An exceptionally hot air mass for this time of year has just produced the highest winter temperature ever recorded in Queensland, with records also falling at locations across several other states.

Numerous records have been broken across Australia during the past week as unseasonably hot air drifts across the continent.

On Friday, this record-breaking hot air mass was focussed on parts of Qld, NSW, SA and the NT.

Image: Forecast maximum temperature on Friday, August 30, according to the ECMWF-HRES model.

Prior to 2024, the highest winter temperature on record in Qld was 38.5°C at Bedourie on August 29, 2009. Birdsville came close to breaking this state winter record on last Sunday when the mercury reached 38.4°C. Now, five days later, Birdsville has managed to break this record.

Birdsville’s maximum on Friday, August 30 was 39.7°C. This is roughly 15°C above average for this time of year and Qld’s highest winter temperature on record.

Winter temperature records have also been broken in parts of NSW, SA and the NT on Friday.

Bourke’s maximum temperature of 37.1°C on Friday is a new winter record for the northwest NSW town.

In SA, Moomba’s 37.3°C on Friday afternoon also made this their hottest winter day on record.

Alice Springs reached 36.6°C on Friday, beating its previous winter record of 35.6°C. "It feels like high summer," Alice Springs local Debbie Fearon told Weatherzone, and she's not wrong, as the average max in January, the hottest month, is 36.5°C.

This inland heat will also linger into the weekend and spread towards the nation’s east coast in the next few days. Brisbane is expected to see maximum temperatures in the low to mid-30s between now and Monday next week, which could get close to the city’s highest winter temperature on record, which was 35.4°C from August 24, 2009.