Millions in WA set for abnormal heatwave as authorities monitor potential cyclone

An Australian capital city is sweltering through ridiculous temperatures as a potential cyclone forms.

Perth is sweltering through a stretch of late-season heat not seen since Bob Hawke was Prime Minister.

A severe heatwave is blanketing Western Australia’s coast from Exmouth to Esperance, with parts of the Gascoyne tipped to endure extreme conditions over the coming days.

In the capital, temperatures are forecast to stay above 35C for five consecutive days, which is an exceptionally rare event for late March. At 7pm on Monday night, the city of 2.3 million was still sweating through 38C temperatures - an hour after sunset.

The current hot spell will carry on through the week before some relief arrives on Friday. Picture: BoM

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jessica Lingard said today that the city hasn’t experienced anything like it in exactly four decades.

“The last time we saw a run of extreme heat like this was almost exactly to the day 40 years ago,” Lingard said via the ABC. “On March 25, 1985, [Perth] also had a run of days above 37C.”

She said the current hot spell would carry on through the week before some relief arrives on Friday.

“In fact, the record for March in Perth is 42.4C,” she continued.

“[But] what’s maybe a little bit unusual is the fact that we’ve got four days above 37C and five days above 35C.”

While the temperatures aren’t expected to break all-time records, authorities are urging vulnerable groups to consider the risks of being outdoors for lengthy periods of time.

“They’re not going to be dangerous for everybody, but it’s a good reminder to just take it easy, especially if you do need to work outside,” she said.

The Bureau is also keeping a close eye on a tropical low that’s building strength off the state’s northwest coast.

The system is tracking southwest and has a strong chance of becoming a cyclone but it’s expected to stay well offshore, heading towards the south of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and posing no threat to the mainland for now.

At 7pm on Monday night, the city of 2.3 million was still sweating through 38C temperatures an hour after sunset.

Rising temperatures a concern Down Under

Climate scientists warn Australia’s north will be “unliveable” in the coming decades because the heat and humidity will be so intense that it will be deadly for humans.

They say the lethal heat will start emerging at certain times of the year, making it impossible for humans to be outdoors for more than six hours.

Climate scientist Bill Hare said areas such as Broome and Katherine, as well as parts of Asia and Africa, would soon be unliveable if the temperature increased by just 1.5 degrees.

“You would not be able to enjoy Cable Beach for large parts of the year,” he said.

“We are already seeing small periods of lethal heat in South Asia, West Asia and South East Asia where there have already been reports of mortality occurring.

“It is already getting toward the limit of human liveability.”

Perth is sweltering through a stretch of late-season heat not seen since Bob Hawke was Prime Minister. Photo: iStock

Climate scientists warn Australia’s north will be ‘unliveable’ in the coming decades. (Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

Mr Hare is chief executive and senior scientist with Climate Analytics – a global climate science and policy institute supporting climate action aligned to the 1.5C warming limit.

In 2003, a study published in the scientific journal Comptes Rendus Biologies found more than 70,000 people died in Europe from lethal heat.

It was the hottest summer recorded in Europe since 1540, which lead to drought, food shortages and tens of thousands of people dying.

Mr Hare said for cities like Perth, scientists did not expect to see a lethal combination of humidity and heat in the next 25 years, but northern parts of Australia would.

He said some areas in the Kimberley region had already felt small bursts of lethal heat, killing cattle and native animals.

“It will happen slowly and gradually, the weather will become really extreme and it will get worse and worse,” Mr Hare said.

“There is only one way to limit this damage, but you won’t eliminate it, people will need to adapt to it.”

Originally published as Millions in WA set for abnormal heatwave as authorities monitor potential cyclone