Residents across the Orana region were sweltering on Saturday as the mercury steadily headed up towards 40 degrees Celsius or more.
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The weatherzone website reported the temperature at Dubbo at 5pm was 40.3 degrees.
The city’s reading was up from 39.8 degrees at 3.30pm and 37.7 at lunchtime.
Overnight temperatures in the city didn’t bring much relief from Friday’s heat.
At midnight on Friday, Dubbo recorded a temperature of 28.9.
Weatherzone’s reported temperatures at Orana’s main centres at 5pm on Saturday.
Narromine, Gilgandra and Wellington (like Dubbo) stood at 40.3 degrees.
Nyngan stood at 41.3
Cobar was at 41.5
Brewarrina and Bourke stood at 40.4
Coonamble was at 41.2
Walgett and Lightning Ridge reached 41.3
Mudgee was at 36.5
Coonabarabran stood at 37.1
It was forecast last week that some parts of the Orana region could have temperatures in the 40s for as long as five days.
Dubbo’s five days of extreme heat started on Friday when the top temperature reached 40 degrees Celsius.
At Dubbo on Sunday the mercury is predicted to hit 41 degrees with even higher temperatures of 43 degrees on Monday and 42 degrees on Tuesday.
Fire crews are on standby to deal with elevated fire risks from the high temperatures.
The NSW Rural Fire Service began preparations on Monday, knowing that the hot weather was on its way to communities.