Hot weather: southeastern Australia swelters as Sydney braces for warmest night in 44 years

Much of NSW, Victoria and South Australia will sweat it out today as temperatures soar into the mid-to-high 30s, prompting total fire bans.

The weather bureau says Sydney is expecting 36C in the city and 39C in the west on Tuesday, while Melbourne is forecast to hit 34C and Adelaide 36C. Fire bans are in place across many districts in the three states.

By 11.30am, the temperature in the Sydney CBD had already reached the forecast maximum of 36 — 11 degrees above the December average — suggesting today’s maximum may be even higher.

Sydneysiders face their hottest back-to-back days in 10 years with the mercury set to climb to 39C in the city and 38C in the west on Wednesday. If these temperatures are met, the city will record its hottest consecutive days since October 2006, when temperatures reached 36.7C and 36.2C, according to Bureau of Meteorology.

A new record could also be set tonight for the warmest December night since 1972, with temperatures not expected to fall below 25C.

“We are going to have generally hot and dry north westerly winds associated with these warm temperatures,” weather bureau forecaster Sarah Chadwick said. The winds will also increase the risk of bushfire fires so the NSW Rural Fire Service has declare total fire bans across much of the state. A severe fire warning is also in place for the lower central west plains and the entire Riverina district.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/hot-weather-southeastern-australia-swelters-as-sydney-braces-for-warmest-night-in-44-years/news-story/a8d1be6141fdabdcd55b84a553eda70a