Cloncurry and Camooweal may have recently broken the record for the most consecutive days above 40 degrees celsius but Boulia experienced melting bitumen on Tuesday January 22.
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Director of Works and Operations at Boulia Shire Council, Harin Karra, said he was at the workshop after a new mobile BBQ had been delivered to the Boulia Shire Council when he noticed the smell of melting bitumen.
“I quickly checked the temperature on the road right in front of me. The temperature gauge registered 68 degrees.”
Luckily for Mr Karra, he wasn’t wearing pluggers, his work shoes had no chance of melting into the boiling bitumen.
While Mr Karra took the road temperature at 2pm he also took the outside temperature which registered a blistering 47 degrees.
“I reckon you could not only cook eggs out there, but sausages and steak as well!”
Last year Boulia broke a 122-year-old record for the hottest overnight mean temperature of 24.9 degrees celsius for the month of April.
The hottest day ever according on the Bureau of Meteorology was January 28, 1947 when sweltering temperatures reached 47.6°.
The hottest January on record was in 2013 when the average maximum temperature was 42.5°.
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