Sydney has been experiencing unusually cold weather in the last few days and it is only slowly warming up. In the first four days this month it hadn't reached 25 degrees and some nights cooled below 15. The average maximum and minimum temperatures at this time of year are 26 and 19 degrees respectively. The weekend was noticeably cold, both day and night, with help from cloud, rain and surge of unusually cold southerly winds. It turned out to be the city's coolest pair of February days in 16 years with an average temperature of 18.3 degrees (combining minimum and maximum temperatures), four degrees colder than the long-term norm. This was particularly bad timing for visitors hoping for something closer to average, choosing the city's coolest February weekend in 47 years. In 1966 a February weekend had an average temperature of 17.3 degrees, five below average. Unfortunately for those looking for a return to summer, they will have to wait until mid week before it warms above average again, too late for some visitors. A slow-moving weather pattern means that brisk southerly winds will last a few more days and cloud will only slowly clear. From Wednesday a high will have moved far enough across the Tasman Sea to cause wind to turn more northerly over Sydney and much of New South Wales. It will be even more summer-like later in the week, reaching five-to-10 degrees above average. The hottest day for much of the state, including Sydney should be Saturday. Temperature's will reach the 40s in western parts of the state and the mid-to-high 30s in western Sydney. Sea breezes are likely for much of the coast, keeping temperatures to the low 30s. This heat will be fairly dry in the west, causing fire danger to increase. A cooler change later on the weekend will take temperatures closer to average and bring a few showers and thunderstorms.