Backyard pool owners were the most popular people in Griffith on a weekend of scorching temperatures.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The mercury hit a near-record 45.5 degrees at 2.40pm on Sunday.
Mercifully, though, the Bureau of Meteorology reported it only felt like 43 degrees.
It was nevertheless the hottest recorded January day in Griffith since the all-time record maximum for the month of 46.0 degrees, on January 23, 2001. It clearly exceeded last January’s peak of 44.1.
“It’s in the ball park of something notably,” a Bureau of Meteorology spokesperson said on Sunday.
Temperatures hovered just above the 40 degree marked for most of the weekend, with a maximum of 43 degrees recorded for Saturday.
Griffith recorded its hottest ever September day and its coldest August morning in 55 years in 2017.
The weather is expected to remain very hot throughout the working week, but not touch the record highs again. Monday’s forecast is 38 degrees, with 33 degrees and possible rain forecast for Tuesday.
Last Saturday, the entire Riverina and Upper and Lower Western divisions of New South Wales recorded highs of 40 and above, with Menindee topping the peak temperature with a sweltering 47 degrees.
- Menindee 47
- Griffith 43
- Hay 43
- Walgett 42
- Wagga 41
- Albury 41
- Scone 40
- Dubbo 40
- Orange 35
- Newcastle 35
- Tamworth 38
- Wollongong 37
- Goulburn 37
- Bathurst 36
Meanwhile, Sydney recorded its hottest day on record on Sunday.
The Penrith observation station shot to 47.1 degrees just before 2pm with the Bureau of Meteorology confirming it was the highest reading ever recorded at the station.
That makes it the highest temperature ever recorded in the Greater Sydney region, in records stretching back to 1859.
The city reached a maximum temperature of 43.4.