Friday afternoon fire danger
Strike teams are primed and ready to act on any fires that break out this afternoon, but authorities are warning once they start they'll be difficult to contain
By 1pm on Friday afternoon, temperatures had already hit the mid 30s in many parts of the state including Strahan and Launceston, but the primary severe fire danger is for the south and east coast.
TFS Regional Chief South Dale Rayner says the landscape is in those parts is very parched.
"It's approaching record dryness. The heavy fuels are extremely dry and the fine fuels dry out very quickly on days like today. It's critical," he said.
The mercury is tipped to hit 40 degrees at some stage this afternoon in Tasmania's south and despite some rain forecast for later this evening, Mr Rayner says it's not enough to help firefighting efforts.
"We're in for a long, dry fire season. The state's in rain deficit, particularly on the eastern side and the midlands, so it really won't make any difference. It probably just makes people complacent."
"We've got very high to severe fire danger across most of the state," Bureau of Meterology State Mananger Simon McCulloch said.
It's expected to be hot and humid night, until a number of cold fronts cross Tasmania in the next few days.
"We're not expecting any dry lightning with that rainband which is good from a firefighting perspecting," he said.
Keep up-to-update on the TFS website.
