NSW experiences hot autumn with Sydney on brink of heat record

Sydney residents don’t need to get their knitwear out anytime soon as the Bureau of Meteorology predicts an unusually long summer for the East Coast.

Temperatures in Sydney topped 27C for most of March this year and after a brief cooldown earlier this week, mercury climbed back to 36C on Thursday.

The bureau expects the hot weather to continue into the weekend, when the maximum temperature is expected to hit 30C on Friday March 17, 29C on Saturday and 32C on Sunday.

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Chief meteorologist Dean Narramore said if the heat hits 30C on Saturday, the city will break a 165-year record for the hottest consecutive days in the fall.

“It will be the first time in autumn since records began at Sydney Observation Hill that we’ve had four days in a row above 30°C,” he said.

The hot weather was the result of a cold front in the south of the country that had drawn hot continental air from the western and central parts of Australia to the southeast coast with north-easterly winds, Narramore explained.

“Those cold fronts are pulling that heat down. That’s what’s causing this heat flare and hot weather in parts of NSW,” he said.

Western Sydney will be a few degrees warmer than the rest of Sydney, with a maximum of 33C expected on Saturday and 37C forecast for Sunday.

Inland regional communities such as Bathurst and Dubbo may also experience their hottest March day on record when temperatures hit the high 30C on Sunday.

A chilly change late Sunday evening for Sydney and Monday for inland NSW should bring relief, with the possibility of thunderstorms, according to the BOM.

But if you were thinking of putting away your summer laundry, Narramore said there are early signs the heat could return later next week when the winds turn north-northwest.