It’s summer, so the BoM and ABC can’t help themselves.
Albany, Hottest Town in Australia
Last week Marble Bar “hit an all time record”. This week, it’s Alice Springs. But the Australian BOM still haven’t used their own fabulous World Class ACORN Temperature data to find the hottest day ever in Australia. They’re still telling people it was in Oodnadatta, on Jan 2nd in 1960, but even dumb deniers know that according to ACORN temperatures hit 51.2C in Albany in far south WA in 1933.
[Marble Bar Dec 28th, 2018] The high temperature occurred at 12:39 pm local time. At that stage, it appeared Marble Bar could crack 50 for the first time — and perhaps even threaten the all-time Australian record of 50.7 in Oodnadatta, South Australia.
Chris Gillham pointed this out the strange anomaly of the cool coastal town that was hotter than a million square kilometers of desert, but four years later the BOM still haven’t resolved the situation. The 51.2C temperature is still there in the data, but the Top Ten Highest Temperature Records remain exactly the same. Is Albany, or is it not, the true record holder? Or is it that the ACORN adjustments are overwrought, unjustified fandangaling, that ignores 8 lane freeways, and brick walls and has errors so big they can be seen from space?
Bureau of Meteorology Temperature Records
Highest temperature
| State | Temperature (°C) | Date | Place name | Station no. | Latitude | Longitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SA | 50.7 | 2 January 1960 | Oodnadatta Airport | 17043 | −27.56 | 135.45 |
| WA | 50.5 | 19 February 1998 | Mardie | 5008 | −21.19 | 115.98 |
| NSW | 49.7 | 10 January 1939 | Menindee Post Office | 47019 | −32.39 | 142.42 |
| Qld. | 49.5 | 24 December 1972 | Birdsville Police Station | 38002 | −25.90 | 139.35 |
| Vic. | 48.8 | 7 February 2009 | Hopetoun Airport | 77010 | −35.72 | 142.36 |
| NT | 48.3 | 2 January 1960 | Finke Post Office | 15526 | −25.58 | 134.57 |
| 48.3 | 1 January 1960 | Finke Post Office | 15526 | −25.58 | 134.57 | |
| Tas. | 42.2 | 30 January 2009 | Scamander | 92094 | −41.46 | 148.26 |
These records not only ignore their own ACORN super high quality data, they also ignore measurements from Observatories too. In 1939 the Windsor Observatory recorded 122F or 50.5C. Even further back in 1909 the BOM had a Stevenson Screen at Bourke Post Office which recorded the monstrous 125F or 51.6C. But that record didn’t count because it was done on a Sunday.
The big question, (apart from why the BoM is so incompetent), is why the hottest ever days in Australia all seemed to occur back when CO2 levels were perfect. This is even after the BOM accidentally boosted all the modern temperatures by switching to electronic thermometers. These accept one-second long heatwaves that no old style thermometer could possibly detect. Not surprisingly, electronic thermometers all over the country have set new records with every gust of a 737.
Despite this huge advantage, the old temperatures are still beating out the new ones.
As for the Alice Springs record of 45.6C yesterday, I note that Alice Springs Post Office in on Jan 14 1883 recorded a whole degree hotter, 46.7C. That’s 136 years of global warming for you.