Breezy relief for Perth as WA melts
A scorching week across huge parts of Western Australia has continued this Friday, although residents of Perth are enjoying some relief.
After a run of days with maximums of 37.9°C, 43.6°C, 38.3°C, 38.4°C and 39.7°C, Perth peaked at 32.1°C just before midday (AWST) on Friday. That looks likely to be the official maximum as the afternoon wears on with the sea breeze in full swing.
But it has been a different story inland, and also on much of the state’s southern coastline, where winds from the interior were still creating a furnace effect in the early afternoon.
- Albany, known for being one of WA's coolest spots, reached 42.7°C right on midday on Friday before a cooling breeze finally kicked in a little later on in the afternoon.
- Hopetoun, a coastal town a few hours east not far from Esperance, reached a tar-melting 45.7°C just after 2pm.
- Leonora, a couple of hours north of Kalgoorlie in the Goldfields forecast district, reached 47.2°C just before 2pm.
Image: You can see the tongue of pink (temps of 44°C or higher) reaching all the way to WA's southern coastline near Esperance.
This has been a dramatic and somewhat atypical week of West Australian summer weather.
- The Pilbara and Kimberley in the state’s northwest are usually the hottest spots in midsummer, and indeed Onslow in the Pilbara equally holds Australia’s equal-hottest temperature on record (50.7°C).
- But this week, the Pilbara was more notable for intense rainfall, with 274mm falling at Karratha inside 24 hours due to Severe Tropical Cyclone Sean. That was a daily rainfall record for any month.
- Though Sean had the good manners to stay out at sea causing minimal damage to WA communities, it still affected Western Australia’s weather in significant ways, helping push vast quantities of hot air towards the state’s west coast.
- That’s why the Central West city of Geraldton equalled its hottest temp on record with 49.3 on Monday.
As mentioned, West Australian heat has covered a huge area this Friday. And while the usual suspects like The Pilbara haven’t exactly missed out (Newman in the Pilbara reached 43.7°C just after 2pm Friday AWST), other areas are considerably hotter.
Heat will ease over the long weekend along the southwest and east coasts, but the relief diminishes as soon as you head more than an hour or so inland by road, with at least two days of extreme heat to persist in regions from about the Goldfields north.