Perth, Australia, Ties Heat Wave Record

Perth, Australia, sweltered through four straight days of temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) from Feb. 7-10, tying a record-long such streak in the city from February 1933, according to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. This streak also set a new record number of 40-degree-plus Celsius days for any summer in this western Australia city, seven days, topping the previous record last set in the summer of 1997-1998. Records in Perth date to 1897...

The Bureau of Meteorology says El Niño years tend to be warmer-than-average in the southern half of Australia, though the greatest effects on precipitation tend to be in eastern Australia in the winter and spring