{"id":905620,"date":"2026-09-26T01:18:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T01:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/905620\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T01:18:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T01:18:13","slug":"afl-grand-final-forecast-ponchos-out-at-the-mcg-sydney-heats-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/905620\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL Grand Final forecast: Ponchos out at the MCG, Sydney heats up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australians<\/a> are waking up to a weekend of wildly different weather, with footy fans bracing for a cold and soggy AFL<\/a> Grand Final while temperatures climb elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Melbourne<\/a> is forecast to reach just 15 degrees on Saturday, with rain expected during the morning and afternoon, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Melbourne is forecast to reach just 15 degrees on Saturday, with rain expected during the morning and afternoon.\u00a0Justin McManus<\/p>\n

Parts of Sydney<\/a> are heading into the high twenties and low 30s, before temperatures plunge on Sunday.<\/p>\n

A cold and soggy Grand Final<\/p>\n

Anyone heading to the MCG will want a jacket and something waterproof, as cold air from the Southern Ocean brings a wet, chilly Saturday to southern Victoria<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a big turnaround from what forecasters initially expected earlier in the week.<\/p>\n

The Bureau said the colder air is now reaching further north than first forecast, putting Melbourne on the chilly side of a major temperature divide across the state.<\/p>\n

While Melbourne struggles to top 15, parts of northern Victoria could still climb into the high 20s.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Melbourne rain radar at 6.30am, September 26.\u00a0The Bureau of Meteorology<\/p>\n

Sydney\u2019s heat won\u2019t last<\/p>\n

Sydney will have almost the opposite Saturday, with parts of the city heading for the high twenties.<\/p>\n

Sydney Olympic Park is forecast to reach 34 degrees, with a sunny morning before a slight chance of a late shower and possible thunderstorm in the city\u2019s outer west, according to the Bureau.<\/p>\n

But anyone making Sunday plans should expect a very different day.<\/p>\n

A cooler change is due on Saturday evening, with temperatures forecast to reach just 18 degrees on Sunday alongside showers and a possible thunderstorm.<\/p>\n

Canberra<\/a> is also in for a warm Saturday, with temperatures maxing out at 27 before falling to just 14 degrees on Sunday, with showers likely.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Parts of Sydney are heading into the low to mid-30s on Saturday.\u00a0Supplied<\/p>\n

Brollies out in Adelaide and Hobart<\/p>\n

The wintry feel will extend across much of southern Australia, with Adelaide<\/a> forecast to reach about 19 degrees on Saturday and showers possible.<\/p>\n

Hobart will be even colder, reaching only around 12 degrees, with showers on the cards. <\/p>\n

The rain will be welcome in both Melbourne and Adelaide after a dry September.<\/p>\n

Weatherzone reported Melbourne had received just 14.2mm of rain this month at the time of its outlook, compared with a long-term September average of 56.8mm.<\/p>\n

Adelaide had recorded 13.2mm against a monthly average of 50.3mm.<\/p>\n

Brisbane escapes the worst of it<\/p>\n

The good weather continues in Brisbane, with Saturday reaching a high of 25 degrees.<\/p>\n

Morning showers are possible before conditions clear, while Sunday is expected to be sunny and warmer at around 28 degrees.<\/p>\n

For Freo fans, Perth<\/a> is in for a cooler Saturday, with a high of about 18 degrees, showers, and a possible thunderstorm.<\/p>\n

Darwin stays hot<\/p>\n

Temperatures are expected to reach the mid-30s across the weekend in Darwin.<\/p>\n

Saturday is forecast to be mostly sunny with only a slight chance of rain, before the possibility of a shower increases on Sunday.<\/p>\n

For much of south-eastern Australia, Sunday will bring cooler conditions before temperatures begin climbing again early next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australians are waking up to a weekend of wildly different weather, with footy fans bracing for a cold…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":905621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-905620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/905621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}