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Brisbane swelters through hottest night in years

Corine Brown, Saturday January 27, 2024 - 18:39 AEDT

Brisbanites would likely not have slept soundly last night.

Hot and oppressively humid northerly component winds are being funnelled over Qld’s east coast at the moment thanks to the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Kirrily in the state’s west and a high pressure system over the Coral Sea.

Overnight, the temperature in Brisbane reached a minimum of 27.2°C – its hottest night since February 2017 – but the stifling humidity meant the overnight temperatures never felt cooler than 33.7°C. The mercury in nearby suburbs Archerfield and Amberley did drop to slightly cooler temperatures – 26.4°C and 25.8°C respectively – but it was still their hottest night of any month in almost seven years and their hottest January night in 20 years.

Meanwhile, spare a thought for Cape Moreton, the northernmost tip of Moreton Island just offshore of Brisbane, which sweltered through its hottest night of any month since February 2004 and its hottest January night in 97 years, with a minimum temperature of 26.1°C.

Indeed, overnight temperatures soared across the state. In the satellite image below, observations are displayed for temperature (red squares) and wind (yellow barbs) at 5 am this morning, around the time when most locations were close to their minimum temperatures. As you can see, nowhere in the state reached temperatures below 23°C, except in a small area between Townsville and Tully. But in the east, those temperatures were exceptionally hot for this time of year.

For some, it was their hottest night of any month as well as their hottest January night in many years. Notable overnight temperatures include:

• Coolangatta (26.9°C) – hottest night of any month since February 2004 and hottest January night in 24 years
• Ayr (27.2°C) – hottest night of any month since February 2017 and hottest January night in 18 years
• Toowoomba (24.2°C) – hottest night of any month since February 2017 and hottest January night in 10 years

For others, it may not have been their hottest night for any month, but it was certainly their hottest January night in years, including:

• Gladstone (26. 9°C ) – hottest in 39 years
• Proserpine (26.0°C) – hottest in 11 years
• Cairns (27.1°C) – hottest in 10 years
• Mareeba (24.0°C) – hottest in 8 years
• Gympie, Redcliffe (25.3°C and 27.1°C respectively) – hottest in 7 years

For Brisbane and Moreton Island, hot temperatures persisted through today as well. Brisbane Airport’s maximum of 33.1°C made for its hottest January day in six years. Not to be outdone, Cape Moreton racked up its hottest January day in five years, with a maximum of 30.9°C.

But in Brisbane city, the suffocating humidity made temperatures feel consistently more like 36-39°C, reaching a peak feels-like temperature of a whopping 40°C at 12 pm local time today. For contrast, the peak in the actual maximum temperature was 34.1°C at 1:50 pm local time.

Locals searching for relief are not likely to find it just yet. These hot and brutally muggy conditions will persist tomorrow, with temperatures likely feeling 7-9 degrees hotter than actual, particularly during the day. Temperatures should begin to ease from Monday, when rain, showers, and thunderstorms will bring some welcome relief. Conditions should become much more tolerable from around Wednesday when a cool southerly change starts to creep into southeastern parts of the state.

- Weatherzone

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