By Jessica McSweeney
A severe weather warning is in place for Sydney this afternoon with a southerly buster set to bring dangerous wind gusts and a potentially severe thunderstorm.
Tuesday will almost certainly be the hottest day of the year so far as Sydney heads back to the office, with temperatures set to hit 40 degrees in the city and 42 in the west. This peak is predicted to hit around 2pm.
An early morning walker exercises in Brighton-le-Sands on Tuesday ahead of a sweltering January summer day.Credit: Sam Mooy
The coolest place in Sydney will be Bondi, where temperatures are set to top 36 degrees; however, with the UV index set to hit the extreme level of 12, a trip to the beach will come with a significant risk of sunburn and heat stress.
The heatwave conditions won’t relent until about 4pm when Sydney’s heatwave saviour – the southerly buster – is predicted to drop temperatures by up to 15 degrees in 15 minutes.
“While the wind will bring a welcome temperature drop, it will also cause its own disruptions with wind speeds expected to reach 40 to 60 km/h along the coast, and damaging gusts of 90 to 100 km/h possible locally through parts of the coastal Illawarra, Sydney metro and southern Hunter,” Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said.
A shelf cloud moves across the northern beaches on Monday evening. Credit: Nick Moir
The Bureau has issued a severe weather warning for the damaging winds, which are set to move north along the east coast, intensifying in Wollongong in the early afternoon before hitting Sydney in the late afternoon and early evening.
A thunderstorm is likely in the afternoon, possibly severe, which could bring a night of heavy rain and large hailstones.
Energy providers are getting emergency crews ready in the event of electricity outages on Tuesday. Endeavour Energy, which provides services to Sydney’s west, is prioritising resources to hospitals, nursing homes, childcare centres and homes with medical equipment.
As Sydney’s air conditioners work overtime, NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said the heatwave shouldn’t pose any major issues for the state’s energy network.
It will be “business as usual” in terms of reliability, she said.
The wild storm that lashed the city on Monday evening has already put energy supplies under strain, with Endeavour Energy reporting that 409 customers were without power on Tuesday morning.
Ausgrid said 1406 sites were without power on Tuesday morning, mostly around Wisemans Ferry and other suburbs along the Hawkesbury River.
The NSW State Emergency Service responded to 133 calls for help in Sydney during Monday night’s storm, mostly for trees down and leaking roofs. The worst hit areas were the Sutherland Shire and Blacktown, an SES NSW spokesperson said.
Later this week, temperatures will cool significantly. Wednesday and Thursday are expected to peak at 25 degrees, and showers are forecast.
With Alexandra Smith.
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