A town in Western Australia’s Pilbara region has been feeling the heat, sizzling through the second-hottest December day ever recorded in Australia.
The mercury tipped 49.4 degrees Celsius in Roebourne yesterday.
The record temperature in the town was also the hottest-ever December day recorded in WA and the fifth hottest day ever recorded in WA.
The state’s previous December record was 48.8, which was recorded at the Pilbara town of Mardie in 1986.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Neil Bennet says Roebourne’s December record is just short of Australia’s hottest December day.
It was just 0.1 degrees behind the 49.5 degrees recorded at Birdsville in Queensland on Christmas Eve in 1972.
He told the ABC it also fell short of beating the hottest day ever recorded in WA.
“Even though that is very warm that 49.4, that’s still shy of the all-time record for WA which was 50.5 at Mardie, and that occurred on February 19, 1998,” he said.
Hot temperatures continued in the region on Thursday with Onslow Airport recording a maximum of 49.2 degrees at 1.05pm (AWST) before a sea breeze brought some relief to residents.
