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Heatwaves and hot days during an Australian summer may seem unremarkable. Days spent at the beach, sunburn and mosquitoes are part of the national psyche, along with outback pubs serving crisp lager as relief from searing afternoon heat.<\/p>\n
But when the opal mining town of Andamooka (population 262) in the far north of South Australia reached 50 degrees on Thursday, it was only the eighth time in recorded history anywhere in Australia.<\/p>\n
It was also the highest temperature recorded so far in what meteorologists have dubbed a \u201cdome of heat\u201d that began with exceptional temperatures in the west and moved into south-eastern Australia, where it still lingers. With no cold front to clear it out, the heat had \u201cnowhere to go\u201d \u2013 trapped by a blocking high in the Tasman and remnants of ex-tropical cyclone Luana in Western Australia.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult to compare one heatwave with another \u2013 this one came hot on the heels of one earlier in January, which scientists say was made five times more likely by global heating. During that event the fires that ignited across Victoria burnt 435,000 hectares of land (1.1m acres), and killed thousands of flying foxes in the worst mass fauna mortality event since the Black Summer of 2019\u201320.<\/p>\n
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But Bureau of Meteorology senior climatologist Dr Simon Grainger says the latest heatwave is worse. For south-east Australia, it is among \u201cthe most significant we\u2019ve ever seen\u201d, he says, for its intensity, duration, temperatures and for the length of time the heat has remained above certain thresholds \u2013 comparable to January 2009 and January 1939.<\/p>\n
About 50 weather stations \u2013 mostly scattered across western New South Wales, western Victoria and eastern South Australia \u2013 have recorded their highest temperatures, Grainger says.<\/p>\n
Victoria set a state all-time record of 48.9C on Tuesday in the Mallee towns of Hopetoun and Walpeup. On the same day, just over the border, the village of Pooncarie hit 49.7C, equalling the second highest temperature recorded in NSW.<\/p>\n
In Australia\u2019s alps, where an average January day might be expected to reach 18C, temperatures climbed above 30C for the first time.<\/p>\n
On 28 January, the ski town of Falls Creek recorded 30.5C, and Perisher Valley in NSW reached 30.8C \u2013 records for both places. \u201cThose are pretty remarkable temperatures,\u201d Grainger says.<\/p>\n
In comparison, on the same day, Melbourne was 23.6C, and Sydney 28.5C, he says. \u201cWe were seeing higher temperatures 1,700 metres above sea level than we were [experiencing] down in Melbourne and Sydney at sea level.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/span>It\u2019s one way to cool down: South Australians took to the coast for some respite. <\/span> Photograph: Amer Ghazzal\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Not surprisingly, during such events, the spotlight falls on record breaking heat recorded during the day. But overnight temperatures can be even more damaging.<\/p>\n On Monday in Adelaide, people craving relief after the mercury hit 44.7C \u2013 the city\u2019s hottest day since 2019 \u2013 had to sweat through their hottest night since records began, with temperatures dipping to only 34.1C \u2013 about 18C above average \u2013 before quickly rising back above 40.<\/p>\n Dozens of inland towns and cities across South Australia, Victoria and NSW have faced five days or more above 40C. In some places, such as Albury in NSW, the heat might last for a week.<\/p>\n Graeme McCrabb, from the western NSW town of Menindee where temperatures reached 49.1C on Tuesday, says the heat left everyone ducking for cover. \u201cThey get off the streets, get inside and in front of air con.\u201d<\/p>\n Towns including Maree in South Australia, and Wilcannia and White cliffs in NSW, sweated through three consecutive days of at least 48C, Grainger says. \u201cFor New South Wales, that\u2019s never been seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n Such prolonged heat \u201cbecomes really hard to bear, because people\u2019s reserves just get worn down,\u201d says A\/ Prof Mark Putland, the director of emergency medicine at Royal Melbourne hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople\u2019s houses just heat up. It gets difficult when it doesn\u2019t cool down at night and people don\u2019t get any relief.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>Bushfires continue across Victoria as the state experiences some of its hottest weather on record.<\/span> Photograph: Michael Currie\/EPA<\/p>\n Extreme heat is the most common cause of weather-related hospitalisations in Australia, killing more people than all other natural hazards combined. Stifling conditions, and sleep-less nights can be a deadly combination.<\/p>\n \u201cEven while you\u2019re asleep, extreme overnight heat can be dangerous,\u201d warns Dr Caroline McElnay, Victoria\u2019s chief health officer. \u201cWhen temperatures stay high overnight, your body can struggle to cool down, increasing the risk of heat stress or more dangerous heatstroke.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s still too early to know the full extent of the health affects, but heat-related admissions to emergency departments in Adelaide have tripled compared with January 2025, based on preliminary data.<\/p>\n In Melbourne, authorities issued air quality alerts warning people to stay indoors after smoke from fires burning in the Otways had drifted into the city.<\/p>\n Amid dire forecasts and heat health warnings, some of the country\u2019s biggest sporting events carried on.<\/p>\n The Australian Open tennis went ahead, despite raised eyebrows, under extreme heat protocols. On the worst days, play on the outer courts was suspended and thousands of fans stayed away, which could cost the tournament an estimated $1m in lower-than-expected ticket, food and beverage revenue. Some are wondering how long it can remain feasible to hold the event outdoors in January as global heating continues to intensify.<\/p>\n Other events have made more substantial changes. The Tour Down Under cycling had been scheduled to traverse its most demanding stage at Willunga Hill, south of Adelaide, as the city was forecast to hit 42C, but the extreme heat and fires prompted organisers to make a last minute change to the route.<\/p>\n Meteorologists expect the heatwave to finally clear the country on Sunday, just as a new month begins. But hotter-than-average days and nights are likely to continue into autumn, according to the latest long-range forecast.<\/p>\n With additional reporting by Melissa Davey and Lisa Cox<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Heatwaves and hot days during an Australian summer may seem unremarkable. Days spent at the beach, sunburn and mosquitoes are part of the national psyche, along with outback pubs serving crisp lager as relief from searing afternoon heat. But when the opal mining town of Andamooka (population 262) in the far north of South Australia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[2029,131,872,813,446,1099,1050,4005,9662],"class_list":{"0":"post-43229","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-australias","9":"tag-day","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-heatwave","12":"tag-night","13":"tag-record","14":"tag-relief","15":"tag-ways","16":"tag-worst"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Hot summer nights hard to bear<\/h2>\n
Hospital admissions soar<\/h2>\n
Play continues at the tennis<\/h2>\n