Australia is having an unusually hot summer as the heatwave continues to break records. This is true for night-time lows as well as daytime highs.
On Thursday, Blair Trewin, senior climatologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said a minimum of 35.9 degrees Celsius was recorded at Noona in western New South Wales, while 35.6C was measured at Borrona Downs.
“Both of these broke the previous Australia record which was set in 1982 in Arkaroola, South Australia.”
Trewin said the current heatwave was shaping up as one of the most significant on record in inland New South Wales.
We have now seen five days in a row when temperatures remained in the 40s, and probably the only event that’s comparable on a statewide level was the January 1939 heatwave,” he added.
Queensland also broke its record for the most consecutive days above 40C after Cloncurry and Camooweal, in the state’s northwest, recorded 37 such days between December 16 and January 20.
The previous record was 31 days, set as recently as 2012.