IT WAS a scorching weekend of weather in the New England which won't be forgotten any time soon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Tamworth sweated and sweltered through one of the hottest December weekends on record, while a worsening bushfire crisis blanketed the region in a heavy smog.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the temperature peaked at 41.9 degrees at 4.30pm on Saturday afternoon.
READ MORE:
It fell short of predictions earlier in the week which forecast a high 43 degrees.
However, it still eclipsed the previous record high in Tamworth for December, 41.4 in 2009.
It has put the city on track to set a blistering new record for average top temperatures in the final month of the year.
December has already brought 15 days where the mercury has gone past 35 degrees.
The maximum temps have been more than five degrees above the long term mean (30.5) for this month and are on track to set a new record.
Some minor relief could be on the way with forecasts suggesting some showers and thunderstorms could be on the way.
It could pave the way for a relatively mild Christmas Day with a top of 34 degrees predicted.
Air quality in Tamworth regularly exceeded the state government's hazardous benchmark throughout the weekend as massive bushfires along the Great Dividing Range blanketed much of NSW in smoke.
Rural Fire Service incident controller Corey Philip kept an eye over 14 controlled fires stretching from the Upper Hunter to parts of the Gwydir shires this weekend.
Crews were particularly concerned with blazes near Dungowan Dam, Wallabadah, Retreat and Warrabah national park. Mr Philip said residents to the east of Dungowan Dam had power returned after a four-day blackout during containment efforts.
RFS teams from Gilgandra and Coonabarabran came to the region to assist on the weekend.
Mr Philip said easing conditions over Christmas should give the "stretched" local units time to rest after months on the fire-front, but urged people to stay vigilant.