Heat waves

Periods with a number of successive days having a temperature higher than 40°C are relatively common in summer over parts of Australia. With the exception of the north-west coast of Western Australia, however, most coastal areas rarely experience more than three successive days of such conditions. The frequency increases inland, and periods of up to ten successive days have been recorded at many inland stations. This figure increases to more than 20 days in parts of western Queensland and north-west Western Australia. The central part of the Northern Territory and the Marble Bar-Nullagine area of Western Australia have recorded the most prolonged heat waves. Marble Bar is the only known station in the world where temperatures of more than 37.8°C (100°F) have been recorded on as many as 161 consecutive days (30 October 1923 to 7 April 1924).

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