100 days of scorching temperatures leave Alice Springs residents and tradies sweating

More than 100 days of scorching temperatures for Alice Springs has taken a massive toll on tradies trying to get work done on time.

Alice Springs based carpenter Nathan Stringfellow on Tuesday, March 11, a 41 degree day. Picture: Gera Kazakov

Consecutive days of temperatures cracking 40 degrees or more has left residents and workers shattered, with one environmental group describing the heat as “the climate crisis in action”.

On another 40 degree day (in autumn) in Alice Springs, carpenter Nathan Stringfellow called the past summer “brutal” – despite starting work at 5am to try and beat the heat.

With temperatures already in the high 30s by 8am, Mr Stringfellow said he’s being drinking about five litres of water a day – and he feels like he’s sweating out all of it.

“What I find the hardest, is working in 40 plus degree heat Monday to Friday, and then also having it for the weekend,” he said.

Alice Springs town centre. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“You can’t really do outside things also on the weekend, and then you’re back at work on Monday and it’s 40 degrees again — and that’s when, that’s when it’s unsustainable.”

Mr Stringfellow is a subcontractor, working on various sites in around town, and agreed the heat could contribute to delays in construction around the town.

“If companies are knocking off at lunchtime and they’re not finishing that the rest of the day out and they’re doing that over two weeks, that’s going to cause some delays,” he said.

He said he had not had experiences where there was an expectation for work to be completed on days when it was deemed too hot.

On March 1, Alice Springs broke the record for the hottest autumn day recorded when it reached 44.5C in town, Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Khaya Mpehle said.

Arid Lands Environment Centre policy officer Alex Vaughan in June 2024. Picture: Gera Kazakov

Arid Lands Environment Centre policy advocacy co-ordinator Alex Vaughan said the region was going through “extreme and prolonged record heat”.

“This is the hottest 100 days in Mparntwe Alice Springs history. Ninety-two of the past 100 days have been above 35C and every second day above 40C,” he said.

“This is the climate crisis in action.”

The heat spread throughout the region too, with January the second hottest on record for Yulura, Mutitjulu, and Alice Springs.

February was the second hottest on record for Alice Springs – with 13 days in row with temperatures over 40C – and it was the third hottest for Yulura and Mutitjulu.

The previous highest amount of days above 40 degrees was in 1983, when it cracked 12 days in a row of 40C or above temperatures.

The last 100 days have had an average temperature of 39.6C – hotter than any other year, and beating out 2018/19’s record of 39.3 degree in the same period.

Running Water Community Press director Maureen Jipiyiliya Nampijinpa O’Keefe, who lives in Alice Springs, called the heat “too much”.

“Sometimes I have no energy and it is hard to breathe. Sometimes the aircon doesn’t work when it is too hot, even when the aircon is on,” she said.

Originally published as 100 days of scorching temperatures leave Alice Springs residents and tradies sweating