Australia swelters in a record heat wave as temperatures near 50 C

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Parts of Australia sweltered in record temperatures of close to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday as the country sweated through a prolonged heat wave.

The rural towns of Hopetoun and Walpeup in Victoria state registered preliminary highs of 48.9 C (120 F), which if confirmed overnight would top records set on the day in 2009 when 173 people were killed in the state’s devastating Black Saturday bushfires.

No casualties were reported from Tuesday’s heat wave, but Victoria authorities urged caution as three forest fires burned out of control.

Melbourne, the state’s largest city, also came close to its hottest day. Nowhere perhaps was the searing heat more evident than at Melbourne Park, where the usual crowds thronging outside the Australian Open tennis tournament dwindled to a ghost town as temperatures soared.

Inside, organizers enacted extreme heat protocols, forcing closure of the retractable roofs over the main arenas and postponement of matches on the uncovered outer courts. During Tuesday’s quarterfinal between Aryna Sabalenka and Iva Jovic — the last match played under scorching sun — the players held ice packs to their heads and portable fans to their faces during breaks in play.

Photographers shooting the match were supplied with cushions by organizers to avoid heat-related injuries when they sat down and covered their cameras with towels to prevent the devices malfunctioning in the heat or burning their hands. Fans lined up to stand in front of giant misting fans or sought shelter in air-conditioned areas of the venue.

Crowds at the event, which has registered record-breaking turnout days so far, dropped from 50,000 from Monday’s daytime session to 21,000 on Tuesday as people heeded health warnings from officials and stayed home.

Temperatures were expected to drop Wednesday, although the heat wave was due to linger until the weekend. The heat wave followed another earlier this month amid one of Australia’s hottest ever summers.

On Monday, parts of New South Wales and South Australia states hit record temperatures, some exceeding records set during a destructive summer of forest fires in 2019.