Temps top 40 for first time in four years

OFFICIAL temperatures in Wagga have cracked 40°C for the first time in four years.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the mercury reached 40.1°C at its airport weather station in Forest Hill at 5:14 pm on Monday, January 27.

A top of 41.2°C was recorded at the Bureau’s second weather station located at Kapooka, 20 kilometres west of the airport, at 4:36 pm.

RIVERINA MAXIMUMS
Monday, January 27, 2025

• 44.2 HAY 4:07 pm
• 43.9 SWAN HILL 5:08 pm
• 43.2 GRIFFITH 6:06 pm
• 43.1 DENILIQUIN 5:52 pm
• 42.1 NARRANDERA 5:03 pm
• 41.6 YANCO 6:16 pm
• 41.2 KAPOOKA 4:36 pm
• 40.1 WAGGA 5:14 pm

Although often common in summer, temperatures haven’t soared this high in Wagga since the summer of 2020/2021.

In fact, the last time temperatures surpassed 40°C at Wagga Airport was when the mercury maxed out at 40.4 on January 25, 2021—48 months and two days, or 1463 days ago.

It’s a stark contrast to 2020, with six days above 40°C recorded at Wagga Airport including 46.1°C on January 4—the highest temperature ever recorded in the city.

A record-breaking nineteen 40-plus-degree days were recorded at Wagga Airport in 2019.

STREAK OVER

It’s only the third time in recorded history (since 1942) that official daytime temperatures have remained below the big 4-0 in Wagga for four consecutive years.

The last time the phenomenon occurred was almost 50 years ago in the 1970s, when the city went four years and six days without experiencing a single day above 40.

Similar prolonged cool spells were also recorded in the 1960s (three years and 345 days) and 1950s (four years and four days).

🔴 = DAYS ABOVE 40°C at WAGGA AIRPORT (1942-Current*)

2025 🔴
2024
2023
2022
2021 🔴🔴
2020 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴
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1942

HOW ARE OFFICIAL TEMPERATURES MEASURED?

To ensure consistent temperatures can be recorded and compared, they must be gathered using the same method.

To achieve this, most global meteorological organisations use what is known as a ‘stevenson screen’ to record air temperature.

The basic design that has been around for about 150 years, and consists of a wooden box with louvres that allow air to circulate around the instruments inside while protecting them from outside elements, like wind, rain and direct sunlight which all affect the temperature.

This is why temperatures reported on the nightly news often vary from those recorded on home devices, which are typically influenced by the urban heat island effect, as buildings, roads and other infrastructure absorb and re-emit heat from the sun into the surrounding air.

To avoid this and ensure consistent data, stevenson screens are placed at least 10-metres away from any such features or structures and are installed over a natural surface, like grass, instead of surfaces like concrete.

The screen, which is painted white to minimise heat absorption, is also raised so that the thermometer is positioned 1.2m above the surface, because there can be as much as a 7°C temperature difference between the temperature measured at the ground and 2m above the ground.

The Bureau of Meteorology has around 700 automatic weather stations across Australia, so stevenson screens are essential for guaranteeing consistent measurements.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s closest stevenson screen to Junee is located 33.8 kilometres south of the township at Wagga Airport.

*Data sourced from the Bureau of Meteorology’s weather station located at Wagga Wagga Airport. This is the Bureau’s closest official temperature recording station to Junee.