Just when you thought it could not get any hotter, Mother Nature proves you wrong — Geraldton recorded its hottest day on record on a scorching Sunday.
It was a day to stay indoors and crank up the air-conditioners, as a 70-year-old record was smashed when the mercury soared to 49.3C at Geraldton Airport at 1.40pm on Sunday.
The previous record was 47.7C on January 9, 1954.
The boiling temperatures set in early on Sunday, with it reaching 40C by 9am and 45C by 10.30am.
But despite the record-breaking conditions, Geraldton was not the hottest spot in WA on Sunday.
Carnarvon and Shark Bay also broke records for their hottest days. Carnarvon got up to 49.9 (surpassing the previous record of 47.8C on March 3, 2007 and January 20, 2015) while Shark Bay had a peak of 49.8C (surpassing 47.3C on January 20, 2015).
February has been marked by multiple heatwaves in the Mid West and Gascoyne, and Sunday was the eighth day so far this month in Geraldton when the daily maximum was 40C or higher.
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Caroline Crow said these were extreme temperatures even for the height of summer.
“There’s a lot of hot air mass over the State. In these locations, there was a good northeasterly this morning, which continued to blow a lot of hot air around,” she said.
The only saving grace in Geraldton on Sunday was the low humidity.
Monday is also set to be a scorcher, with a maximum of 46C forecast in Geraldton.
THIS WEEK’S GERALDTON FORECAST
Monday: 46C
Tuesday: 38C
Wednesday: 31C
Thursday: 31C
Friday: 40C
Saturday: 33C