EXTREME HEAT TO PEAK THIS WEEKEND

By 11.30 this morning the most southern city in our broadcast area hit 40 degrees at Gosford. This is a sign of what’s to come as the heat creeps further north by the hour. By 12.30 Tocal in the Hunter Valley hit 40. By 2pm the weather stations hitting 40 degrees where dropping off like flies. The heat is going to be unrelenting with extremely hot nights. Suburbs to the west of Newcastle and across the Valley floor have forecast temperatures as high as 46 and 47 degrees for tomorrow. On Sunday the strong dry Westerly winds will push bushfire conditions to catastrophic for the Hunter. The high winds are due to the approaching cold front which will begin to move across the region on Sunday. This will be the best cold front of the year so far, finally strong enough to drive the extreme heat back into the nation’s red centre, delivering widespread relief to Northern New South Wales.