THE first week of summer has been a hot and thundery mix in NSW and there is more to come.
Australia has been locked in a typical summer-like pattern at the beginning of this season, with a broad area of low pressure draped across the continent and a belt of high pressure straddling the south.
This setup has allowed a stagnant pool of hot air to sit over NSW since last week, causing some areas to endure an early-season heatwave.
Northern districts have been most severely impacted by the heatwave, with little respite during the opening days and nights of December.
The average temperature during the first six days and nights of the season was about 30 degrees Celsius in Gunnedah, more than five above average for this time of year.
Maximum temperatures averaged around 41 degrees at Moree and 43 degrees at Mungindi during the first six days of the month, which is the hottest six-day spell this early in the warming season for seven years at both locations.
Other standouts this week included Lightning Ridge’s hottest December day and night in at least 19 years and Bourke’s earliest 45 degree December day since at least 1997.
Areas further south experienced pulses of hot weather during the last week too, although it wasn’t as persistent. Singleton went from a near-average top of 29 degrees on Saturday to a scorching 41 degrees on Monday this week.
The combination of heat, a trough and abundant moisture in the atmosphere has also provided the key ingredients for daily storms, some of which became severe.
Supercell thunderstorms produced huge hailstones and damaging winds in the state’s northeast late last week.
Tragically, a man was killed by a lightning strike at Mount Warning on Tuesday.
Looking ahead, hotter and stormier-than-usual conditions are expected during the remainder of summer.
If you haven’t already done so, make sure you have a plan in place to cope with these types of dangerous weather during the months ahead.
