Sydney will see a dramatic change from the recent cooler weather with temperatures expected to reach the low to mid 30’s ahead of a gusty southerly change due later in the weekend.

The hot airmass has already reached southeast Australia today, with temperatures climbing up to 36 degrees in Adelaide and 33 in Melbourne. This heat will be forced further east this weekend ahead of a low pressure trough, which isn’t expected to reach Sydney until Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, the mercury will reach the mid thirties over western suburbs of Sydney, but a northeast seabreeze will hold temperatures closer to 30 degrees over eastern suburbs. Sunday will be just as warm, although cloud cover will be on the increase ahead of the southerly change.

That change is expected to reach Sydney during Sunday afternoon, bringing a burst of southerly winds of up to 80km/h along the coast. This will drop temperatures rapidly and will also bring showers and possibly even a few thunderstorms.

Sea fog looms over Sydney beaches

Sydney temperatures are on the rise, but early beach goers will be disappointed as sea fog skirts along the city’s coastline for the second time this week.

Sea fog forms when a humid airmass moves over a cooler body of water, which is quite common in spring. If the ‘dew point’ of the air is the same or higher than that of the sea surface, it typically results in condensation and fog.

A cold eddy located off the coast is providing a narrow tongue of cold water closer to shore, over which the sea fog is forming. East to northeast winds are now pushing this fog towards the coast.

This sea fog may linger over the city’s beaches through the morning as the easterly winds continue to push over the coastline. The rising temperatures should help burn off the fog towards the afternoon, as the air temperature climbs close to 30 degrees.

Fog is unlikely to return on Sunday as winds tend more westerly, holding any forming fog off the coast. These westerly winds will help the temperature to climb close to 30 degrees again on Sunday, before showers and storms roll in during the afternoon along a southerly change.

– Weatherzone