Warrnambool has sweltered through an eight-day heatwave not felt for nearly 40 years.
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A Bureau of Meteorology spokeswoman said Thursday marked the eighth consecutive day of temperatures soaring above 30 degrees in Warrnambool.
She said the persistent heat record was last seen in the city in 1983.
Wednesday was a scorcher, hitting 38.5 degrees in the afternoon, while the previous seven days ranged between 30.2 degrees and 37.2 degrees.
Hot and windy conditions on Wednesday saw an out-of-control fire burn through about 100 acres of grassland.
The hottest day on record for the month of January occurred three years ago when temperatures soared to 44.4 degrees in Warrnambool on January 24, 2019.
The spokeswoman said the region's hottest summer day on record was during the Black Saturday bushfires when maximum temperatures hit 44.8 degrees in the region.
As many as 400 individual fires were recorded on February 7 that year.
The spokeswoman said a south-westerly change coming through the region on Friday would see some relief from the heat.
Daytime temperatures are expected to reach 24 to 29 degrees on Friday and there is an 80 per cent chance of showers.
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Jessica Howard
jessica.howard@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
jessica.howard@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
