Birdsville is an outback Queensland town used to hot weather, but the current heatwave is unusual even for them.
Daily temperatures in Birdsville have hit 43 or higher since Australia Day, even reaching a high of 46 degrees on Tuesday.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Brett Harrison said Birdsville's temperatures have been "well above" average for at least a couple of weeks.
The town, with a population of 115 - which explodes to around 9000 with the famous Birdsville Races every September, has seen temperatures of 44 and above every day of February so far.
"And the previous month, it's been 43 and above since the 27th of January," Mr Harrison said.
Senior constable Stephan Pursell, the officer in charge at Birdsville Police Station, said staying indoors was the best way to cope with the heat.
"It's 24 in air conditioning inside and 44 outside, it's not a hard choice," he said.
The senior constable said once the temperature moves past 42 degrees it all feels the same.
"Whatever you can cope with at 42 you can cope with at 46: council workers are still out fixing roads, kids are still going to school, the police are still running around," he said.
"You do the essential moving around - from home to the pub, for example," he laughed.
Senior constable Pursell said the town swimming pool was also an after-work favourite with the locals, and later at night the nearby billabong was a great place to dip your toes.
Originally from Victoria, he moved from the Sunshine Coast to Birdsville a year ago and said the toughest part about the weather was the fact it never really cools down in summer, not even at night.