It's too darn hot*

(*'Kiss Me Kate' by Cole Porter)

There's no doubt about Australia, we seem to have it all; within days of each other potentially killer cyclones in the north, floods, bushfires and at the moment a rather debilitating heatwave in Sydney.

The official temperatures given for Sydney can be misleading especially in summer. The readings are taken from Observatory Hill which is located in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge and are affected by harbour and sea breezes. When the Observatory was first established the overwhelming majority of Sydney's population lived very close to the coast and the recorded temperatures would realistically be those experienced by that majority. Nowadays Sydney is densely populated much further inland and currently more than 2 million live in what could be called Greater Western Sydney alone where summer maximum temperatures can routinely be 10 degrees and more higher than the readings at Observatory Hill. Even inner western suburbs are often clearly hotter in summer than the 'Sydney' readings.

The 'Sydney' maximums for the past four days of about 34c (93f) are hot enough but the readings for the western suburbs have been in the range 40c-42c (104f-108f). Either way, this is serious heat. The nights have been oppressive temperatures hovering for hours around 30c (86f) falling to 27c (81f) in the early morning.

I didn't have to endure that frightening cyclone last night and so have little to complain about weatherwise but still I can't wait for the cool change forecast for week's end.