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This time of year, the average high in Geraldton, a city in Western Australia, is 86 degrees Fahrenheit
Geraldton is about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from the equator
So, where do you think the hottest place on Earth was on Monday?
Someplace in the Sahara? Maybe Death Valley? Someplace not far from the equator, surely.
Well, guess again.
It was Geraldton Airport, on Australia’s west coast, about 260 miles (420 kilometers) north of Perth – and about 2,000 miles away from the equator, or about as far from it as Dallas, Texas.
Not a record high for Geraldton
The temperature in Geraldton soared to 113 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, or 45 degrees Celsius.
Global temperature hike already halfway to ‘two degree warming’ limit
The average high temperature in Geraldton for this time of year is about 86 degrees Fahrenheit, or 30 Celsius.
Or course, it bears remembering that it is winter right now in the Sahara. And in Death Valley, too, for that matter.
And though Monday’s weather was hot, it wasn’t the hottest it’s ever been in Geraldton.
The record there is 118 Fahrenheit, or about 48 Celsius. That was set on January 9, 1954.