The month Australia turned into an oven: How people ‘dropped dead’ on the streets during the little-known January 1896 heatwave
As Australia battled a scorching heatwave last weekend, stretching from the western interior to the tropical coast of Queensland, many Australians might have thought the country had never experienced such sweltering conditions.
However, history shows that Australia has experienced even more intense heat waves, including a 24-day heat wave that killed 437 people in Australia in January 1896.
Temperatures were above 100 degrees for almost a month, wildfires raged across the country, and in a time long before air conditioning, exhausted people dropped dead in the streets.
The extreme weather event was described as ‘feeling like an oven’ and had temperatures much higher than parts of Australia are currently experiencing.
That year 1896 got off to a hot start and on January 14 the newspapers reported that people were dying from a series of complications caused by the extreme temperatures.
By the third week of the year, 12 babies had died from heat-related illnesses in Goulburn, NSW alone. JoNova revealed about the heat wave.
People fled cities by train to take refuge in mountains and hills, but one child who escaped the heat “died the moment the train arrived.”
Hospitals were at breaking point and the death toll was rising.
In Australia, data from the Bureau of Meteorology showed that 2024 was the second hottest on record, going back to 1910, and the warmest for nighttime temperatures. Swimmers at Bondi Beach are pictured
An extreme Australian heat wave in January 1896 killed more than 400 people and hospitalized many more. Wilcannia Hospital is pictured
By January 17, the mercury had risen to 48.9 degrees Celsius in Bourke, north-west NSW, although there was some disagreement over the accuracy of temperature readings due to changing methods over time.
‘The hospital is overcrowded and a number of people are dangerously ill. More deaths are expected every hour,” said a January 18, 1896 newspaper article.
The heat drove people ‘insane’, causing them to wander helplessly through the streets before collapsing and dropping dead.
Livestock died by the hundreds, water tanks dried up and the death toll continued to rise as the heat wave entered its fourth week.
Among those who died during the intense heat wave of 1896 were many children
Newspapers (photo) at the time reported temperatures above 119F (48C)
Trains leaving western Sydney for the mountains were full and the government operated extra services at low prices for those seeking relief from the heat.
On January 24, the heatwave was declared ‘an unprecedented record’, with the death toll reaching 35 in Bourke alone.
“Residents are truly in panic and hundreds are leaving for cooler climates,” according to a newspaper report.
Most businesses in NSW had closed at the time, except hotels, as residents sat quietly waiting for the weather to cool.
In other parts of the country, temperatures had not fallen below 37 degrees since late 1895.
The historic heat wave sent temperatures soaring to 49 degrees, forcing people to flee to the mountains in search of respite. Brewarrina is pictured in 1900
During the heat wave of 1896, people fell dead in the streets as the stifling heat lasted for 24 days. At Bourke (seen here in 1893) temperatures dropped to 50 degrees Celsius
Nearly 130 years after that traumatic and deadly summer, Australia is now at the height of a season of severe weather, ranging from heat waves to torrential rain and thunderstorms.
This summer was already extreme, with a national average maximum of about 2 degrees above average, after a relatively mild previous summer.
Alice Springs has had an average daily maximum temperature of 38.6 degrees Celsius since early December, which is well above the long-term average of just under 36 degrees Celsius.
Other parts of Central Australia are currently experiencing even higher temperatures – reaching the mid 40s.
In Queensland, the coast from Cooktown to Proserpine is around 35 degrees Celsius on a range of days, with lows as high as 27 degrees Celsius.
Combined with the high humidity, this makes for a very uncomfortable time in the region, with the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) putting parts of tropical eastern Queensland in the ‘extreme’ heatwave category, signaling dangerous health risks.
Areas affected include Cairns, Ingham and surrounding areas.
Last year was the hottest year on record, scientists confirmed, with temperatures 0.12 degrees above 2023, the previous hottest year on record.
In Australia, BoM data showed that 2024 was the sthe second hottest on record, dating back to 1910, and the warmest for overnight temperatures.
Globally, 2024 was the first calendar year ever to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and this summer the national average maximum was already around 2 degrees above average.
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