Most Extreme Heat in Australia
Extreme heat is more than a number on a thermometer. Days above 35C represent dangerous conditions where outdoor activity becomes risky, electricity demand spikes, and heat exhaustion becomes a real concern. Some Australian cities experience just a handful of such days annually, while others face 100+ days of extreme heat as a regular feature of their climate.
This ranking counts calendar days where the recorded daily maximum temperature hit or exceeded 35 degrees Celsius. It's a direct measure of how often a city faces genuinely dangerous heat conditions.
Alice Springs experiences more than a third of the year above 35C. That's 135 consecutive-feeling days where every outdoor activity requires planning, timing, and serious precautions. At this frequency, heat isn't a summer nuisance; it's a structural feature of life. People plan vacations around the cooler months and adapt their entire schedule to avoid midday heat.
Full Rankings
Click any column header to re-sort. Data from Open-Meteo Historical Weather API (2024).
| Rank | City | State | 35C+ Days | Avg Max | Summer Peak | % of Year |
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Understanding the Rankings
Days above 35C is a straightforward but meaningful metric: it counts how many calendar days in a year exceed this threshold. Alice Springs leads with 135 such days, meaning extreme heat is a regular, predictable part of the calendar from October through May. By contrast, Hobart might see only 1 day above 35C in an entire year.
The difference reveals two types of climates: places where summer is brief and intense versus places where extreme heat is a seasonal reality. Inland cities like Alice Springs, Broken Hill, and William Creek accumulate extreme heat days because their entire summer runs hot. Coastal cities stay cooler thanks to maritime influences.
For health, infrastructure, and economic planning, this metric is critical. A city with 135 extreme-heat days needs hospitals prepared for heat injury, electricity grids ready for peak demand, and workplace regulations adapted to dangerous conditions. A city with 5 such days needs to handle them as unusual events.
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About This Data
All weather data comes from the Open-Meteo Historical Weather API, which combines official weather station observations with reanalysis models to provide accurate data for any location in Australia. Data shown here is from the 2024 calendar year. Production rankings will use 10 to 30-year normals to smooth out year-to-year variation.
This page ranks cities by the number of calendar days annually where the recorded daily maximum temperature reached or exceeded 35 degrees Celsius. This metric is directly relevant to heat stress, infrastructure demand, and public health.