If you found yourself feeling particularly sweaty on your way to and from the office yesterday, you don’t need to blame your holiday indulgence. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Thursday, January 11 was Sydney’s muggiest day on record, and the humidity isn’t going anywhere fast.
According to meteorologist Ben Domensino, the hourly dew point – the measure of humidity/ mugginess – at Sydney’s Observatory Hill reached a record temperature of 25.9°C yesterday morning, and data from the Met office shows that humidity levels reached 94 per cent in Sydney yesterday, well above our average humidity level of 61 per cent. This kind of extreme humidity is akin to that experienced in more tropical regions such as Darwin, where average humidity during the wet season sits between 70 and 80 per cent.
Unfortunately for those who don’t cope well with the tropical heat, Sydney’s humid conditions don’t seem to be going away fast – with humidity predicted to reach 93 per cent today (Friday, January 12) and Saturday set to be another humid day with a real feel temperature of 33°C. On Sunday, it’s looking like we’ll get a slight reprieve from the stickiness, with temperatures set to drop down to 25°C across the city.
And what does humidity mean, apart from some alarmingly damp clothing? Humidity is a prerequisite for clouds – so we can expect more stormy weather over the coming days. If you don’t want a storm to ruin your plans, we’d recommend keeping an eye to the sky (or just stick to our list of the best things to do indoors).