Unseasonably warm weather returned to NSW this week after a brief spell of cold weather at the beginning of winter.
A series of cold fronts brought consecutive bouts of cold air to NSW at the end of May and during the opening week of June.
This wintry period brought widespread morning frosts and delivered more than 70 centimetres of snow in the alps, which was the best snow dump this early in the season for 19 years.
This week, warm air from central Australia has been dragged back across the state, ahead of an approaching cold front.
Temperatures reached the mid- to high-twenties in parts of western NSW on Wednesday. While this isn't as hot as it gets in summer, these temperatures were more around five to ten degrees warmer than usual for this time of year.
This week's warmer weather was made possible by a large high pressure system in the Tasman Sea, which prevented cold front crossing south-eastern Australia from pushing up into NSW.
These blocking highs have been a frequent feature during the last few months and caused NSW to register its fourth warmest autumn on record.
Milder weather will return to much of the state at the end of this week as the blocking high pressure system gives way to a low pressure trough. Unfortunately this trough won't bring widespread rain to western NSW.