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28 degrees at midnight: Sydney's warmest night in seven months

A blanket of cloud trapping warm air near the surface and a midnight wind change just caused Sydney to experience its warmest night in seven months.

After cooling to the low 20s late on Wednesday night, a west-northwesterly wind change caused warm inland air to drift over Sydney’s CBD from around 11pm. By midnight, the temperature in the city had climbed to 27.7°C as the warm winds gusted above 50 km/h.

Image: Temperature observations on the Weatherzone app for Sydney Observatory Hill, showing the temperature rising to 27.7°C at midnight.

The overnight warmth was exacerbated by a blanket of high cloud drifting over eastern NSW, which trapped heat near the surface by preventing it from radiate out into space.

Sydney’s lowest temperature on Wednesday night into Thursday morning was 22.2°C, which occurred at 6:45am shortly after sunrise. This was about 8.5°C above average for a minimum temperature at this time of year and equal to the city’s average maximum temperature in October.

Sydney hasn’t had a night this warm since a low of 24.5°C on March 16, almost seven months ago.

It’s not unusual for Sydney and other areas of Australia's east coast to experience bursts of warmth at this time of year. While the oceans to the east are still relatively cool in October, rising temperatures over Australia’s interior acts as a source of heat that can get pushed towards the coast under certain weather patterns.

There has been no shortage of hot air in western NSW this week, with maximum temperatures at Brewon, to the southwest of Walgett, reaching 37.8°C on Monday and 37.2°C on Wednesday.

Sydney is forecast to remain several degrees warmer than average for the rest of this week, with maximums in the high 20s and minimums in the high teens. Cooler temperatures will return from Monday under the influence of a southerly wind change.

Image: Daily forecasts for Sydney in the Weatherzone app, showing warmth persisting until the end of this week.