Sydney Just Sweltered Through Its Hottest November Night on Record

The mercury only dropped to 25.3 degrees overnight — and it's set to hit 40 again today.
Sarah Ward
November 29, 2020

Summer is literally only days away, but it seems that the sizzling weather has hit Sydney early in 2020. Temperatures have been climbing in recent days, heading up from 25 degrees on Wednesday, November 25 to a scorching 40.8 degrees on Saturday, November 28 — and, overnight as Saturday turned to Sunday, the city endured its hottest November night since records started being recorded.

Feeling toasty? Obviously there's a very good reason for that — because the mercury only dipped to 25.3 degrees last night, at 1.09am, as recorded at Observatory Hill. That immensely warm temperature pipped the city's previous highest November minimum of 24.8 degrees, which dates back a huge 53 years to 1967.

Unsurprisingly, the baking overnight minimum heralds another very hot day, with a top of 40 forecast. At the time of writing, Sydney has already hit 35.8 degrees at 10.50am.

The Bureau of Meteorology says that the high temperatures are part of a heatwave, which is presently reaching severe conditions in southern Northern Territory, northeastern South Australia and southwest Queensland through to coastal New South Wales. It's also upping temps in western Queensland, northern NSW, the bulk of the NT, and the northeast parts of WA and SA, but it's considered a low-intensity heatwave in those spots.

For Sydneysiders, things are expected to cool down significantly on Monday — just before summer officially lands, for those in need of a reprieve, aka everyone. Monday is forecast to only hit 24 degrees, jump up to 29 on Tuesday, then sit at 25 on Wednesday, 24 on Thursday and 26 on Friday.

For more information about Sydney's weather, head to the Bureau of Meteorology website.

Published on November 29, 2020 by Sarah Ward
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