Weather News

Sydney melts under its hottest day in four years

Sydney just experienced it's hottest day in four years, topping at a whopping 41 degrees at Observatory Hill, a full 15 degrees above average. This also happened to be the second hottest January day since 1961.

The day started unusually, with air conditioners and ceiling fans already tired from working full-throttle overnight. Sydney Airport had an overnight minimum of just 26, it's sweatiest on record.

Meteorologist for weatherzone.com.au Sam Terry explained why such extreme heat was happening.

"Due to a lack of cloud cover, a region of heat has been building over Australia's interior. Most of the time this just stays put, but a recent trough has forced all this hot air over the NSW coast, leading to the conditions we saw today."

By 9am, Richmond had already hit 35 degrees and the city 32, despite an increase in cloud cover, but the heat didn't stop there.

Every official observation site across the Sydney Basin exceed 40 degrees. Fire Danger was Severe to Extreme, in some cases the highest in two-and-a-half years.

As residents city-wide looked to the heavens in supplication, sweet relief manifested itself in the form of a gusty southerly change.

"The change has been moving quickly along the NSW coast since this morning," Terry said. "It reached Sydney just after 3pm, with gusts in excess of 90 km/h, enough to cause damage to infrastructure.

"Thankfully, the change has dropped temperatures in excess of 10 degrees, quite large really. The cooler temperature will remain into tomorrow, as winds stay onshore."

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2010

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