Residents of Sydney may be wondering where the warm, sunny pre-summer days have gone, especially in light of the claustrophobic cloud that has lingered over the city today. The wonder-ers can wonder no more: the city is once more expected to simmer. Sydney was forecast to reach a top of 25 degrees this afternoon, with morning cloud and the odd spit of rain predicted to clear. But this did not happen. Low cloud clung to the Sydney Basin like gum to a shoe, preventing the temperature from breaching even 20, the coldest maximum in one and a half weeks. Tomorrow morning, however, should be cloud-free as winds tend first northerly then northwesterly. Cloud will increase during afternoon with a shower or two developing by evening. Despite this, Sydney will top at a toasty 30 degrees, eight above average. A change will move through early on Friday, causing temperatures across the Sydney Basin to dip to the low twenties again. However, the outlook for the weekend and the start of next week is for the warmer days to linger.