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Hottest day in 5 to 6 years as fires scorch parts of NSW

Hot, dry and windy weather caused Extreme fire danger across parts of NSW on Saturday, with parts of the state registering their highest temperatures in 5 to 6 years, while other areas endured damaging winds and severe thunderstorms.

Saturday’s volatile weather was caused by a hot air mass flowing over NSW on the northern side of a low pressure trough. This weather pattern also caused damaging winds and severe thunderstorms, both of which prompted warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology.

Hottest weather in years as fires take hold

Temperatures soared in the state’s west as Tibooburra reached 44.2°C, while Bourke, Brewon and White Cliffs all got above 43°C on Saturday. In the state’s east, Gosford hit 42.0°C and Badgerys Creek in Sydney climbed to 41.9°C.

Several locations in NSW had their hottest day in about 5 to 6 years on Saturday. Gosford’s 42°C was its highest temperature since January 2020, while Dubbo’s 42.1°C was its hottest day since December 2020.

Image: Modelled maximum temperature on Saturday, December 6, according to the ECMWF-HRES model. Source: Weatherzone.

The sweltering heat combined with dry winds to create Extreme fire danger ratings in some parts of the state. This hot, dry and windy weather caused numerous fires to burn out of control, including a blaze in Koolewong near Gosford that destroyed a number of homes.

Thunderstorms erupt in the west

The low pressure trough passing over NSW on Saturday triggered thunderstorms over a broad area of the state’s Central West and North West. These thunderstorms prompted a warning for damaging wind gusts.

Weatherzone’s Total Lightning Network detected 50,000 lightning pulses within 400 km of Nyngan, NSW during three hours on Saturday afternoon.

Image: Lightning pulses detected within a 400 km radius of Nyngan, NSW during the three hours ending at 4:30pm AEDT on Saturday, December 6, 2025. Source: Weatherzone.

Early-summer heatwave

Saturday’s hot weather is part of a heatwave that has been gripping parts of NSW over the last few days, with Severe heatwave conditions experienced in some areas. Severe heatwaves are the second highest level in the three-tiered heatwave intensity scale used in Australia. These heatwaves are likely to be challenging for vulnerable people, including older people, particularly those with medical conditions.

Based on average maximum temperatures between Thursday and Saturday, some areas in eastern NSW just had their warmest three-day December period in about 20 years.

Image: Heatwave severity over the three days from Thursday to Saturday this week. Source: Weatherzone.

Cool change on the way, before more warmth returns

A cool southerly change will move over much of NSW on Saturday night into Sunday morning, reaching Sydney around 6 am on Sunday, before weakening over the state’s north on Sunday. This southerly will flush the heat out of much of the state and bring some respite into the beginning of next week.

This relief will be short-lived through, with another warm air mass building over NSW in the middle of next week. Fortunately, this next round of heat won’t be as intense as this week’s heatwave and fire danger ratings shouldn’t be as high as Saturday.