By PAUL MILLAR
LOCAL residents took a breather from the sweltering conditions this week but will need a second wind to survive the weekend, with the mercury set to bubble over 40C again on Sunday.
It will be time to head for the shade and stay close to the refrigerator, which will be a bonus for Victorian brewers. Statistics show that beer sales vary about two per cent for every 1C change in temperature.
Jenny Christie, from Mr Cool Ice, said her company was flat-out meeting demand during the recent hot spell.
“It was unbelievable but we just managed to keep up with it,” she said.
“We were doing about 20 tonnes a day or more, for four day.”
The family business usually sells about six tonnes.
Geelong Weather Services’ Lindsay Smail expected 42C on the last day of January, which he said was not unusual for the month in Victoria.
Geelong’s long-term overall average maximum temperature for January was 25.1C but this year it was closer to 28C, he said.
However, in January 1908 the long-term average high was 31.5C and 1961’s average maximum was 29.1C.
“We’re looking at the top end of the scale but it’s not unusual for this time of the year,” Mr Smail said.
Sunday would be blistering but the region would escape the prolonged intensity of the four-day heatwave earlier in January, he said.
“A cold front is expected to follow during the night, taking the temperature down to about 18 degrees.”
