Sydney braces for 33C as spring starts hottest since 1858, while snow falls in NSW mountains

Eastern Australia is facing an unusually hot start to spring, with meteorologists warning that early-September temperature records could fall in Brisbane and Sydney, even as snow was falling in the Snowy Mountains in southern New South Wales.

In Sydney, maximum temperatures in the first days of September were already approaching the city's midsummer average of 26.4C — the warmest start to spring since the Observatory Hill weather station opened in 1858. Some Sydney suburbs were forecast to reach as high as 33C on Saturday afternoon, about 13C above typical September averages.

A strong north-westerly wind blowing south from the continent's interior was expected to push temperatures even higher over the weekend, with the greatest anomalies felt along the NSW coast. Forecasters said the whole spring season could end up the hottest on record, with average temperatures potentially running three degrees above the recent-decades baseline.

The hot, dry and windy conditions have sharply raised fire danger, prompting a total fire ban across greater Sydney amid extreme fire risk. Dangerous weather was also affecting other parts of the country: South Australia faced damaging wind gusts capable of toppling trees and roofs, while parts of Victoria and Tasmania were at risk of minor to moderate flooding.

Meanwhile, in the ski resort town of Thredbo in the Snowy Mountains, snow was seen falling on Saturday, with daytime temperatures dropping to around -1C. Experts noted the new snow would do little good, however, since the region's snowpack is at a historic low for early September after a mild winter.

Southern Queensland was forecast to see temperatures near 30C, while parts of South Australia's mountain ranges could see wind gusts up to 110km/h. Northeastern Victoria and northern Tasmania faced heavy rain and flood watches in catchments already saturated from repeated winter flooding.

The extreme weather has been linked to a powerful El Niño event in the Pacific, described by the UN's weather agency as exceptionally strong and likely to persist into early 2027, raising the risk of heatwaves, drought and bushfires across several regions of Australia.