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The city posted its warmest autumn in almost 160 years of records for maximum temperatures with an average of 24.9 degrees, eclipsing 2016's previous record of 24.8 degrees, the bureau said.**
Rainfall at Observatory Hill, next to Sydney's CBD, was 165 millimetres in the March-May period, less than half the typical autumn falls of 378 millimetres. It was the city's driest autumn since 2006, Mr Brittain said.
"It's not good news for Sydney, or for NSW," Mr Brittain said. Farmers "will be hoping for some rain".
Showers, though, could be a regular feature for Sydney for the first week of June. Most days can expect some rain, with Tuesday's forecast of 5-15 millimetres currently the wettest of the coming week.
Big, slow-moving high-pressure systems were a feature of the autumn, especially over South Australia, pushing rain-bearing cold fronts south of the continent.
“There’s been a bit of a wall to those fronts, with that high parked there," Dr Watkins said. "It’s just been a barrier to anything moving up off the Southern Ocean and getting into inland Australia.”
Warm sea-surface temperatures - up to 2 degrees above average off eastern Australia - that contributed to the milder-than-normal conditions are also favouring that weather continuing for some time yet.
"We’re still looking at reasonably warm temperatures over winter over south-eastern Australia," Dr Watkins said.
Those hoping for a dump of natural snow ahead of the official opening of the ski season may also be disappointed.
A rare rainy day in Sydney - with odds favouring a continuation of the city's relatively dry and mild autumn well into winter.
Photo: Brook MitchellThere is little sign of significant cold fronts reaching alpine regions "over the next couple of weeks", Mr Brittain said.
Dr Watkins agreed that the current outlook “won’t necessarily favour an early start to the snow season” but not noted that "one big burst can completely transform the snow season”.
Snow isn't likely to feature much early in winter but conditions can change quickly.
Photo: Karleen MinneyAnd while the season ahead looks likely to be mild, winter is still on the way.
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“We’ll still get cool conditions, still get snow on the hills, some frosts," Dr Watkins said. “Winter will still come - we can’t cancel winter just yet”.
**An earlier version of this article said Sydney was likely to have posted its second warmest autumn on record.
Weatherzone is owned by Fairfax Media, publisher of this website.
Peter Hannam is Environment Editor at The Sydney Morning Herald. He covers broad environmental issues ranging from climate change to renewable energy for Fairfax Media.
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