Predicted high temperatures and strong winds have fire crews bracing for the return of severe fire conditions. 9News
NSW RFS spokesman Ben Shepherd said low humidity and very strong northwesterly winds have crews bracing for a potentially dangerous day. "There is a broad area of severe and very high fire danger and areas of extreme fire danger," Mr Shepherd told AAP.
"All fire grounds have received some rainfall and that has greatly reduced some fire activity but we might still see some fire grounds pick up and move tomorrow." Total fire bans are in place in NSW for today in the greater Sydney, greater Hunter, Illawarra/Shoalhaven, southern ranges, central ranges and north western fire districts.Air quality in Sydney today is forecast to be poor. The Bureau of Meteorology yesterday issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds for parts of NSW's south and west.Total fire bans are in place for NSW today as temperatures are expected to reach more than 41C. The BOM warned today's damaging winds may extend to the southern tablelands and parts of the central tablelands, the Illawarra and south coast. The warning comes after severe thunderstorms hit Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong on Monday, leaving homes and businesses without power.South-east Queensland can also expect a hot and sticky day, with the humidity already hitting 86 per cent this morning.Victoria's merry-go-round weather is forecast to bring statewide rain today before settling down ahead of Australia Day.A cool change that swept across the state yesterday is hoped to provide relief after a week where golf ball-sized hail, flash flooding, and thunderstorms preceded a temperature rise that pushed the fire danger to severe levels. And yesterday a dust storm covered Mildura with tints of red and orange and reduced visibility on the roads.And many Melbourne residents woke to find their backyards, pools and spas covered in a dirty rain after dust was carried through the air by high winds from the west yesterday. Months of unusually dry weather have parched the soils, making it easier for very high winds - up to 80kms/h - to lift dust particles high into the air.Many Melbourne residents woke to find dirty rain in their backyards. The city received 22mm of rain overnight, more than 30mm fell in Geelong and while this is welcome, it is causing problems around Melbourne.The SES has received 350 calls for help and there is a severe weather warning in place, with high winds expected to continue.Central and southern parts of the state are expected to receive between 25mm and 40mm of rain, while fire-ravaged areas may only receive falls of up to 10mm. The Bureau of Meteorology last night issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds for parts of Gippsland and Victoria's southwest, to hit overnight and into today. Between 6.30pm yesterday and 6.30am today the SES received 233 calls for help across Victoria, 35 of which are still active.The Malvern unit had the most callouts - 32 - while Mansfield had the second highest. Despite hot temperatures and strong winds on yesterday, emergency services managed to prevent a significant amount of new fires starting. Today's rainfall will give way to clear skies on Friday and temperatures expected to stay in the low 20s until Monday.Increased fire activity in East Gippsland yesterday prompted emergency services to place up to five Watch and Acts near Cann River. These alerts were later downgraded while firefighters continued battling the flames and re-opened roads. A call to visit and support Victorian bushfire-ravaged areas was put out by the state's tourism this week. More than 100 businesses and sporting bodies such as the AFL will hold meetings, events and conferences in Victoria's fire-affected areas to support local communities. Victoria's bushfires have so far burnt more than 1.5 million hectares, mainly in the state's East Gippsland and northeast regions.
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