Victoria may have sweltered through its hottest temperatures on record, with preliminary readings of 48.9C at two locations in the state’s north-west both higher than that recorded during 2009’s Black Saturday.
According to initial data recorded by the Bureau of Meteorology, the Mallee towns of Hopetoun and Walpeup reached 48.9C on Tuesday afternoon. This would exceed the previous highest temperature of 48.8C, recorded at Hopetoun on 7 February 2009.
The data was to be validated by the BoM overnight.
But Dean Narramore, a senior meteorologist at the BoM, said temperatures at some other locations – including at the Ouyen Post Office – could record even higher temperatures, although that data would not be available until Wednesday morning.
“There’s some other stations that have manual observations that could come in higher,” he said.
The bureau said any state record would be confirmed when official numbers are released after 9am.
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The temperature in Mildura, also in the state’s north-west, hit 48.6C, breaking the Murray River city’s previous record of 46.9C, set in January 1990. Other locations – including Nhill, Warrnambool and Hamilton – set heat records for the month of January, Narramore said.
In Melbourne, the temperature in Laverton, in the city’s west, recorded 45.5C, Point Cook in the south-west hit 45.3C and Melbourne airport sweltered at 44.1C.
In South Australia, the hottest temperature for Tuesday was recorded at Renmark, which reached 49.6C – an all-time record for the rural town.
In far-western New South Wales, Narramore said all-time heat records were set in Fowlers Gap (49.1C), Broken Hill (47.8C) and Ivanhoe (48.3C), according to preliminary observations.
He said heat that would normally sit over central Australia had moved south-east and had “nowhere to go”, because it had been trapped by a blocking high in the Tasman and remnants of ex-tropical cyclone Luana in Western Australia.
“There’s no cold front to clear it out, so it’s just got hotter every day which is why we’re seeing this record heat,” he said.
Narramore said western NSW, southern Queensland and inland South Australia could expect another very hot day on Wednesday.
“That will continue Thursday, Friday and Saturday before a strong cold front finally clears the heat from south-east Australia [on] Saturday and Sunday,” he said.
Temperatures in southern Victoria were expected to be much cooler on Wednesday but the extreme heat will continue in the north of the state, with four more days of temperatures in the low to mid 40s forecast.
Emergency warnings as properties lost in fires
Fires continued to burn at emergency level in Victoria on Tuesday, with the Country Fire Authority’s chief officer, Jason Heffernan, warning it was “not a day for complacency” and urging people to restrict travel.
A fire in Larralea was causing significant concern, with an emergency warning in place.
“That fire is burning in a south-easterly direction, and we’ve had 40 tankers respond to that,” said the Country Fire Authority’s deputy chief officer, Rohan Luke.
He said that it was “the most significant fire for us, outside of the existing fires in the landscape”.
It was among six major blazes across Victoria – three of which were burning out of control on Tuesday afternoon.
Emergency services said three properties were reported to have been lost.
Another emergency warning was in place for the Carlisle River fire on Tuesday afternoon, with residents urged to take shelter.
Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, Tim Wiebusch, said a total fire ban had been declared in the Wimmera and north-east fire districts for Wednesday.
The fire danger was also extreme across much of South Australia, including the eastern Eyre peninsula, mid north, Mount Lofty ranges, Yorke Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Riverland, Murraylands and across the south-east.
For many in Victoria the heatwave would be difficult to fathom, senior meteorologist Jonathan How said. Anything above 48C was extremely rare for the state.
Maximum temperatures of 45C had been forecast for Melbourne, up to 20 degrees above average, and the hottest day for the city since Black Saturday saw temperatures reach 46.4C.
Victoria’s chief health officer, Dr Caroline McElnay, said prolonged heat, together with high overnight temperatures, posed an increased risk of heat-related illness.
“Heat‑related illness can come on quickly, so it’s important to know the warning signs,” McElnay said.
“The telltale symptoms include heavy sweating, dizziness, nausea, headache, pale or clammy skin, or feeling unusually weak or confused. If someone shows signs of heatstroke, such as very high body temperature, red hot skin, confusion or loss of consciousness, call triple zero immediately.”
It was Australia’s second major heatwave for January, and came off the back of one early in January, which analysts said was made five times more likely due to global heating.
The climate crisis has increased the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, including heatwaves and bushfires.
Hotter-than-average days and nights were expected to continue until April for much of the country, according to the latest long-range forecast. Sea surface temperatures would remain warmer than average globally, including around Australia.
– with additional reporting by Nick Visser
