Australian Weather

05 Sep 2026, 5:23AM UTC

Record early-season heat has been blown across Sydney, with the aid of dry, blustery westerly winds. On Saturday, temperatures reached the low-to-mid 30s in almost all suburbs as humidity dropped to 20 percent and wind gusted 50-80km/h. It heated beyond 33 degrees in some suburbs, including Penrith.  Given the wind direction on Saturday was predominantly westerly, it got similarly warm further east, easily warming past 30 degrees. At about 2:30pm, the city reached 32.1 degrees, its hottest day this early in the warming season on record, with temperature data going back to 1859. Previously, the earliest in spring it had become this warm was September 13th, in both 2017 and 2009. Image: Temperature observations, satellite, radar, wind streamlines at 2:30pm EST on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Source: Weatherzone.    The only suburbs failing to warm into the 30s were those of some beaches, but it still got to the high 20s before sea breezes brought some cooling. Later in the afternoon, cloud then the odd shower moved in from the Blue Mountains into some western suburbs to bring a little more cooling. Image: Wind gust (km/h) observations, satellite, radar, wind streamlines at 3:00pm EST on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Source: Weatherzone   It may seem strange that this cooling will be a relief for many, given the blowing pollen and dust and elevated fire danger. Fire Danger reached Extreme in some suburbs. A Total Fire Ban had been declared for Greater Sydney for Saturday until midnight. It's also been unseasonably warm on three of the four past days. Even including a relatively mild Friday when temperatures reached the low-to-mid 20s, it still turned out to be the city's warmest four-day spell this early in the season on record. Across the past four days, Observatory Hill averaged a maximum of 27.93 degrees, eight degrees warmer than the long-term average for early September, and beating the previous record of 27.88 degrees during September 1-4, 1865. This recent spell is also warmer than its long-term average for mid-summer.  Looking ahead, the aforementioned cooling relief isn't far away for all suburbs, commencing this afternoon, heralding a lengthy spell much closer to the long-term average. Check the Sydney forecast.

04 Sep 2026, 5:00AM UTC

Spring is a season of contrasts, and sometimes those dramatic weather differences occur on the same day in the same state. That will be the case this Saturday in New South Wales, when parts of the state's northwest will see temperatures pushing up into the mid-30s, while snowfalls develop later in the day in the Snowy Mountains in the state's south. The current BoM forecast for Brewarrina, a small town of around 700 people about 800 kilometres NW of Sydney, is for a Saturday maximum of 35°C. Down south at Thredbo Top Station (Australia's highest weather station at 1957 m), snowfalls should commence on Saturday afternoon, lowering to mid-mountain at around 1600 m, and perhaps even falling as low as Thredbo village (1370 m) overnight. Why the stark contrast between hot and cold? It's been at least three weeks since the last significant cold airmass pushed northwards over the southern Australian mainland. This has allowed unseasonable warmth to build up over inland regions. A high pressure system currently centred over eastern Australia will move out over the Tasman and Coral seas on Saturday. Air naturally moves from areas of high pressure to low pressure, and as the low pressure system and associated cold front cross the southeastern mainland on Saturday, northwesterly winds will strengthen as air circulates anti-clockwise around the high, dragging warm air across New South Wales. A very warm afternoon is likely across the whole northern part of NSW and much of the east – even as much cooler air pushes into southern parts of the state. Image: Mean sea level pressure and 850 hPa temperatures (altitude approximately 1500 m) over Australia at 10 am (AEST) on Saturday, September 5, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. Sydney still set for first 30-degree day of the season Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino wrote on Wednesday that Sydney was likely to hit 30°C on Saturday, and that's very much still the likely scenario. The latest forecast suggests the mercury could push as high as 31°C in the city and 32°C in some outer western suburbs like Penrith and Richmond.  In contrast, Melbourne is not expected to break 20°C on Saturday with a string of much cooler maximums in the mid-teens expected after the passage of the cold front. Sydney will also be cooler next week with maximums back around 20°C for at least a few days. Will the coming snow save the ski season? Unfortunately not. Firstly, large snowfall totals are not expected. Image: An August view of the Ramshead Range near Thredbo from a mostly snowless valley which would normally be at least partially snow-covered in an average winter. Source: Weatherzone. Secondly, there is now too much exposed rock and grass at all Australian ski resorts for any fresh snowfalls to make much of a difference for more than a day or so. September snowfalls are meaningful when there's a decent remnant snowpack from winter onto which the new snow can bond. But as detailed in our story on Thursday, the Australian snowpack is at a historic low for the first week of September, even at the highest elevations of the mountains.  Having said that, Sunday should be a decent day for any weekend visitors to throw a snowball, and conditions should at least be somewhat improved on ski slopes that are still open. Please check the Weatherzone snow page for the latest forecasts, live cams and more.