SYDNEY, Sept 21 (NNN-AAP) – The Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), yesterday saw an increasing number of wildfires, due to intense heatwaves and strong winds, before a cool change would bring some relief from the hot days.
According to NSW Rural Fire Services (NSW RFS), at 6:00 p.m. local time, there were 73 fires burning across the state, while 30 remained to be contained. Over 1,000 firefighters were racing against the clock to control the flame.
“Due to hot, dry, and windy conditions today, several areas in the state’s north will continue to experience high fire danger, with a Total Fire Ban in place for the North Western area,” the NSW RFS announced, on its social media.
During the daytime, Bourke town in the state’s north-west registered a maximum temperature of 36.8 degrees Celsius, hotter than any other area of NSW, while Sydney saw mercury soaring up to 33.9 degrees Celsius.
Strong winds also triggered severe weather warnings of damaging winds in south-eastern NSW, with Perisher Valley recording a 105 km/h wind gust at 4:12 a.m. local time.
Miriam Bradbury, senior meteorologist at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, said in a weather update that, after record heat, dangerous fire weather conditions and gusty winds yesterday, a cold front moving from Victoria would bring some “welcome relief” to NSW.
“It’s not going to be until later in the evening that we see this wind change reach Illawarra, and later tonight, or early tomorrow morning, that it sweeps through the Sydney area,” Bradbury noted. “North-eastern parts of NSW are unlikely to see the change until the early hours of tomorrow.”
However, the cooler relief may not last long, as NSW RFS Spokesperson, Angela Burford, revealed that, a return to fire conditions would occur early next week.
“We are definitely going to see warm, windy conditions this year, and it’s going to be very challenging,” Burford told the Sydney Morning Herald.– NNN-AAP
