The arrival of thin cloud late afternoon on Thursday meant a maximum of 29.8C was just below the peak of Wednesday, even so it was 10.9C above the 39-year average. The residual warmth in the ground from the heat of the day and cloud cover meant another very warm night with a minimum of 15.C being 5.7C above average.
The last few days have been memorable for not only the heat but very calm conditions. Many days have seen air movement and a peak gust in single figures. For much of the past night the anemometers have been stationary. During these periods thin threads of gossamer have floated in the air and wrapped themselves around at least one anemometer. It took a very long fibre glass extending pole to reach the anemometer, three metres above ridge height, and free up that instrument as it takes a surprisingly strong gust for the instrument to break free.
Friday began with weak sunshine due to high, thin cloud. The air movement is forecast to veer into the southwest today, not seen since last month, and continue very light as the anticyclone begins to move away. The barometric pressure has dropped 10mb since its peak on Saturday.
Update at 17.15: thermometer rose above 30C again with a maximum of 30.2C at 15.38, fractionally down on the record high of 30.3C on Wednesday.