Australia’s southern states are scorching in extreme heat that could break temperature records in Victoria and South Australia on Tuesday.
At Ouyen and Mildura in north-west Victoria, temperatures of 49C were forecast for Tuesday afternoon. If reached, they would break the state’s all-time temperature record of 48.8C, set in Hopetoun on Black Saturday in 2009. By 1pm, temperatures of 46.2C in Ouyen and 44.8C in Mildura had been recorded.
At Ouyen and Mildura in north-west Victoria, temperatures of 49C were forecast for Tuesday afternoon. If reached, they would break the state’s all-time temperature record of 48.8C, set in Hopetoun on Black Saturday in 2009. By 1pm, temperatures of 46.2C in Ouyen and 44.8C in Mildura had been recorded.
In Adelaide, the mercury hit 40C before 9.30am on Tuesday, after overnight lows of 35C, BoM observations showed.
Extreme heat is the most common cause of weather-related hospitalisations in Australia, and kills more people than all other natural hazards combined. What does exposure to extreme heat – such as a temperature of 49C – do to the body?
In Adelaide, the mercury hit 40C before 9.30am on Tuesday, after overnight lows of 35C
There are not enough swear words in my vocabulary to successfully articulate my reaction to that.
It was ‘fun’ at work. We don’t have air con, just big sheds - plenty of ventilation though, it’s not still and not in the sun.
It’s workable, you’ve absolutely got to keep up with hydration, stop for a drink every ~10-15mins, keep the fan on you.
Double Wall 1L+ drink bottle is required, filled half with ice cubes to keep the water frosty.
Can’t imagine how bad it’d be if it was humid.
I lived in Perth for several years and I’ve seen 45 degree heat there. It’s a desert, so it’s dry heat. But that’s hot. Real hot. 49-50 is just insane.
I worked in Saudi Arabia for several years. According to the law, people working outdoors can have a break when it gets over 50. Usually, that law was actually obeyed. Hottest I ever experienced was 52. You don’t have to out in that for long in order for it to be lethal, even if, as in my case, I was running every day in the desert and somewhat acclimatized to it. I’d go at 6 AM because that’s the only time it wasn’t infernally hot. The Bedouins, who know a thing or two about surviving the local climate, would get under cover and minimize activity when it got that hot.
Now I live in southwestern England, where it seldom gets above 30. I’m fine with that.
I live in Italy, in the valley around our biggest river. It’s humid as fuck. Summers used to reach 32-35°C. Nowadays 40-45°C is not uncommon. Our offices are usually air-conditioned, but production areas aren’t.
In Texas the hottest day I remember was 46 and that was miserable.
Arizona gets hotter than that. Wimps.
(But seriously that’s really fucking hot)
Pshh, that’s a dry heat. Try that heat with humidity so thick you sleep in a warm puddle because the night offers no relief while feeling like the air is drowning you
I think south asia in may gets like that.
But hottest temps actually happen around 30 degrees lattitude, in season, idk what aussies are at, near there I think.
India has a weird climate though with the entire north snd east blocked by the roof of the world, so all air comes from indian ocean and south and west, backing up on mountains, and makes it super humid and just static. Same reason pollution is so bad, it just sits there instead of being pushed west with the wind.
Long story short, the hot humid thereabouts is perhaps more dangerous, especially with the air pollution mixed in.
India has a weird climate though with the entire north snd east blocked by the roof of the world, so all air comes from indian ocean and south and west, backing up on mountains, and makes it super humid and just static.
Nah. Coastal regions are humid. Inland regions, North and Central India, are dry.
That is what I was told. By an Indian. He did not mention the center though.
But the middle of landmasses are often humid, the us south, the midwest.
Once temps hit more than 37C and 100% humidity, the human body loses the ability to regulate it’s temperature through sweating.
It’s dry as a bone here right now. (That’s good)
Also means it’s all a big tinderbox. (That’s bad)
It makes evaporative air conditioners work better (That’s good)
Isn’t this called wet bulb or something and lethal?
That was it, yes!
Actually at 100% humidity the highest survivable temperature for a human is 35 C° wet bulb temperature.
But that is with everything else being perfect, being healthy, in the shade, and perfectly hydrated, and zero physical activity.
A more realistic maximum survivable wet bulb temperature is closer to 30 C°. But 35 C° is the absolute maximum, where above that everybody dies.Sorry, but that’s wrong. WBGT takes radiative heat into effect when it’s calculated. The sun and shade effectively have two different WBGT readings. That’s why its measured with a black globe. Protocol is to measure ~2 meters heigh in direct sunlight away from structures that block wind so you get the worse case scenario. Like any whether reading, its localized.
I’ve worked in mines in the desert in South Australia where temps semi regularly hit 46-47 degrees.
It’s OK (ish) because the humidity is low. But you can drink a litre an hour all day (11+ hours) and not need to pee. All that water goes somewhere.
The underground workings are often more dangerous, with lower temperatures but higher humidity. Once wet bulb temps get above 34 degrees underground personnel need to retreat from the area and the only work that can be done there then is work to fix the ventilation.
There’s heat stress meters that measure wet and dry bulb temperatures and airflow, and can basically compute cooling power in watts. Not enough cooling power -> everyone out.
Yeah, in those conditions, you live and die by wet bulb temperatures.
I can only imagine, as I sit on the Stockholm metro with cold and damp feet after walking through snow and some slush to get to the bus earlier.
I am happy to hear that you have rules and regulations for these eventualities.
42-ish here in Belgrave. Current status: finished work, drinking a cold cider, then off to the pool.
Alcohol and coffee being among the drinks to avoid once we get to wet bulb territory.
Oh, yeah. Currently low humidity, though.
If he’s in Belgrade, good luck getting him to give up nescafe and rakia.
That’s pretty damn hot. Around 120 F for those imperialists among us.
It’s not that we’re not imperial, it’s just that we use very logical measuring units.
Speaking as an American mechanical engineer who had to learn both systems… Do we? Do we really? Is multiplying everything by 10 not logical enough for you?
Dangerously hot, those are “fall and the sidewalk can burn you” temperatures.
Wow, my tropical country often gone to 34/35°c high humid in hot days, can’t imaging anything higher than that.
