By Angus Dalton
Summer temperatures and sparkling skies on Monday will cap off a week-long run of glorious school holiday weather before a cold weather system delivers a rut of cool, wet days that could intensify into heavy downpours at the end of the week.
A sunny Sydney day on Monday will hit 28 degrees before a cool change overnight brings a high chance of rain and maximum temperatures of 21 degrees from Tuesday through to the weekend.
Swimmers leap off Giles Baths in Coogee on Sunday.Credit: Edwina Pickles
“We’re in for Groundhog Day, really, from Tuesday through Friday,” senior Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jake Phillips said.
“We’ll have cloudy conditions and very little variation. That’s because the weather is going to be driven by a very slow-moving, strong high-pressure system that’s going to come across behind this cool change.
“What that means for us is fairly fresh winds across the coast and cool, cloudy and showery weather.”
While the bureau expects clear weather for the remainder of Sunday, some parts of the city could remain hazy as the NSW Rural Fire Service performs hazard reduction burns.
The NSW RFS has burned off thousands of hectares this month, including in an area near Warragamba Dam.Credit: Wolter Peeters
Firefighters are capitalising on stable conditions to burn off 10,000 hectares across the Sutherland Shire, the Blue Mountains, the Hills District and Hornsby and expect smoke to linger until midweek.
“Smoke from planned hazard reduction burns being undertaken by fire agencies and land managers today and early next week may settle in areas including the South Coast, Snowy Monaro, Snowy Valleys, Narrabri, Warrumbungle and Sydney regions,” the RFS said on Sunday.
The bureau expects between 15 and 25 millimetres of rain each day from Tuesday, with the potential of heavier showers on the weekend.
“Things could get interesting at the end of the week,” Phillips said.
“Perhaps even as early as Friday, but more likely on Saturday and Sunday, we could see a trough developing over the state that could bring heavy rain to some areas.”
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