Hot winds, cloud and minor dust storms blanketed the Riverina in a sickly yellow haze with added low humidity, with the mercury creeping past 41 degrees, just shy of the November record of 42.8 degrees Celsius.

The day started hot and stayed that way, only dipping down to 23 degrees overnight and reaching 30 degrees by 9am. It doesn't get any easier for suffering Riverina residents, with today forecast to reach 42 degrees and it could go higher if the cloud cover disappears.

It was no better around the Riverina with towns posting extreme November temperatures, with Gundagai and Narrandera reaching 41 degrees, Cootamundra 37 degrees and Tumbarumba 33 degrees.

Brayden Marshall, technical officer at the Bureau of Meteorology Forest Hill observatory said the Riverina was being squeezed by two hot weather patterns.

"We've got a high pressure system of the east coast which is combining with north-west winds coming from inland Australia creating very hot temperatures in the region," he said.

"There is high cloud cover and dust in the air which is helping to reduce the temperature but we can still expect extreme temperatures tommorrow with a forecast of 42 degrees.

"There is a little relief on the way with rain expected to hit the Riverina on Saturday and Sunday and a cool change to bring temperature back to the low 30's next week."

Today is expected to be the last day of extreme weather, which would be the 14th day in the current heat wave.

AS IT HAPPENED