Australia's Hottest Month Ever

January 2013 is Austalia's hottest ever month - with an average daily maximum of 36.92°C (98.5F). This map of January maximums around the country shows the widespread coverage of the heat.

The yellow, orange and red area (almost the whole country) was hotter than average. That tiny bit in green was slightly cooler than average (but that part of Australia is quite hot already).

The very unfortunate people in the red and dark red areas got a taste of what every summer will be like unless there is action on climate change. For those of us in the bright yellow regions (even though we set some temperature records) it was only 1-2°C hotter than normal. Climate forecasts are for 4-6°C hotter this century. (Ouch!)

It's tempting to think "Lucky that January is behind us" but it's not a one-off. This is a continuing trend. The 2012/13 September-January period is also the hottest on record.

For more details on other new heat records, see January shatters Australian heat records.