This was published 5 months ago
As temperatures cool and winds calm on a historically warm day in NSW, this is where we’ll leave our live coverage for now.
We will continue to monitor the weather, including the 12 fires that burn out of control, and provide any major updates as they come to hand.
In the meantime, you can read our recap of the wild weather day here. Thank you for your company.
Temperatures have now dropped below 30 degrees across Sydney as a gradual wind change starts to bring cooler conditions.
The change is forecast to sweep through over the course of this evening, making for totally different weather conditions on Thursday.
It will be especially welcome in western Sydney, where October heat records were broken in Bankstown and Penrith today.
There are 12 fires burning out of control in NSW this evening, as firefighters monitor just under 50 blazes across the state.
Among those is a fire near West Wallsend, some 22 kilometres west of Newcastle, which prompted a “watch and act” alert due to the fire’s proximity to nearby suburban homes, while strong winds stopped air services from assisting. Firefights have since gained control of this blaze.
The Rural Fire Service has encouraged households to prepare and review bushfire plans ahead of more warm weather this weekend.
The most powerful rush of wind on Wednesday was recorded at Observatory Hill near the Sydney CBD, where a gust reaching 80km/h was recorded shortly after 3pm.
This topped gusts in the high 70s at Penrith and Badgerys Creek, as hot winds racing across eastern NSW took hold this afternoon.
Winds have slowed but remain strong this evening, as parts of the state brace for potentially damaging gusts arising from a low-pressure system near the Victorian coastline.
The strong winds wreaked havoc for firefighters in the Hunter region, who were unable to call on air assistance amid safety concerns presented by the powerful gusts.
Wednesday was the hottest October day ever recorded in parts of western Sydney, Gosford and Newcastle, breaking temperatures that had stood for as much as eight decades in some areas.
The mercury hit 39.8 degrees at Bankstown shortly before 1.30pm, surpassing the record set in 1988. In Penrith, temperatures reached 39.5 degrees – bettering the 39 degrees set on Monday, which broke a record that had stood 21 years without being bested.
Gosford reached 38.6 degrees, surpassing a record also observed in 2004, while the mercury at Williamtown military air base, just north of Newcastle, reached 39.8 degrees, surpassing a record set in 1942.
Temperatures reached 36.6 degrees at Nobbys in Newcastle, 0.1 degrees below the October record set in 1988.
The maximum temperature recorded at Sydney Observatory Hill was 37 degrees just before 2pm, more than one degree below its October record.
The heat records set today are preliminary, and are expected to be formalised by the Bureau of Meteorology tomorrow morning.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Angus Hines has forecast a gradual wind change that will cool temperatures from 6pm, though warned that it would remain hot “for a few more hours” before easing this evening.
Hines said the conditions, which reached close to 40 degrees across Sydney, were “remarkably high” and “probably a one-off” that were unlikely to be replicated until the middle of summer.
“It looks likely that parts of Sydney saw record temperatures for October today, with temperatures in the very high 30s, topping out at 39.8 degrees,” Hines told Nine News.
He forecast that the weather would feel “completely different” tomorrow morning, following the wind change expected to sweep through this evening.
After heat that largely peaked in the early afternoon, temperatures across Sydney are starting to cool.
The mercury remains above 35 degrees in the Sydney CBD, and is even higher in the west, though has fallen from the temperatures that reached close to 40 degrees earlier in the day.
While it is often hotter in western Sydney and cooler near the coast, today’s heat is being equally felt across the city.
Professor Sebastian Pfautsch, an urban heat expert from Western Sydney University, said the overcast conditions meant that the shade from trees or the cooling effects of lighter roofs had no effect.
“On a day like today where we don’t have the impact of direct sunshine on our urban environment, these temperature differences that we would normally find are muted, and everybody has to deal with the heat,” Pfautsch said.
“It’s hot everywhere because what we’re dealing with is one big air mass of hot air pushing in from Central Australia, originated from the Pilbara, coming across the country, being really, really hot.”
Pfautsch said driving from Parramatta to northern Sydney would usually mean a drop in temperature of four or five degrees because of the elevation and tree canopy. Today it was only half a degree different.
The feels-like temperature was about one degree cooler than the actual temperature, according to the weather bureau, because of wind and low humidity.
Humidity was only 21 per cent at 3pm because of the dry air coming from inland. It is expected to rise 41 per cent tonight, but this would coincide with the cool southerly buster.
“It’s not humid heat that you would see in the tropics like Brisbane and Darwin and Cairns, this is dry heat,” Pfautsch said.
“If you go outside and it feels like an oven, that is dry heat. It’s much more bearable than humid heat, where even if it was seven degrees cooler than today here in Sydney, we would still find that oppressive.”
There are 47 bush or grass fires in NSW and 13 yet to be contained, the Rural Fire Service has confirmed.
A bushfire near West Wallsend, about 22 kilometres west of Newcastle in the Lake Macquarie region, was initially declared out of control, but was later downgraded after firefighters established a favourable position against the blaze.
A “watch and act” alert was issued due to the fire’s proximity to suburban homes in West Wallsend and Holmesville, while strong winds in the area prevent air services from assisting firefighting efforts.
Residents have been advised to continue monitoring conditions.
Wild and potentially damaging winds are expected to be a “major player” for the rest of Wednesday, says Angus Hines of the Bureau of Meteorology, warning that the afternoon could bring the strongest winds for southeastern Australia.
A low-pressure system near the Victorian coastline was described as the “main culprit” for the winds, which has brought gusts close to 100km/h this morning and will ramp up this afternoon. Strong winds are expected to travel into NSW, before pulling towards the Tasman Sea and settling overnight.
The winds are expected to be strong enough to bring down branches and trees and make it difficult to drive, while also threatening power outages and property damage.
Thunderstorms are also expected to develop in response to the cold front and associated low-pressure system, which will affect parts of NSW and potentially extend towards central Australia.