Weather records have been broken across Western Australia as a severe heatwave batters much of the state’s south.
The heat peaked before midday for many spots around metropolitan Perth, as an early sea breeze swept through the city.
Perth reached a maximum of 42.6 degrees Celsius at 11:04am, exceeding the forecast 41C, but not topping its all-time highest February maximum of 44.5C.
It was a different story in the city’s inland eastern suburbs where residents experienced even hotter conditions.
Ellenbrook and Midland were forecast to hit 45C, while the Perth Hills suburb of Kalamunda was predicted to hit 44C and Armadale to reach 43C.
While the weather bureau does not collect historical data for those areas, because there aren’t any automatic weather stations at those sites, the closest spots — Perth Airport and Pearce — both got to the mid 40s.
Perth Airport reached 44.6C at 11:43am, while the Pearce RAAF site clocked in a scorching 45.2C — just 0.5C off its February record of 45.7C in 1997, and only 0.8C away from its hottest day ever in January 1977.
Gooseberry Hill reached a top of 44.9C just minutes before midday.
Scorcher in Geraldton
In WA’s Mid West region, Geraldton Airport had its hottest day in 12 years for the second day in a row, reaching 46.5C on Thursday, making it the second highest temperature for the site since records began in 1941.
Its record is 47.3C.
Bickley, in the Perth Hills got to a high of 42.1C, beating its previous record of 42C.
Bridgetown in WA’s South West also recorded its hottest day in 25 years, with a top of 42.6C.
Collie east has beaten its record maximum temperature of 41.3C, after reaching 42.4C on Thursday.
Duty forecaster Angeline Prasad said the heatwave is unlikely to ease until sometime on Saturday for much of WA.
She said it’s not only daytime temperatures to be aware of, but night-time temperatures which are also above average for this time of year.
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