Weather News

Sweaty Sydney eyes off January record

Ben Domensino, Wednesday January 18, 2017 - 08:26 AEDT

Sydney has endured another sweaty night during what could be shaping up to be the city's warmest January on record.

The temperature failed to drop below 28 degrees at Sydney's Observatory Hill weather station last night. For the second time in a week, the mercury actually rose after midnight.

A wind change last night allowed warm inland air to push across Sydney from about 2am. By 4am, the temperature had climbed above 30 degrees.

Sydney is currently having the warmest January on record in terms of minimum temperatures. The average minimum during the first 18 days of the month is around 21.5 degrees, which exceeds the old record by half a degree. Computer models suggest that the city will continue its run of warmer-than-usual nights into late January, with minimums of 20-23 degrees a good chance during the rest of the month. This should be enough to sustain the record-breaking minimum.

The average maximum temperature in Sydney during the first 17 days of January is 28.8 degrees, which is is 0.7 degrees below the current record of 29.5 set in January 1896. Based on the forecasts for the rest of the month, the city should close this gap a bit but may pull up short of the record for maximums.

Combining minimum and maximum temperatures, Sydney is currently having the warmest January on record and is a good chance of sustaining this rank through to the end of the month.

If you're in Sydney this morning and these statistics are making you sweat, don't worry. A cool change is on the way.

This morning's oppressive northwesterly winds will be replaced by southerlies at about 10am in the east and closer to midday in the west. Temperatures will drop by 10 degrees in the space of an hour for most areas. The change could also be accompanied by storms.

Tomorrow will be about 10-15 degrees cooler than today across the Sydney Basin.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2017

Enter a postcode or town name for local weather, or text to search the site. » advanced search

Weather News

» all stories

A very wet weekend for southeast Qld, northeast NSW

11:48 AEST A prolonged rainfall event is set to bring large totals to parts of NSW and Qld from Saturday, with possible heavy falls and flooding. A low-pressure system in the Coral Sea, a deepening coastal trough and persistent easterlies will bring moisture-laden air into southeast Qld and northeast NSW will bring days of rainfall to the region. While there is not a drop of rain on the radar over southeast Qld and Northeast NSW on Friday morning, the mass of cloud associated with a low in the Coral Sea will enhance rainfall over the weekend.