Australia weather: High humidity in Sydney, Brisbane, ‘extreme’ heat to push Pilbara temperatures past 50C

Aussies are bracing for unusually high temperatures that could exceed 50C, made extra sweaty by record-breaking humidity.

Parts of western Australia are bracing for unusually high temperatures that could exceed 50C, while the east sweats under record-breaking humidity.

Multiple tropical lows are expected to drive blistering heat in WA, SA and the NT this weekend and into next week, with widespread severe heatwave warnings in place and pockets of extreme heat around the Pilbara and northern Goldfields.

Forecast maximum temperatures on Tuesday. Picture: Windy.

Northwestern Australia is always hot in early summer, before monsoon season hits, often making it one of the hottest places on Earth.

One such extreme weather pattern is forecast to hit in the coming days as a mass of very hot air is drawn down to the Pilbara by a deepening low pressure trough.

“This air mass has the potential to be hotter than usual, even by the Pilbara’s standards,” Weatherzone said.

Some forecast models suggest temperatures exceeding 50C. Picture: Weatherzone.

Heatwave warnings are in place. Picture: BOM.

Some forecast models, per Weatherzone, suggest temperatures exceeding 50C in parts of the region, most likely to hit between Saturday and Tuesday.

If those forecasts are correct, it will be just the eighth time in Australian history that temperatures have reached above 50C.

Anything above 50.7C will set a new record for Australia’s hottest official temperature — a record that was set twice in the Pilbara town of Onslow, once in January 2022 and again in January last year.

In the east, high dew points are making it feel very muggy. Picture: Weatherzone.

Meanwhile, temperatures are lower in eastern Australia but record-breaking humidity is still making the weather feel unusually hot.

High moisture content in the air is making it difficult for Aussies on the eastern seaboard to regulate their body temperatures, meaning the air feels significantly hotter than it really is.

The temperature in Brisbane hit 32C shortly before 2pm on Thursday, but the humidity drove the “feels like” temperature six degrees higher, up to 38C.

Farther south in Sydney, it felt like 35C despite being more like 27C.

And last week, Sydney’s dew point — a term used by meteorologists to understand the amount of moisture in the air — climbed to 25.9C, setting a new record for the city.

The extra humidity is driven by abnormally warm temperatures in the Tasman and Coral seas — between 1C and 3C higher than usual — and a wind pattern that’s pushing the moisture laden sea air over land.

Unusually high temperatures in the Tasman and Coral seas are making it feel extra hot. Picture: Weatherzone.

Sydneysiders can expect a brief reprieve from the humidity beginning on Friday, before the mugginess returns from next week through to January 26.

That means the best upcoming weather in the city will be this weekend, when temperatures are forecast to be warm — 28C on Saturday and 32C on Sunday — but less sticky.

Unfortunately for Brisbane, a similar relief hasn’t yet been forecast.

Temperatures in coastal southeast Queensland are expected to feel about 4C to 8C warmer for at least another seven days.

Originally published as Australia weather: High humidity in Sydney, Brisbane, ‘extreme’ heat to push Pilbara temperatures past 50C