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Cairns has surpassed the 40 degree Celsius mark for the third consecutive day today, extending the unprecedented heat wave of late spring as the temperature continues to drop in east Queensland.
Before 2018, Cairns had never recorded a day above 40 ° C in November. This week, there have been three in a row.
This trio of days above 40 ° C is a new record for November and was only recorded once during the summer, in February 1923, on the site of the former post office of the city.
The Cairns Racecourse weather stations reached 43.6 ° C on Monday and Tuesday, which is higher than the temperatures previously recorded at Cairns Airport and Post Office weather stations during a any month since records began in 1889.
The 40.3 ° C Townsville summit follows yesterday's high of 41.7 ° C, which was a new record for November for the city. It was also the first pair of Townsville in November with a temperature above 40 ° C and the second time in the annals that it happens at any time of the year.
A catastrophic fire hazard warning has been issued for the Capricornia and Highlands and Coalmining Areas of the Center, as well as a severe fire hazard warning for the Central Coast and Whitsundays, Darling Downs and Granite Belt, Wide Bay and the southeast coast.
The wind coming from a trough moving eastward on the state, combined with a hot and dry air mass, will create an unprecedented fire hazard.
The current heat also interacts with a low point of low pressure over east and southeast Queensland to produce showers and thunderstorms, some of which become severe.
A dust storm in southern Queensland, inland, had reduced visibility and prevented firefighters from seeing new fires, said rural fire chief Michael Welsh.
It is feared that a massive hell north of Bundaberg, which has burned thousands of acres of bush since Saturday, could intensify to give rise to a fiery storm – a destructive flame that is developing its own wind system.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Katarina Carroll said conditions would be "terrible" today.
"It is not raining and there is no respite," she said.
When the trough passes and the wind calms down, the conditions of heat wave will probably persist.
Prime Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday urged Queenslanders to "protect each other".
"We all have to help each other and we have to make sure Queenslanders care for the neighbor, the person on the road.
"These will be conditions of extreme heat waves like the ones we have never seen before."
She said Sunday, Longreach and Mount Isa could see temperatures above 45 ° C.
Dr. Sonia Bennett, Acting Health Officer, urged locals not to try to help bats without being trained and vaccinated. About 15 percent of bats carry the potentially fatal lyssavirus of the Australian bat.
Health authorities encourage people to stay hydrated and stay away from the heat in the hottest times of the day.
Queensland Ambulance Service Clinical Director Tony Hucker said that heat-related illnesses can be prevented.
"Think about the day ahead," he says. "Make sure you have water nearby."
Symptoms of heat stress include rash, sweating, nausea, vomiting and fainting.
Thousands of heat-stressed bats are falling trees and creating a new health hazard in the far north of Queensland, while record heat is hitting the state.
About 3,500 flying foxes have been killed since the heat wave Sunday, a spokeswoman for the Cairns Regional Council said.
– With AAP and Weatherzone
© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2018
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