As Australia sweltered under a scorching heatwave last weekend, stretching from the western interior to the tropical Queensland coast, many Australians might have believed the country had never before experienced such scorching conditions.
However, history reveals that Australia has faced even more intense heat waves, including a 24-day heat wave that killed 437 people in Australia in January 1896.
The temperature was above 38 degrees for almost a month, wildfires raged across the country and, in a time long before air conditioning, exhausted people were dropping dead in the streets.
The extreme weather event was described as “like an oven” and had temperatures much higher than those currently sweltering in parts of Australia.
That year, 1896, got off to a good start and on January 14, newspapers reported that people were dying from a series of complications caused by extreme temperatures.
By the third week of the year, 12 babies had died from heat-related illnesses in Goulburn, New South Wales alone, according to a report on jonova about the heat wave revealed.
People fled the cities on trains to seek shelter in the mountains and hills, but one child escaping the heat “died the moment the train arrived.”
Hospitals were at their limit and the death toll was increasing.
In Australia, Bureau of Meteorology data found that 2024 was the second hottest year on record since 1910 and the warmest for nighttime temperatures. Pictured are sunbathers on Bondi Beach.

An extreme heat wave in Australia in January 1896 killed more than 400 people and hospitalized many more. Wilcannia Hospital is pictured.
On January 17, the mercury had risen to 48.9°C in Bourke, north-west New South Wales, although there has been some dispute over the accuracy of temperature records due to changes in methods over the years. weather.
‘The hospital is overcrowded and several people are seriously ill. More deaths are expected every hour,” said a newspaper article from January 18, 1896.
The heat was driving people “crazy”, leaving them wandering helplessly through the streets before collapsing and dropping dead.
Hundreds of livestock died, water tanks dried up and the death toll continued to rise as the heat wave entered its fourth week.

Many children were among those who died in the intense heat wave of 1896.

Newspapers (pictured) of the time reported temperatures exceeding 119°F (48°C)
Trains leaving western Sydney for the mountains were full and the government offered additional services at reduced prices for those seeking relief from the heat.
On 24 January, the heatwave was declared “an unprecedented record”, and the death toll in Bourke alone had reached 35.
“Residents are truly terrified and hundreds of people are leaving for colder climates,” a news report revealed.
Most businesses in New South Wales had closed their doors at the time, except for hotels, as residents hunkered down waiting for the weather to cool.
In other parts of the country, temperatures had not dropped below 37 degrees since late 1895.

The historic heat wave sent temperatures soaring to 49 degrees and forced people to flee to the mountains for respite. Brewarrina appears in the 1900 photo.

In the heat wave of 1896, people fell dead in the streets as the sweltering heat continued for 24 days. At Bourke (seen here in 1893), temperatures were around 50°C.
Nearly 130 years after that traumatic and deadly summer, Australia is now at the peak of a severe weather season, ranging from heat waves to torrential rain and thunderstorms.
This summer has already been extreme, with a national average high about 2 degrees above average, after a relatively mild previous summer.
Alice Springs has had an average daily high of 38.6C since the beginning of December, well above its long-term average of just under 36C.
Other parts of central Australia are experiencing even higher temperatures, up to the mid 40s, at the moment.
In Queensland, the coast from Cooktown to Proserpine is in a streak of days around 35C, with lows as low as 27C.
Combined with the high humidity, it makes the region very uncomfortable, and the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has placed parts of tropical eastern Queensland into the “extreme” heatwave category, indicating dangerous health risks.
Last year was the world’s hottest year ever recorded, scientists confirmed, with temperatures 0.12°C higher than 2023, the warmest year previously recorded.
In Australia, BoM data found that 2024 was the sThe second warmest on record since 1910 and the warmest for nighttime temperatures.
Globally, 2024 was the first calendar year on record in which 1.5 °C above the pre-industrial level was exceeded, and already this summer the maximum national average has been about 2 degrees above the average.
Perth
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Adelaide
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