February 21, 2022, was unlike any day the city of Sydney has seen since. That’s because it was the last time the city reached a temperature of 30°C or higher.
- As of today (Wednesday, January 11) it is 323 days since the last 30-degree day.
- That’s the third longest streak in records dating back to 1858.
- Indeed, it is just 15 days off the record 329-day streak established between December 31, 1882 and December 6, 1883.
We should point out that we specifically said “the city of Sydney” in our opening paragraph because Sydney’s official meteorological records are taken from Observatory Hill, near the southern pylon of the Harbour Bridge on the western fringe of the CBD.
Other parts of the Sydney metropolitan region have experienced multiple days of 30°C or higher since last February.
- For example, Penrith – in the city’s outer west at the base of the Blue Mountains – has already topped 30°C five times in 2023 alone.
- Indeed, Penrith topped 35°C five times in December, with a hottest day of 36.6°C on December 24.
- That day was also the hottest day of the 2022/23 summer to date at Observatory Hill, but temps fell just short of the 30-degree mark with a high of 29.7°C.
Why the lack of extreme heat, and when will Sydney reach 30°C?
As you no doubt know, 2022 was Sydney’s wettest year on record, with 2530 mm of rainfall – more than twice the city’s long-term annual average.
Cloudy, wet weather tends to moderate daytime temperatures, so that goes a long way to explaining the lack of extreme heat. Indeed, Sydney averaged a touch under 6.5 hours of sunshine per day in 2022, making it the cloudiest year since 1992.
Image: Sydney has seen plenty of days like this since Feb 21 last year.
As for when we can expect the next 30-degree day, it could be as early as this coming Sunday (January 15) while another surge of warmth is expected next Tuesday (Jan 17). At this stage, both days are tipped to peak at 29°C.
If both days fall short of the 30-degree barrier, Sydney will be sitting on its 2nd-longest sub-30°C streak. If we make it to January 28 without reaching 30°C, it’ll officially be a new record.
Meanwhile Penrith is expected to top 30°C for each of the next seven days, with a steamy 35°C expected on Sunday.
