Australia heatwave: nation endures hottest day on record

19/12/2019

2020 Season

François-Xavier Branthôme

Australia,

PacificAsia

Australia has experienced its hottest day on record with the national average temperature reaching a high of 40.9°C (105.6°F). Taking the average of maximum temperatures across the country is the most accurate measure of a heatwave. The Bureau of Meteorology (Bom) said "extensive" heat on Tuesday (17 Dec.) exceeded the previous record of 40.3°C (104.5°F) set on 7 January 2013.
Australia heated up this week as a mass of hot air swept east across the continent, with meteorologists forecasting "severe to extreme heatwave conditions". Forecasters had predicted the most intense heat would come later in the week, meaning the record could be broken again.

According to Bom, Australia has warmed overall by just over 1°C since 1910, with most of the heating occurring since 1950. Nine of Australia's top 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 2005. Officials predict that 2019, on the temperatures recorded so far, will be among the four warmest years on record. Bom says it's expecting national mean temperatures to be at least 1.3°C above the long-term average of 27.5°C.
Several individual heat records for towns and cities have already been shattered. On Tuesday 17 Dec., places across the nation's centre recorded temperatures above 45°C. The temperatures expected for the afternoon of Friday 20 December in the Echuca region are expected to reach 44°C (112°F)