Scorcher
Elizabeth February 7th, 2009
Melbourne’s all-time weather record has been broken and the city is sweltering under the twin effects of high temperatures and hot north-west winds.
The city hit 46.4 degrees at 3.04pm – the hottest day since the Bureau of Meteorology started keeping records 150 years ago.
The previous record was 45.6, set on January 13, 1939 – a day otherwise known as Black Friday.
“I’ve got a massive spreadsheet here of maximum temperatures and it doesn’t mean anything any more. The whole thing’s gonna have to be rewritten,” BoM senior forecaster Terry Ryan said.
“Most places around the state will break all-time records.”
- The Age
For those of you who are still operating in Fahrenheit, that’s 115.6 degrees.
We have family in town this weekend, and with only two non-working days to give them the tour of Melbourne it would have been nice to make use of today. Instead, my cousin ducked out early to stock up on croissants, muffins and pastries… and from that point on we just bunkered down in the living room with our feast and one little airconditioner. There was plenty of Wii tennis and golf, plenty of Guitar Hero and I suspect beer and SingStar will soon follow.
The six-year-old in the house stripped down to his undies hours ago, and whenever he takes a turn at Guitar Hero he looks like a short (and cuter) Iggy Pop. Very funny – especially with the victory dances!
Anyway, I just thought it important to note this record-breaking day in some way. I have just taken a completely cold shower, and I guess my bathroom got so hot today that the shampoo felt like gravy when it hit my hand. I’ve never experienced this kind of brutal heat before and I’m feeling very sorry for anybody having to endure it without airconditioning.
Stay cool, Melburnians. Tomorrow it will be a gorgeous 24C, which should make for an utterly perfect St Kilda Festival. One more sleep!
