If you’re currently sweltering under the sun, you might be curious about just how high temperatures can climb.

On January 13, 2022, the residents of Onslow in Western Australia endured extreme heat, matching the record set in Oodnadatta, a remote town in South Australia’s outback, which experienced the same blistering temperature on January 2, 1960.

In Victoria’s north-west, the town of Hopetoun saw the thermometer hit 48.8 degrees on February 7, 2009.

The Australian Capital Territory isn’t individually listed in this context because the Bureau of Meteorology combines its data with New South Wales, where the record high temperature was officially documented.

The ACT is not listed in this table because BoM groups it with NSW, and the highest temperature on record was recorded in the latter.

In the NT town of Aputula, formerly known as Finke, the mercury reached 48.3C on both 1 and 2 January 1960.

And in Tasmania, the temperature in the east coast town of Scamander hit 42.2C on 30 January 2009.

How about records in the capital cities?

Perth reached 46.2C on 23 February 1991, according to BoM, while Adelaide hit 47.7C on 24 January 2019.

During the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009, on 7 February, Melbourne reached 46.4C.

Hobart’s record-high of 41.8C was reached on 4 January 2013, while Canberrans sweltered in 44C heat on January 2020.