34.6 - It was our hottest day on record!

If you got a bit hot under the collar on Thursday there was a good reason, it was officially the hottest day on record in Wairarapa.
Temperatures peaked at 34.6 degrees Celsius recorded at the automatic weather station at Te Ore Ore, just east of Masterton and only fractionally lower at the East Taratahi climate station that recorded a top of 34.3 degrees at 5.30pm.
The previous highest official temperatures were 33.1 degrees at Te Ore Ore on a January day in 2006 and 34.1 in 2004 at East Taratahi.
Weather experts said it could be that people taking their own readings got an even higher result but the official temperatures had to be recorded using a strictly scientific method and proper recording equipment.
Andrew Tait, of NIWA in Wellington, said climate station thermometers are housed inside a Stevenson screen, or instrument shelter, that shields the instruments from direct heat radiation but allows air to circulate freely around them.
The wooden box with louvres is situated 1.2 metres above ground.
Thursday's sweltering temperatures were more than 10 degrees above the January daily average for Wairarapa and, apart from sending people scurrying to swimming holes and public baths, also melted tar on roads throughout the district.
Wairarapa records have been taken at East Taratahi only since 1973 and at Te Ore Ore since 1992.
According to NIWA' s records the highest temperatures ever recorded anywhere in New Zealand were on February 7, 1973 when the mercury skyrocketed to 42.4 degrees Celsius at Rangiora in Canterbury and to 39.2 degrees at Ruatoria in the central North Island.
Both fall far short of the highest temperature recorded across the Tasman where 53 degrees Celsius in Cloncurry, Queensland, holds the record.
That temperature was recorded in 1889.
In Masterton the blistering heat bubbled tar on roads causing several call-outs for light chip coatings to be applied to settle the tar down.
Affected were intersections at Colombo Road/Kuripuni Street, Villa Street /Pownall Street, Manaia Road/Martinborough Road and Lees Pakaraka Road/ Stronvar Road.
Rural roading engineer Alec Birch said the district had got off fairly lightly in view of the extreme heat with relatively minor bleeding of tar through sealed surfaces.
Over 500 people took refuge from the sun at Masterton's Rec Centre pools.
Acting manager Kath Albrett-Rimene said the daily tally resulted in one of the busiest day's the complex had enjoyed in a long time.
"It was pretty hot inside the building so the staff were having a bit of a dip from time to time too."
Wairarapa rivers were also high on the agenda with swimmers migrating from town to Double Bridges, The Cliffs and spots further south on the Ruamahanga, at the Waiohine River Bridge and some swimmers plunged into the Waipoua River despite prominent toxic algae warning signs.