..a bit warm in oz
You can keep your cold weather!
Geoff vk3sq
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You’re going to need a longer thermometer
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…yes Anrew, had to unbutton the top button of my shirt. 
Geoff vk3sq
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Temperatures like that are mind-boggling. I’ve had the ‘pleasure’ of experiencing similar once before in Oman, not far from Hatta in UAE. We went on a Range Rover tour across the desert, which at sunset resembled a Turkish Delight advert.
I’ll never forget the fella driving the Rover (a Range Rover, sadly not a Rover SD1) parked at the top of one of the massive sand dunes, we all hopped out and he popped the bonnet. I hadn’t a clue why he did it so I asked and he said something about getting air to the engine and stopping it overheating (I know for a fact there are folks on this reflector that will know exactly why this was done and will be able to explain far better than I ever could).
There were 5 or 6 of these vehicles parked atop this giant sand dune, all with the bonnets popped up. I asked the fella why he was worried about the heat as the sun was low and wouldn’t be far from setting. He showed me the thermometer.
56 degrees celcius. I think we touched 58 degrees earlier in the afternoon.
I’d never felt anything like it. When you walked around the desert your skin was almost audibly crackling like a Geiger counter. I remember we were given plastic cooler bags filled with little foil cups of water. You had to peel the lid off to open it, like a Tip Top or Panda Pops plastic cup if anyone remembers those.
We drank so much water and never needed a wee. Even our sweat just evaporated (maybe that’s what happened to Andrew Windsor at Pizza Express? 
). Most memorable part of all was the feeling of burning every time you breathed in. This sharp burning tickle in your throat and nostrils. I’ll never forget that trip. Amazing scenery, intense heat.
Bizarrely UAE and Oman are not as hot as Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, I believe is still the hottest capital city on Earth?
Stay safe out there Geoff . 
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“Happy” memories of me mentoring a class of filmstudents in Sydney in early December at that temperature.
Stay cool!
73, Martin - PE1EEC (ex VK2TAE, but call is taken again)
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I gathered. I heard a song with lines about over-cooked roadkill and roast koalas which had the chorus:
It’s flamin’ hot here in Australia
You’d 'ave to be a galah to go outside
Well I sure do love our sunburned country
A land that’s brown and dry and fully fried.
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I had to ‘google’ it as I couldn’t believe the air temperature could really be 54C in parts of Australia this week. It’s barely been getting above 5.4C recently here in NW England. Having said that, despite the cold, it’s been dry and blue skies today and perfect walking weather.
I’ve been to Adelaide three times on business in the 1990s. On one trip it was ~40C in January and the first time I experienced sweating under my long trousers just walking in the park.
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Contrast that with Blackburn, Lancashire tomorrow morning …
“Late Smoke” - is that advice on cigarettes?
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Mildura in VK3 reached a top of 48.6 including four days running of over 40 degrees. Also 7 to 9 Jan exceeded 44 degrees.
Official BOM weather station readings.
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I recall the time my dad swapped cassette tapes on his I.C.E. (hardly an appropriate acronym) before we headed into the supermarket… he left it on the passenger seat.
When we returned, it had taken the shape of the seat. Curvy cassette players weren’t a thing, so it had to be binned… in September of all months!
That’s when I leaned a bit about thermosetting vs thermoplastic… at the age of 6… then I went outside to ride my BMX.
Things have changed - now, I’m the foreigner wearing just a t-shirt in Spanish winter… who can’t cope in anything above 25c. 
PS The t-shirt thing… my local friend calls me ‘calabaza’ which means pumpkin. Not sure how that’s translated metaphorically, but I’m convinced it means ‘nutter’ or ‘crazy’ (he’s clearly never met anyone from Scotland HI).
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I think it’s fair to say that Blackburn in Lancashire pre-dates Blackburn in Melbourne.
“Late Smoke” - is that advice on cigarettes?
It refers to smoke from bushfires several hundred km away (probably the Otways fires) blowing over the city late in the day.
Advice to have a smoke would be more like ‘Late fag’.
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I’d assumed it was a reference to the barbecue.
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Overnight minimum in VK1, the bush capital of Aus, is currently at 20 degrees C.
Expecting 41 degrees today 
. Meanwhile over in Mildura (VK3) the forecast is a top of 46 degrees C.
Andrew VK1AD
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43.1C in Bathurst Wednesday 28th. Not the weather for summiting.
73’s Wal VK2WP
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