Sydney bakes in hottest day this spring!

It was a scorcher in Sydney today with temperatures as much as 14 above the November average! The city reached a scorching 37.2 degrees today- a massive 13 degrees above the November average maximum and its hottest day so far this spring!

Penrith was the hottest in Sydney's west with 38.7 degrees. Other notable mentions include Sydney Airport (37.9), Bankstown (37.3) and Campbelltown (37.4).

It's not often that Sydney city reaches the mid-30s in spring, but it's even rarer for the city to be as hot as the western suburbs. The main reason why the city and coastal suburbs usually experience cooler conditions than the west on a hot day is the seabreeze. But today hot NW winds were gusting to 50-60kmh which was strong enough to effectively cap the seabreeze for most of the day, allowing the mercury to rise well above the forecast maximum of 32 degrees, and November average maximum of 24 degrees.

Relief!

Fortunately, relief arrived with a southerly change this evening dropping temperatures by around 10 degrees in 20 minutes! Overnight temperatures should dip below 20 degrees, much more comfortable than the 26-27 degree night that sleepless Sydneysiders sweated through last Wednesday.

Rest of the week?

The rest of the working week will be more bearable with a sunny 26-31 degree day on Tuesday. Wednesday is forecast to reach 25-29 degrees with a stronger southerly change and showers and storms during the afternoon. This will lead to a cooler 23-24 degrees on Thursday with one or two showers. Friday will warm back up to 27-31 degrees with a possible morning shower. Hotter weather is expected next weekend though, with temperatures potentially reaching the mid-30s once again.

Temperatures were even hotter in the western NSW today with Bourke sweating through 41.5 degrees.