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Cool southerly brings relief to sweltering Sydneysiders

Press Release, Thursday January 15, 2009 - 16:33 EDT

A strong and gusty southerly change is currently sweeping across Sydney, bringing relief from a day of scorching temperatures, according to weatherzone.com.au.

Penrith peaked at 43.3 degrees at 3:20pm, the highest temperature since New Year’s Day 2006, when the mercury soared to 44.

Sydney City topped out at 33.4 degrees at 3:10pm, its highest temperature since New Year’s Day of this year.

Gusty southerly winds are now spreading north across the city, causing temperatures to drop rapidly.

"Today’s remarkable heat in western Sydney was caused by northwesterly winds carrying very hot air all the way from Western Australia," weatherzone.com.au meteorologist Matt Pearce said.

"The southerly that is currently surging across Sydney is triggering a few thunderstorms. We have had reports of hail from the North Shore and very heavy rain from a number of suburbs."

The peak wind gust recorded so far has been 82 km/hr at Sydney Airport.

"There are a number of fires burning on the outskirts of Sydney this afternoon. While the cooler, more humid southerly change will help these fires in the long run, there will be a tense few hours ahead as the wind shift may cause the fires to change direction abruptly," Pearce said.

Much more comfortable weather is on the way over the next few days, with the temperatures falling back into the mid 20s.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2009