Did you know that Australia has a time zone used by only a few hundred people?

It's called the Australian Central West Time Zone (ACWT) and while it's not official – as in, you won't find it on the Australian Government Time Zones and Daylight Saving website - it is used by locals in the Eucla region of Western Australia.

Eucla is the easternmost town in southern WA, with just under 100 people. It shares its AWCT zone with four other tiny settlements including Border Village Roadhouse in SA and three Nullarbor Plain outposts on the Eyre Highway.

Image: Interesting that they get a roadside sign even though the time zone is not official. Source: Groogle via Wikimedia Commons.

The history of the unofficial time zone is interesting. It dates back to the days of telegraph stations, when Eucla's station was staffed by both SA and WA workers. They would literally be sitting at the same table sending telegraphs working in unison, yet 90 minutes apart. To avoid confusion, they drew a time line in the middle.

Today, as then, ACWT is 45 minutes ahead of Perth and 45 minutes behind Adelaide – except for the daylight saving months when it's an hour and 45 minutes behind Adelaide.

Why do we have our minds on the Eucla region this fine spring Wednesday?

Because it just so happens that the area is having some interesting weather right about now.

Take a look at the map of live temps above. It shows the warmest air in southern Australia moving over eastern WA.

Bear in mind that the 30-degree reading at Eucla (on the SA/WA border on the map above) was at 11 am AWT (or 11:45 am in unofficial AWCT, or Eucla time).

So it was a morning reading, and 30 degrees before midday is an exceptionally warm morning temperature for anywhere on Australia’s southern coastline in the first half of September.

Image: Wonder who Dave and Andy are? Source: iStock.

Eucla actually has one of the most interesting climates anywhere in southern or coastal Australia, due mainly to the sort of wild temperature fluctuations you'd expect when you have a hot desert to your immediate north, and waters stretching down to Antarctica to your south.

For example:

• Its September average max is 21.4°C, so today should exceed that by 10 degrees or more with a top of 32°C in the forecast
• Eucla's highest recorded temperature was 49.8°C in December 2019 and its lowest was -2.2°C in June 1936
• By contrast, Onslow Airport in northwest WA, which in 2022 equalled Australia's highest temp on record with 50.7°C, has never seen close to a subzero night.
• Eucla has topped 30°C in every calendar month, yet its average maximum in the warmest month (January) is just 25.9°C, which is a tick lower than both Sydney and Melbourne's January average max.
• Eucla's rainfall is relatively low, but compared to its natural temperature seesaw, rain totals are actually pretty consistent, with an average of around 15 mm in the driest month (Jan) and 30 mm in the wettest (May) for an annual average of 274 mm.

Meanwhile warmth is spreading quickly east as expected, with South Australia also in line for well above average temps for several days, and Melbourne set for a record-run of days above 20°C in September.