Sydney's Observatory Hill weather station has finally ended its longest spell below 30 degrees Celsius in 140 years.
After a battle worthy of the Australian Open played out today across Sydney, the temperate officially climbed to exactly 30.0C at 2:16pm.
It is the first time since February 21, 2022 that the mercury has hit 30C at Observatory Hill, near the CBD.
The battle was between a hot airmass engulfing NSW and an easterly airstream off the relatively cool Tasman Sea.
Sydney's official weather station just north of the CBD had recorded 330 consecutive days below 30C, second only to the record 339 days from 1882 to 1883.
Each 10 minute update at Observatory Hill shows a fluctuating reading, which had been nudging up and down tantalisingly close to the 30C mark with every movement of the sun and change in wind speed.
The early stages of the clash saw the temperature rise rapidly through the morning.
It was about 20C at sunrise but by 11:42am a warm northerly airstream along with summer sunshine had already sent the temperature up to 28.8C.
It was looking like game over, at the rate of increase the thermometer's trajectory was heading beyond 30 soon after midday.
But a major twist in the plot then arrived, a pseudo-sea breeze across Sydney Harbour suddenly strengthened from 19 to 28 kilometres per hour, and the result was a 2.5C temperature drop in 20 minutes as cool maritime air moved inland.
By 12pm, Sydney was back down to 26.3C, but the fight was not finished as the hottest time of day was still ahead and even as winds picked up further to 32kph at 12:20pm the temperature was able to regain ground back to 26.7C.
The early afternoon saw the battle heat-up even further as Western Sydney sweated in the mid 30s and the beaches remained closer to 25.
It was a case of now or never for Observatory Hill to break its low streak.
A cool southerly change overnight will drop Sydney city's maximums to the low-to-mid 20s for the remainder of the week.
