• Temperature records have been smashed as a Christmas heat wave has the southeastern corner of Australia in a stranglehold.
  • The hottest place in the country, Marble Bar in the Pilbara of Western Australia hit an all-time heat record of 120 degrees Fahreneit (49 degrees Celsius) on Thursday.
  • December and Christmas are only the beginning of the summer season in Australia. It starts getting noticeably toastier around January and February.
SYDNEY, Australia — After firestorms in Victoria killed 173 people in 2009, Australian fire authorities decided it would be best to add a new category to the ubiquitous fire ratings signs that pop up every few miles on rural highways.
When a heat wave sweeps out of the central deserts to smother the heavily populated coastal regions — like what the region has seen this Christmas — officials at the Rural Fire Service bump the measurement up to the new, final notch.
"Catastrophic."
That's what the weather is in Australia this week. It's not hot, really hot, or even extremely hot. It's catastrophic.