Early heatwave in Australia

Heatwave early.....Australia on fire!

the Big Wobble,

20 November, 2015

Parts of Sydney have already reached 40 degrees Celsius as heatwave conditions grip much of New South Wales.

By 1:20pm, Penrith, in the city's west, reached 40.5C while the Observatory Hill weather station recorded 40.7C by 2:40m.

The weather bureau said westerly winds pushed temperatures up by 7C in just 10 minutes in the city. It was 40.4C at Bankstown, 40.8 at Holsworthy and 39.8 at Williamtown, in the Hunter.

In Gosford, on the central coast, it was 40.3C, and parts of western NSW had also exceeded 40C. Firefighters across the state, who have already battled several small blazes, have been warned strong winds and low humidity levels were exacerbating the fire risk.

A grassfire near Goulburn, on the state's southern tablelands, has caused the closure of the Hume Highway near the town.

A fire at a Transgrid substation in Sydney's south-west has cut power to 15,000 Endeavour Energy customers.

Transgrid said the heatwave had put the grid under heavy strain.

A severe weather warning for damaging winds in the Illawarra, Southern Tablelands, Riverina and Snowy Mountains was extended late this morning to include another five NSW districts, including the Sydney metropolitan area.

The weather bureau warned of possible gales over the southern ranges, southern inland and central parts of the coast.

Earlier today, firefighters contained a blaze at Marinna, north of Junee in the Riverina region, which burnt out 19 hectares.