INTENSE HEAT. Dec 29 1896. The maximum temperature was 114, this being during the hot wind. 114 deg F = 45.5 Celsius.
INTENSE HEAT. (1896, December 29). Goulburn Evening Penny Post (NSW : 1881 – 1940), p. 4. Retrieved December 29, 2020, from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/98558053?#
The Burning, continuous heat of the last few days has recalled the unpleasant experiences of the heat wave in January last. The following are the maximums and minimums since Christmas Day:
Max. Min.
Friday …………. . 102 58.1
Saturday ……….. 107. 5 71
Sunday………….. 106.8 65
The heat wave set in at the beginning of last January and extended for over three weeks, the
thermometer rising and falling at intervals, but for continuousness the above records exceed anything then experienced.
Saturday last was a terrible day, and the oppressive heat of the night was even more trying than that of the day. At 9 o’clock in the morning it was 95 degrees in the shade. It had reached 100 by 10 o’clock and at 10.30 it was 105 5.
The minimum heat of the night was greater than that of an ordinary summer’s day and sleep was almost out of the question. The following are the dates on which the temperature reached more than 100 degrees during the heat wave:-January 6th, 106; 7th, 106.5 9th, 101.5: 12th, 105.5 13th, 107; 17th, 105.5, 18th, 103.5; 22nd, 104. 5; 23rd, 106; 24th, 105.2.
It will be seen that Saturday’s heat exceeds any of these records.
The heat yesterday morning was very little below that of the day before, and the glass was over 90 early in the day. It gradually rose to 99., where it stood for some time, and at half-past three o’clock one of the heaviest duststorms ever experienced here occurred. Large pebbles were hurled along by the wind, and the dust was almost blinding. The storm lasted about ten minutes, and the wind fell again as suddenly as it arose, there being a slight fall of rain. During the storm the thermometer fell from 99 to 65 degrees, and then it commenced to rise again. The velocity of the wind snapped off the top of a large tree in Mr. W. Pursehouse’s yard, and the falling limb knocked down a chimney in the adjoining yard.
Inland they have been enjoying Christmas amid blinding dust storms, and the mercury approaching boiling point. Wilcannia reported a very trying day on Saturday, the scorching heat and blinding dust prevailing without intermission. The register at 1.15 was 113, this being the highest for the day.
The whole surface of the country was obscured by sand. On Sunday at 1 p.m. they further reported a terrible dust storm, the heat being quite equal to the worst experienced in the great drought of 1884 and 1885.
Bourke on Saturday enjoyed clear weather, with a light northwest wind, till 4 p.m., since which it veered to north-east with moderate force. The maximum temperature was 114, this being during the hot wind.
Brewarrina reports 113 on Christmas day, while 112 was recorded at five stations-Marsdens, Menindie, Mount Hope, Broken Hill, and Cudgellico.