BATHURST temperature records are set to melt this week as an extreme heatwave grips the state.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 37.8 degrees that Bathurst endured last Tuesday set a record for a December day - surpassing the 37.5 degrees top on December 31, 2005 - but it is likely to be broken more than once before this week is out.
The Bureau of Meteorology is, at this stage, predicting 36 degrees on Wednesday, twin tops of 39 degrees on Thursday and Friday, a scorching 42 degrees on Saturday and 37 degrees on Sunday.
If that 42-degree day eventuates, it will not only break the record for Bathurst's hottest December day by four degrees, it will be Bathurst's hottest day at any time of the year on record.
That record stands at 41.5 degrees, which was set in February 2017.
Among Bathurst's neighbours, Orange is forecast to hit 40 degrees on Saturday, Dubbo is forecast to hit 45 degrees and Mudgee 44 degrees.
READ ALSO:
The Bureau of Meteorology says a "weak pressure pattern" has allowed the heat to build over the inland of the country with little disturbance from cold fronts and the late arrival of the monsoon over northern Australia has also contributed.
The heatwave will be exacerbated by the length of the days due to the summer solstice and depleted soil moisture due to the drought.
The extreme heat comes as Bathurst has recorded just three millimetres of rain this month - compared with the long-term average of 65mm - and as the city looks likely to fall about 200mm short of its long-term annual rainfall.
Chifley Dam, meanwhile, was at 37.1 per cent capacity as of last Tuesday.
It was 100pc on the same date in 2016, 90pc on the same date in 2017 and 58pc on the same date in 2018.
A total fire ban is in place for the Central Ranges on Monday, with these councils included in the ban: Bathurst, Blayney, Cabonne, Cowra, Lithgow, Mid-Western, Oberon and Orange.
Meanwhile, Bells Line of Road remains closed to traffic as firefighters battle the huge Gospers Mountain bushfire that is threatening Blue Mountains towns.
