that they really need to think about do they really need to be there?” he said.
Pre-emptive fire bans
Total fire bans are in place for the Yorke Peninsula, the eastern Eyre Peninsula and the Mount Lofty Ranges today.
Mr Jackson said this was a pre-emptive measure ahead of Saturday’s hotter weather.
A top of 44 degrees Celsius is forecast for Maitland, on the Yorke Peninsula, on Saturday, while Adelaide is predicted to reach 42C.
“We’ve taken in the measure of actually bringing in a ban for Friday, but Saturday is going to be hotter and windier,” Mr Jackson said.
“It’s going to be quite a significant day for South Australia.”
BOM senior forecaster Christie Johnson said a variety of factors were considered when assigning fire danger ratings.
“Because we’ve had such hot conditions recently we have very dry fuels, so that, combined with the heat and the winds, is giving us catastrophic fire dangers for the Yorke Peninsula and extreme fire danger for most other southern districts in South Australia,” she said.
It was also extremely hot in Adelaide on January 7 and 8. (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall)
Hottest Australia Day?
The BOM has forecast a 43C day for Adelaide on Monday — Australia Day.
If the forecast turns out to be correct, it would the hottest Australia Day on record for the city.
The previous, equal records were set in 1948 and 2006 at 41.1C.
Ms Johnson said there was usually at least one 40C-plus day in Adelaide each January, but a hot Australia Day was unusual.
“It’s not unheard of to get these temperatures into the low 40s in January — in fact it’s fairly usual that we’ll get some in January — just it would appear not very often on the 26th,” she said.
Renmark could be among the hottest places in the state on the Australia Day weekend. (ABC News)
Temperatures in coastal parts of the state are expected to reduce on Tuesday for the start of the school term, but in the Riverland, Renmark could break its record of 47.4C.
A top of 48C is predicted for the town on Tuesday.