Australia’s eastern state of New South Wales (NSW), including Sydney, was sweltering through an intense heatwave over the weekend, sparking urgent bushfire warnings.
However, a cold front has dropped the temperatures overnight to fall by 8 degrees Celsius in just 30 minutes, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM). But temperatures are expected to rise again.
On Sunday, the mercury climbed to 39.3 degrees Celsius at Sydney Airport, around 12C above average, according to the country’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM). Elsewhere in the state, Badgery’s Creek reached 38.5C and Richmond peaked at 37.9C.
Melbourne’s western suburbs recorded temperatures of more than 35C on Saturday, while Adelaide peaked just short of 40C.
In neighbouring Victoria state, a home was destroyed in a bushfire on the outskirts of Melbourne that was being battled by around 200 firefighters, Country Fire Authority official Bernard Barbetti told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Sunday.
The conditions prompted authorities to issue total fire bans for vast parts of NSW, including metropolitan Sydney.
“Hot conditions, gusty winds, and low relative humidity will result in extreme fire danger over the greater Sydney region,” warned the Bureau of Meteorology in an alert issued Sunday morning.
High temperatures on the east coast were caused by northerly and north-westerly winds from inland NSW and central Australia to the eastern coast, the bureau said.
The state’s Rural Fire Service (RFS) reinforced the warnings, imposing a total fire ban for large parts of NSW including Sydney, urging residents to avoid outdoor activities that could trigger fires.
This severe weather arrives as New South Wales reaches the end of its high-risk bushfire season, typically running until the end of March.
In the past few days, emergency services increased efforts to contain any fires rapidly, aiming to avoid a repeat of the devastating 2019-2020 wildfire season that killed 33 people and destroyed an area equivalent in size to Turkey.
Meteorologists predicted a cooling shift by late Sunday night. A southerly buster swept through the region around 12.30am local time on Monday, dropping temperatures from 30.2C to 19.5C by 1am.
However, the transition may also bring gusty winds and thunderstorms, complicating firefighting efforts and raising the risk of lightning strikes igniting new fires.
“As of this morning, it is actually 20 degrees cooler than it was yesterday so a much more comfortable and a milder day today,” BOM meteorologist Johnathan How told the ABC.
However, Mr How said the hotter conditions will soon be back.
“We are expecting to see a cooler day today but then from tomorrow we do see things warming up again,” he said.
Scientists have long warned that extreme heat and bushfire conditions will become more frequent due to global warming.
