Record Australian heat wave cooks steak in car
Meteorologist
Sunday, January 20, 2019, 6:24 PM - While much of Canada has been in the grip of intense cold, it's been quite the other story on the opposite side of the globe, where Australia has been smashing all-time records in the midst of a ferocious heat wave. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said the six days between January 12 and 17 marked the hottest ten days on record in the country; even the hottest-on-record minimum temperature was toppled by a scorching 35.9ºC reading -- the 'coldest' it got in the town of Noona overnight on January 17-18.
You've likely seen cookies baked in cars and eggs fried on sidewalks amid our own heat waves here at home, but with temperatures topping 40ºC for 37 days and counting since December 16 in some places, Aussies are finding new ways to showcase the searing heat -- quite literally.
Image courtesy Mildura Dockside Cafe
A combination of factors are to blame for the heat, according to meteorologists from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). In particular, the delayed onset of monsoon rains in the north, and the lack of typical cool fronts spinning up from the Antarctic in the south have exacerbated the warmth.
While a cool-down was expected this weekend, it won't be long-lived.
“For pretty much most locations in the southern part of Australia, the heatwave is over,” said the Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Dean Narramore told the Guardian late last week, "but then we’ll start seeing the heat return at least in Adelaide as we move into Monday, back into the high 30s." Narramore added that the rest of South Australia is also headed up this week; "into the mid 40s probably from around Tuesday."
The heat wave has been blamed for massive die-offs of bat and fish populations, and losses for farmers who are seeing fruit still on the tree cook from the inside out.
Sources: Guardian | Stuff | Bureau of Meteorology | CNN |
