Dark purple, magenta added as temperatures soar

Australia's record-breaking heat wave has sent temperatures soaring, melting road tar and setting off hundreds of wildfires - as well as searing new colors onto weather maps.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has added dark purple and magenta to its color-coded weather forecasting maps to represent temperatures of 51 C to 54 C, officials said.

Firefighters douse burning logs from the Deans Gap fire near Nowra on the south coast of the state of New South Wales in Australia, on Wednesday. [Photo/Agencies]

Temperatures on the maps were previously capped at 50 C, represented by the color black.

"In order to better understand what temperatures we might see ... we introduced two new colors," said Aaron Coutts-Smith, manager of climate services at the bureau.

Forecasts show a large area with temperatures of more than 50 C expected next Monday, he said.

Australia's average maximum temperature has exceeded 39 C for a record-breaking seven consecutive days. The previous record of four consecutive days above that level was in 1973.

The hottest temperature recorded on Monday was in the South Australian outback town of Oodnadatta, where the mercury rose to 48.2 C - forcing the petrol station to stop selling fuel after it started vaporizing.

Brief reprieve

Record temperatures across southern Australia cooled on Wednesday, reducing the danger from scores of wildfires but probably bringing only a brief reprieve from the summer's extreme heat and fire risk.

"There's little doubt that this is a very, very extreme heat wave," said David Jones, manager of climate monitoring and prediction at the Bureau of Meteorology. "If you look at its extent, its duration, its intensity, it is arguably the most significant in Australia's history," he added.

Cooler conditions brought relief to firefighters battling about 200 fires across Australia's southeast, and gave them the chance to build earth breaks to try to contain the blazes. The fire risk is expected to increase later in the week as temperatures rise.

No deaths have been reported from the wildfires, although about 100 people have not been accounted for since last week when a blaze destroyed about 90 homes in the Tasmanian town of Dunalley, east of the state capital, Hobart. On Wednesday, police spokeswoman Lisa Stingel said it is likely most of these people simply have not checked in with officials.