Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've worked at Onslow.....at least when it gets that hot, it suppresses the bushflies. Flies are horrendous throughout the Pilbara, and we always know the heat is extreme if the flies are not active.
Surely somebody could come up with a better photo for the place for Wikipedia. Or is it that bad?
Onslow, Western Australia 2
Calistemon, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
One curious thing I note about the hot spots in Australia western area (Marble Bar&co) is clearly the hottest in the country on averages, but the highest extremes doesn't belong to that zone, but to south-central Australia, with places like the still 'untouchable' Oudanatta leading or Birdsville, etc.
Surely somebody could come up with a better photo for the place for Wikipedia. Or is it that bad?
Onslow, Western Australia 2
Calistemon, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
It is bad....haha. I drove the 3000klm there from Darwin in 1999 to work on the Onslow Solar Salt Project. We arrived in town only 2-3 days after a Cat 5 Cyclone including a storm surge had trashed the town. Roofs off buildings, trees defoliated, and sea water in the town, killing grass and gardens.
I thought, 'jeez, what have I let myself in for...' ?
But I really had a great time there, professionally and socially, was a geat place to work hard and play harder....lol !
Called in during 2013 and had a look around, looked at our old prject and had a coupla beers and a meal at the Pub.
One curious thing I note about the hot spots in Australia western area (Marble Bar&co) is clearly the hottest in the country on averages, but the highest extremes doesn't belong to that zone, but to south-central Australia, with places like the still 'untouchable' Oudanatta leading or Birdsville, etc.
The Pilbara extremes may be moderated by a couple of things - altitude and sea breezes.
The coastal locations ( Mardie, Onslow, Roebourne, Port Hedland etc ), well it really depends on the timing of the sea breeze, as can be seen in the last couple of days with the extreme heat recorded before midday.
And much of the inland Pilbara is at 300m asl - 600m asl. Even the modest altitude of Marble Bar ( 182m ) is enough to make it very difficult to get to that elusive 50c mark.|
Using the DALR of about 1c per 100m of altitude, much of Central Australia has a sea level equivalent of 51c-52c.
Low altitude sea level sites along the Southern Coasts have had temps +49c and +48c temps have been recorded at low altitude inland sites in SA, VIC,NSW and QLD.
A couple of real standouts ( given the altitude ) is a 46.5c at Yuendumu, NT ( 667m asl ) and astonishingly a 49.0c at Leonora WA in Jan 2013 ( 376m asl ) ! Wiluna at 521m asl gets an honourable mention too - 48.0c also in Jan 2013. One can surmise that pool of hot air over lower altitude sites would have produced a +50c recording.
Aussie heat and cold records by State
Historic Holiday Heat In Perth
( source: Weatherzone )
An extreme holiday heatwave will hit Perth over Christmas, with the city a chance of setting a new national record for the hottest Christmas Day in an Australian capital city.
A mass of hot air will be drawn over southwestern Australia over the coming days as a high pressure system passing to the south of the state drives warm continental air towards a West Coast Trough.
This weather setup is notorious for generating heatwaves in Perth at this time of year, and this one will certainly live up to its reputation.
Image: A tongue of heat will extend across western districts of WA on Christmas Day.
Temperatures are forecast to reach around 38ºC today (Christmas Eve), before rocketing to 42 or 43ºC on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Overnight minimums will only dip to the high-twenties on Saturday and Sunday nights, before another two days with maximums hitting the low-forties or high-thirties on Monday and Tuesday next week.
This run of heat will be intense enough to qualify as an Extreme heatwave on the Australian scale. These heatwaves are rare and can cause problems for anyone that doesn’t take precautions to keep cool, including people that are otherwise healthy.
Jurien Bay, 220klm north of Perth has a forecast max of 46c Xmas Day which would be an all time record for the site ( data since 1969 )
Australia has only ever seen 42ºC reached at one of its official capital city weather stations twice on Christmas Day. These were 42.0ºC at Perth Regional Office in 1968 and 42.1ºC at Adelaide’s West Terrace weather station in 1888.
There is a good chance that Perth will warm past these historic holiday figures and set a new record.
It should also be the first time an Australian capital city has exceeded 41ºC on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
One curious thing I note about the hot spots in Australia western area (Marble Bar&co) is clearly the hottest in the country on averages, but the highest extremes doesn't belong to that zone, but to south-central Australia, with places like the still 'untouchable' Oudanatta leading or Birdsville, etc.
That's not so unusual is it? Aren't highest extremes typically at slightly higher latitudes where summer days are a bit longer and often there is greater acidity.
Pretty extreme heatwave in Perth looming. 39C today and now the Australian Bureau of Meteorology is predicting for the next 4 days 43C, 44C, 40C and 39C. The record max for December of 44.2C could easily be broken. Boxing Day minimum of 28C forecast which would be the highest minimum for December.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
