Summer may be officially over, but the hot and dry weather seems to be settling in with temperatures expected to top 41-degrees in the Upper Hunter this weekend.
The mercury was expected to linger above 30 degrees for most of the week as showers and a possible thunderstorm cleared on Wednesday for sunny conditions and light winds Thursday and Friday.
Thursday reached a scorching 37-degrees in Muswellbrook and Denman and 36-degrees in Singleton and Merriwa.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology's seven-day forecast, these temperatures will continue for the coming days, with a peak of 41-degrees expected in Muswellbrook on Sunday.
With the Upper Hunter Show coming to Muswellbrook Showground this weekend, show goers are advised to bring a hat and sunscreen, stay hydrated and take advantage of the extra shade under the showgrounds upgraded covered area.
Forecasters were expecting hot and dry conditions to be the prevailing theme for the remainder of the year as the Bureau of Meteorology declared the end of the La Nina cycle, which describes the cool phase of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation and typically brings colder, wetter weather to large parts of the globe including Australia, after months of easing.
The cycle brought record rainfall over recent months to the eastern parts of the country, but the rising chance of an El Nino cycle bodes for drier, warmer weather in the long-view forecast.
Of the 27 El Nino years since 1900, 18 have been affected by winter and spring droughts, the Bureau of Meteorology told ACM, the publisher of this masthead.
The news comes as electricity consumption peaked in the state, as Sydney recorded its hottest March day in two years, coinciding with steep price hikes in power prices expected to land on consumers over the next few months.
The Australian Energy Regulator has forecast power prices could rise by as much as 23.7 per cent depending on the state and provider in the next fiscal year in its draft default market offer, which represents the most energy retailers can charge residential and small business customers.
A final decision on price increases is expected in May.
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Jess Wallace
Simon McCarthy
Simon McCarthy is a digital journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes and produces video and multimedia for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine, and co-produces the Toohey's News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
Simon McCarthy is a digital journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes and produces video and multimedia for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine, and co-produces the Toohey's News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
