In Summer 1980 I attended my partner’s brother’s weather in Sydney. We lived in Brisbane at that time and Brisbane is considered hot – certainly by averages if not extremes.
We drove back and there was a major traffic jam on the coastal highway so we decided to cut inland to the other highway.
It was so damn hot we decided to stop when we came across a large fast flowing stream and decided to cool off. It was well over 40 + C and our car wasn’t air conditioned as most of that era weren’t.
We needn’t have bothered wasting our time – the water in this large but shallow stream offered no cooling relief at all. It was like a very warm bath.
Humidity is the norm for Brisbane but at least the proximity of the ocean keeps the temperatures dramatically lower than inland New South Wales some 500 km south.
But that episode must have been imaginary – Karoly, Flannery and Steffen tell me so !
How quickly the 1896 Heatwave was forgotten.
47C (116.6F) is the official “highest recorded temperature” and it was beaten 17 times in 1896 by up to 12 degrees F!!! Of course if we are talking post 1979, when weather started, the Dept of Environment might be correct. But then why say “highest recorded temperature” because that is a lie! Records clearly show otherwise. http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/parkClimate.aspx?id=N0100
Real Science 
In Summer 1980 I attended my partner’s brother’s weather in Sydney. We lived in Brisbane at that time and Brisbane is considered hot – certainly by averages if not extremes.
We drove back and there was a major traffic jam on the coastal highway so we decided to cut inland to the other highway.
It was so damn hot we decided to stop when we came across a large fast flowing stream and decided to cool off. It was well over 40 + C and our car wasn’t air conditioned as most of that era weren’t.
We needn’t have bothered wasting our time – the water in this large but shallow stream offered no cooling relief at all. It was like a very warm bath.
Humidity is the norm for Brisbane but at least the proximity of the ocean keeps the temperatures dramatically lower than inland New South Wales some 500 km south.
But that episode must have been imaginary – Karoly, Flannery and Steffen tell me so !
wedding not weather ???
Gundabooka was pretty damn hot in 1896!
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/9910941
No UHI effects to be found there.
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/parkHome.aspx?id=N0100
How quickly the 1896 Heatwave was forgotten.
47C (116.6F) is the official “highest recorded temperature” and it was beaten 17 times in 1896 by up to 12 degrees F!!! Of course if we are talking post 1979, when weather started, the Dept of Environment might be correct. But then why say “highest recorded temperature” because that is a lie! Records clearly show otherwise.
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/parkClimate.aspx?id=N0100
The 1939 heatwave was a doozie as well.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/17557773