Summer has come and gone, but hot and dry weather appears to be settling in over the Hunter well into the week ahead.
The mercury was expected to linger above 30 degrees for most of the week as showers and a possible thunderstorm clear Wednesday to sunny conditions and light winds Thursday and Friday.
Forecasters were expecting hot and dry conditions to be the prevailing theme for the remainder of the year as the Bureau of Meteorology declared the end of the La Nina cycle, which describes the cool phase of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation and typically brings colder, wetter weather to large parts of the globe including Australia, after months of easing.
The cycle brought record rainfall over recent months to the eastern parts of the country, but the rising chance of an El Nino cycle bodes for drier, warmer weather in the long-view forecast.
Of the 27 El Nino years since 1900, 18 have been affected by winter and spring droughts, the Bureau of Meteorology told ACM, the publisher of the Newcastle Herald, Wednesday.
The news comes as electricity consumption peaked in the state Monday, as Sydney recorded its hottest March day in two years, coinciding with steep price hikes in power prices expected to land on consumers over the next few months.
The Australian Energy Regulator has forecast power prices could rise by as much as 23.7 per cent depending on the state and provider in the next fiscal year in its draft default market offer, which represents the most energy retailers can charge residential and small business customers.
A final decision on price increases is expected in May.
Clearing cloud about the Upper Hunter was coupled with scorching 37-degree days in the weekend forecast for Muswellbrook and Scone; 36-degrees at Singleton; and 35-degrees at Maitland and Cessnock.
Wednesday on the beaches saw smaller waves between three- and four-foot, but cleaner conditions best suited to to southern ends at dawn and favouring Nobbys and Newcastle Beach as the tide turned. May has traditionally proven a consistent month for clean waves at Newcastle Beach with best conditions on the south-east swell coupled with an offshore north-west wind.
Wednesday was a warm day, with water temperatures feeling close to 22 degrees and waves around 1.7 metres at 10-intervals.
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