The Sydney heatwave is expected to last through mid-week

The coastal parts of Sydney will not have the usual benefit of being close to the sea breeze due to the way the winds move.

“The westerly winds that keep sea breezes in check result in a more even distribution of maximum temperatures in the Sydney area, ranging from 36 to 38 degrees everywhere,” Scully said.

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“Tomorrow will be particularly windy with severe weather warnings for the Illawarra area for possible damaging wind gusts.”

NSW Rural Fire Service Inspector Ben Shepherd said today would be the biggest fire risk since the 2020 Black Summer fires.

“This is probably the widest area of ​​total fire bans in a number of years,” he said.

Most of NSW is today forecast to be at high to extreme fire danger, with full fire bans in place for the Greater Hunter, North Western, Southern Ranges, Central Ranges, Northern Slopes and the upper and lower Central West Plains.

“Right now there are about 30 fires across the state and four have yet to be controlled,” Shepherd said.

“We also saw lightning throughout the night and will be monitoring this.”

Shepherd said the RFS had planes deployed across the state and had large air tankers on standby.

“People also have to do their part to not have outdoor fires, but also to avoid grinding and welding that could start a fire,” he said.

Much of the reason it’s been getting so hot for Sydney and greater NSW is due to what’s happening inland, says Weatherzone meteorologist Felix Levesque.

“In recent weeks much of inland Australia has been relatively clear of clouds – this has allowed the heat to build up across the interior,” he said.

“What has drawn the heat to NSW and Sydney is a low-pressure trough pulling hot northerly winds ahead.”

The heatwave will continue through Wednesday, when a cool shift is likely to occur Wednesday afternoon through Thursday.

“Tomorrow temperatures will be slightly cooler but still reach the mid-30s and later in the morning we will see some drier westerly winds sweeping across the region,” Levesque said.

“Wednesday will be upside down with 30 degrees, it will cool down as the wind blows a little southerly then Thursday and Friday cooler days.”

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