Roebourne has endured the hottest March temperature on record anywhere in the world.

The Pilbara town’s Sunday scorcher of 48.1C rewrote the global record books, eclipsing a 44-year-old high set in Mexico.

Bureau WA duty forecaster Karina Tarbarth said persistent desert winds were bringing superheated air from the North Interior and Goldfields to coastal towns.

“The previous March record globally was 48C at a town in Mexico in 1975,” she said. “It’s quite phenomenal.”

“We haven’t really seen any North West cloud bands, no rain, no cooling respite.”

Ms Tarbarth said relief could be on the way next week with the monsoonal trough becoming more active. A potential tropical low could bring rain to the Kimberley and inland Pilbara as early as Sunday.

Port Walcott Surf Life Saving Club president Ben Unbehaun said the heat and box jellyfish sightings forced the club to postpone it’s first competition of the season.

“We have to work our competitions around the tides so we needed a 10am start on the weekend and the forecast was just too extreme,” he said.

“We saw some advice from Rio Tinto too about box jellyfish being sighted around the wharf and some of the beaches in the area and decided the risk factor was too high.

“It is certainly different up in the Pilbara, there are a lot more warnings to pay attention to.”

Newman (45.2C), Port Hedland (47C), Onslow (47.2C), Marble Bar (47.4C) and Paraburdoo (45.7C) also had their hottest March days on record on Sunday, and Karratha and Exmouth came within half a degree of similar feats.

Newman has now broken 10 heat records this wet season.

Department of Fire and Emergency Services Pilbara superintendent Peter McCarthy said dry conditions had heightened fire risk.

“The grass curing rate is at about 95-100 per cent, so as dry as it can get and that’s what drives the fires,” he said.

“We’re not looking at any significant rain in the next week or so which does start to put us into the dry season period without any rain.

“Waterholes are getting very low too so you would want to be careful wading into them.”

Mr McCarthy urged people against lighting fires and to carry enough water if walking outside in the heat.

The heat is on

Source: Bureau of Meteorology