It has sure felt like summer in Sydney this weekend, with hot, sunny and dry conditions driving lockdown able people to the beach in masses.

Sydney’s Observatory Hill weather station reached maximum temperatures of 29.3°C on Saturday, and 30.1°C on Sunday (as of 3pm). This makes it the hottest weekend in Sydney since January, 7 months ago, when January 23rd and 24th reached 31.9°C and 34.2°C, respectively. A pretty tough mark to beat for the second weekend of spring. 

Image: Webcam imagery showing a very busy locked down Bondi Beach as residents escape the early spring heat. (www.surfline.com)

This heat has been filtering into NSW ahead of a broad, slow moving low pressure trough over the last few days. Sydney Airport was the warmest location in Sydney, reaching a maximum of 31.5°C, while Bourke Airport was the hottest location in NSW on Sunday with a maximum of 32.7°C. 

Dry and exceedingly gusty northwesterly winds have prevented the cooling effects of local coastal seabreezes, while also bringing elevated fire danger ratings of Very High across the Greater Sydney, Greater Hunter and North Coast Fire Areas on Sunday. A number of bush and grass fires have sparked today across eastern NSW between the Northern Rivers and the Illawarra. 

Image: Bushfire burning at Dee Why Beach. 

Relief from this heat is on its way as a cooling southwesterly wind marches into the city in the late afternoon. This cooling change reached Ulladulla just after 1:30pm this afternoon, bringing a rapid drop of over 5°C in less than 15 minutes.