Christmas Day in Adelaide, and it’s (Another) Scorcher
“Adelaide set for hottest Christmas Day since 1945 as heatwave conditions hit South Australia”. That’s the headline on the ABC News website, and yet it’s not even the hottest Christmas Day that Adelaide’s had.
temperature for Adelaide Christmas Day 2016, as shown on Bureau of Meteorology website http://www.bom.gov.au/sa/forecasts/adelaide.shtml
A quick check on Trove lead me to an article in The Advertiser, dated 26 December 1945, part of which is below.
The Advertiser, 26 December 1945, p.6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48683583
This says that the top temperature in Adelaide on:
Christmas Eve, 24 December 1945 was 104.6F (40.3C)
Christmas Day, 25 December 1945 was 105.3F (40.7C)
But even these aren’t the highest. Go back further as we find even hotter Christmas Days.
Christmas Day, 25 December 1941 was 106.2F (41.2C)
And according to Dick Whitaker, on Dick’s Blog, the all-time top Christmas Day temperature record for an Australian capital city goes to Adelaide back in 1888, when the mercury soared to 107.9F (42.1C).
So while it’s not a regular occurrence, it’s not unheard of having a 40C+ Christmas Day temperature. But it’s still not fun for those who have to travel during the day, or who had planned an outdoor Christmas do. So my advice for those who are in Adelaide for Christmas in 2016, stay inside (as much as you can), stay cool, and try not to bake, roast or fry (yourself that is, not the Christmas dinner)!
Merry Christmas everyone!
4 Responses to “Christmas Day in Adelaide, and it’s (Another) Scorcher”
Leave a Reply
To think we’re looking at a forecast of a mild summer’s day, around 30’C, not sure how I’d go in 40’C.. start melting around 35’C..
Hope it’s not as bad as they predict..Merry Christmas..
While 40C is a bit hot, it would be Christmas if it wasn’t a hot day – but 30C sounds nice.
I don’t know what the temperature was, but we we about to sit down for Christmas dinner at my in-laws home at Cudlee Creek in the 1970s when a passing motorist stopped to let us know of a fire a few hundred metres down the road. We suspect lit by a motorcyclist we heard leaving that area a few minute before.
Oh dear!! Not what you want on Christmas Day (or any other day), but it obviously made it a memorable one.