The heat is affecting the air quality in Sydney with ozone leading to poor readings in east and north-west Sydney as well as the lower Hunter, central coast and Illawarra regions.
“Poor” denotes a score of between 100 and 149 on the air quality index. Parts of Sydney had recorded similar readings in early January.
Ozone is an irritant secondary pollutant formed by chemical reactions between atmospheric gases and nitrogen oxides from car-vehicle exhausts on sunny days. The problem is exacerbated by lack of wind.
Environment NSW has closed many national parks and reserves in Sydney, across the Hunter, central coast and Great Lakes regions, and the upper central west and north-west regions as a result of the elevated fire danger over the weekend.
The acting director of the metro branch of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Deon Van Rensburg, said the closures were about safeguarding the public when the risk of fire was high.
“We apologise for any inconvenience but are sure most will agree it is the right thing to do in the face of such extreme heat and heightened bushfire risk.”
Some visitor areas would remain open. For updates and the latest information visit Environment NSW’s website, but at this stage the closures will affect these parks across the Hunter, central coast and Great Lakes region:
Watagans national park
Blue Gum Hill national park
Karuah national park
Wallaroo national park
Karuah state conservation area
Medowie state conservation area
Karuah nature reserve
Medowie nature reserve
Wallingat national park
Jilliby state conservation area
Popran national park
Also affected were all parks across the upper central west and north-west areas, including:
Warrumbungle national park
Pilliga national park, Pilliga state conservation area and Pilliga nature reserve
Penrith at 44.5C as elsewhere in Sydney registers above 40C
Observations released by the Bureau of Meteorology just after 4pm have put Sydney airport at 39C, and 37.2C for Observatory Hill in Sydney.
Olympic Park, Badgerys Creek, Bankstown, Camden, Campbelltown, Canterbury, Holsworthy, Horsley Park, Lucas Heights, Mangrove Mountain, Richmond and Williamtown were all recording temperatures of above 40C.
In the Hunter region, Cessnock airport had recorded 43.3C and Maitland airport 42.8C.
Mudgee, in the central tablelands, had just cracked 40C, as had Canberra in the southern tablelands and Gunnedah airport in the north-west slopes and plains.
A statewide fire ban is in place over the weekend.
Statewide total fire ban Sat/Sun. Broad areas Severe and Extreme fire danger. Catastrophic conds from Central West to Hunter Sunday. #NSWRFSpic.twitter.com/rWYDH0hXJS
Liberal Senator, Chris Back, has just pointed out in the Senate committee that Perth has experienced its coldest February maximum temperature and its wettest February day.
Back, a West Australian, also objected earlier today to references to the “national electricity market” and “national electricity grid” because it implied there was a giant cable across the Nullarbor Plain when WA is in fact not connected to the “east coast electricity market”.
So it seems the point of this intervention is to demonstrate he is a proud West Australian rather than suggesting we all hop on a flight to Perth to cool down.
Further to the warning that Tomago aluminium smelter near Newcastle might have power cut to it this afternoon, the ABC Newcastle’s Giselle Wakatama has said it has been forced to shut down three potlines by energy provider AGL.
Tomago’s chief executive, Matt Howell, told ABC Newcastle that forcing the smelter to shut down power could cause catastrophic damage to equipment and was a disgrace. The Australian Workers Union has also resisted the decision.
The NSW energy minister, Don Harwin, has thanked Tomago for doing its bit to reduce demand on electricity.
According to the Newcastle Herald, the smelter consumed 12% of the state’s energy and was asked to reduce its energy consumption this afternoon. AGL said in a statement that it would cut power to the plant if necessary, as agreed with AEMO.
We’re nearing crunch time for electricity supply, with the Australian Energy Market Operator warning of potential shortfalls from 3.30pm AEDT. AEMO expects electricity demand in NSW to reach about 14,700 megawatts, the highest-ever level in the state. The real-time graphic showing electricity price and demand on its website is apparently not loading.
The Australian Workers Union has warned that the Tomago aluminium smelter near Newcastle could be “battered” if energy provider AGL cuts power for four hours this afternoon, as it threatened to do.
Workers would have to labour in 37C heat to save the plant’s equipment from destruction if that occurred, the AWU’s national secretary, Daniel Walton, said.
“Our information is that power could be cut this afternoon ... If that happens the results could be catastrophic,” he said. “Workers will have to pull out all stops in sweltering heat to save the plant’s equipment. They may not be successful.”
An outage at the Portland smelter in Victoria in 2016 destroyed millions of dollars worth of equipment, the union secretary said. AAP sought comment from AGL.
The Senate committee now has its star witness: the Australian Energy Market Operator’s executive general manager, David Swift. This is the body that intervened to “shed load”, ie order blackouts in South Australia when demand outstripped supply.
“We certainly weren’t asleep at the wheel,” Swift said of Wednesday’s blackout.
He explained AEMO’s forecast for energy demand was below what eventuated due to “the extremity of the day”.
“It was the highest day of demand ever in South Australia by quite a significant margin,” he said.
He said on Tuesday peak demand was 1,800MW. On the Wednesday it was over 3,000, which he called an “unprecedented rise and an unprecedented level of demand”.
By the time the gap in supply was clear, it was too late to order the second gas generator at Pelican Point.
The committee chair, Sarah Hanson-Young, wasn’t impressed: “My 10 year-old daughter knew it was going to be stinking hot on Wednesday.”
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