BATHURST'S hottest day of the summer so far is on the horizon - but, as befitting a La Nina period, it will be far from a scorcher.
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A pair of 32-degree days are forecast for Sunday and Monday, which, if they eventuate, will better the 30.6 degrees last month that was summer's best effort to this point.
Weatherzone meteorologist Felix Levesque said a hot air mass over the central and southern parts of Australia had already affected Adelaide (the South Australian capital is forecast to get close to 40 degrees on Friday).
IN OTHER NEWS AROUND BATHURST:
As a trough shifted east into NSW, it would bring that hot air mass over Bathurst, he said.
Though the two 32-degree days would be hot by the standards of this summer, Mr Levesque said they would still be well below the 35 Bathurst recorded in November 2020, the 37 the city got at the start of December 2020 and the 36 in January 2021.
The 32-degree maximums will be four degrees above the long-term average for January for Bathurst.
"It [lower temperatures this summer] does go along with the general pattern expected," he said.
"We've got some pretty significant cloud cover and frequent enough showers to limit the potential for significant heat."
The forecast shows temperatures moving back to the early to mid 20s for Bathurst next week.
"Under a La Nina pattern, you are less likely to receive more extreme temperatures, but you can never tell," Mr Levesque said of the potential for hotter days this summer.
"It just needs a really hot air mass to build up."
Bathurst has ended the year with just under 980 millimetres of rain.
