Sydney is set to swelter this weekend as summer stretches into autumn, with severe heatwave warnings in place for other parts of NSW.
The temperature in the city is forecast to reach 36 degrees on Sunday, climbing from a maximum of 31 on Friday and 32 on Saturday.
Elsewhere in NSW, a severe heatwave warning is in place across Friday for parts of the South Coast, including Nowra and Batemans Bay.
Heatwave conditions are expected to hit Parramatta and Richmond in Sydney’s west, as well as Batemans Bay, Bowral, Nowra and Wollongong, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
BoM senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said while the weekend’s forecast was eight to 10 degrees above Sydney’s average temperature for mid-March, the hot spell wasn’t unexpected.
“While that is considerably above average, across summer – and that pushes into early autumn, into March as well – we do get these bursts of heat coming through that bring the temperatures above average, and then a cold front moves through, and it drops the temperatures back below average,” Bradbury said.
A cold front with strong, blustery winds is forecast to sweep through Sydney late on Sunday or early Monday, with the temperature expected to drop to 25 degrees on Monday.
The cool change isn’t likely to meet the threshold for the famous southerly buster that sends temperatures plummeting in minutes, but it will bring “punchy” winds, Bradbury said.
