Winter has well and truly arrived in Sydney with temperatures in the city set to stay below 19 degrees for the first two weeks of June for the first time in more than 20 years.
After a high-pressure system arrived over NSW on Thursday, the Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a second series of cold fronts to cross southeastern Australia from Saturday, bringing the return of cold and windy weather, with snow possible in some parts of the state.
Surfers brave the cold at Bronte beach this morning where temperatures were below 10 degrees.Credit:Brook Mitchell
Sydney is expected to reach a maximum temperature of 18 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, with the forecast for even cooler weather through next week.
But meteorologist Jordan Notara, from the Bureau of Meteorology, said the wind chill factor was leaving Sydney feeling much cooler than the reported temperatures.
“A drier, windy day with cooler temperature results in a cooler ‘feels like’ temperature,” Notara said, which is why Sydneysiders might think the temperature gauge is lying to them when they step outside over the next couple of weeks.
Temperatures in Sydney dropped as low as 8 degrees on Friday, with north to north-westerly winds predicted to hit in the evening bringing showers and potentially snow for the Central West and Snowy Mountains.
Swimmers out at Bronte for sunrise despite the cool temperatures sweeping Sydney.Credit:Brook Mitchell
By next Wednesday, the bureau expects Sydney to shiver through a low of 7 degrees with northwesterly winds of up to 30 km/h to return, and a hazardous surf warning was in place for Friday across the NSW coast including Macquarie Coast, Hunter Coast, Sydney Coast and Illawarra Coast and the Batemans Bay coast, where waves reached above three metres on Thursday.
A spokesperson for Big W said they had sold 27,000 heaters in the past month, “a sign that Aussie families are stocking up for the cooler months ahead” and that puffer jacket sales are up 10 per cent compared to this time last year.