About 1558 households were without power for more that four hours as the city baked in a scorching summer heat on Saturday, December 9, that saw near-record temperatures.
Ausgrid crews began tracking the outage, which impacted parts of Charlestown, Hillsborough and Warners Bay around 2.15pm as temperatures at the Bureau of Meteorology's Lake Macquarie station peaked at 40.6 degrees.
A spokesperson for the utility said that it appeared the outage was caused by a damaged pole, and added that power had been restored around 6.15pm.
Temperatures over 40 degrees were measured at Cessnock at 1pm, rising to a 41.8-degree peak at 3.30pm. Singleton shared the same temperature in the afternoon, and Maitland Airport recorded 42 degrees at 4pm. Williamtown reached a peak of 40.7, Merriwa and Scone lapped at 40- and 40.1 degrees, respectively, and Tocal recorded the hottest temperature in the region at 42.3 degrees at 3pm.
The highest recorded temperature in the Hunter Valley was at Singleton in January 2005, when the mercury reached 45.9 degrees. In Newcastle, the hottest day was measured at 42 degrees at Nobbys Head on December 23, 1990.
According to Bureau data, the Nobbys station measured the day's peak temperature at 38.5 degrees at 12.30pm on Saturday, as parts of the region scorched through the afternoon.
Few braved the midday heat at Nobbys, and the local slushie van vendor reported slow business, even for frozen treats, saying that the intense heat had kept most of his customers indoors.
Newcastle was forecast to reach 41 degrees on Saturday, observed at Bar Beach in the middle of the day.
A cloudier Sunday hinted at a reprieve with tops of 27 degrees before primarily sunny conditions and temperatures nearing 30 degrees return as the prevailing theme for the week ahead.
The Bureau has issued a three-day heatwave warning for much of the state, stretching into southern and western Queensland from Friday, November 8, through Sunday before it is expected to ease sometime around Monday. A severe thunderstorm warning has also been issued for parts of the Upper Hunter near Muswellbrook, Scone and Bulahdelah for damaging winds and possible hail.
