Is Mardie Australia's most extreme weather town?
Sometimes extreme weather events seem to re-occur in the same place. Mardie is located in Western Australia, 180km south of Karratha and about 40km inland from the Indian Ocean. It has had some of the most extreme weather ever experienced in Australia, and three weather records have been established there:
1. It is the only place in Australia to have officially recorded a top temperature of more than 50°C in the past 40 years. On February 19, 1998 the temperature reached 50.5°C at Mardie after a week of maximums in the high 40°C's.
2. Mardie is also the only centre in Australia to have ever officially recorded a rainless year. In 1924 no rain fell at Mardie for a period of 15 months.
3. For many years Mardie also held the record of the strongest wind gust ever recorded in Australia. During the nearby passage of tropical cyclone Trixie in February 1975, Mardie recorded a wind gust of 259km/h.
If you have any comments or questions on this article please e-mail me at Gungahlin Weather Centre.
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