Temperature and power consumption records have tumbled in North Queensland amid extreme heatwave conditions.
In Townsville, the mercury did not drop below 28.9 degrees Celsius overnight, setting a March record for the third time this month.
"You can't really define 'unprecedented' in any stronger way," the Bureau of Meteorology's Livio Regano said.
"Just to put this in perspective, the all-time hottest night ever recorded in any month in Townsville is 29 degrees.
Further west, Charters Towers experienced its hottest March day since records began when the temperature soared beyond 42 degrees on Sunday.
Mackay also broke its minimum temperature record for the second day in a row, with conditions not falling below 28.2 degrees overnight.
Mr Regano said both night and daytime temperatures had been three to six degrees above average across the region for more than a week.
'Extreme' energy demand
Emma Oliveri from Ergon Energy said the sweltering conditions had seen North Queensland break power demand records.
"The new record, set last Thursday at 7:19pm in the evening, is 676 megawatts," Ms Oliveri said.
The previous peak of 627.5MW was set in November 2018.
"To put it in perspective, five out of six peak demand records were broken last week," Ms Oliveri said.
"Electricity demand was extreme but the network has coped very well — we haven't had any major heat-related outages."
With more hot days on the way, Ms Oliveri had some advice for North Queenslanders looking to save energy and money.
"At this time of year, a lot of people have them running all day and night to stay cool, especially in these extreme temperatures," she said.
"If you want to be energy efficient … just be sensible about it — we recommend you run them about 25 degrees in the north.
"As you can appreciate, when the temperatures are 36 to 40 degrees outside, when you walk into an air-conditioned room and its 25 degrees, it's actually really pleasant."
No change in sight
Mr Regano said there was little reprieve on the way from the oppressive heatwave.
"It doesn't look good," he said.
"The next south-easterly change that might bring us back to normal won't come until probably Friday, and by the time it reaches North Queensland it'll be so weak that it'll only really take the sting out of the heat.
"In other words, the temperatures after that will still be above average, just not as bad."
Mr Regano said showers and storms were forecast for the days ahead.
"People are hoping that will ease the pain, but it won't really," he said.
