The mercury soared to almost 50 degrees Celsius across the state this week, before a cool change swept in ahead of the public holiday.
On Tuesday, the Bureau of Meteorology clocked temperatures of at least 46.8C at Wudinna, with much of Eyre Peninsula recording heat in the mid to high 40s.
At Ceduna, the Bureau recorded 46.6 and 45.5 at Port Augusta, while further east Kadina reached 43.1, Murray bridge recorded 43 even and Nuriootpa topped at 41.6.
In the South East, the weather was slightly cooler, with Naracoorte and Mount Gambier recording 37.8 and 36.9 respectively.
Although most regions had their hottest day for the year on Tuesday, Oodnadatta didn't top the month until Wednesday at a sweltering 48.3.
At Loxton, Tuesday reached 40.3C, just shy of the January 12's temperature on 40.7.
On social media, people shared their home and vehicle thermometers, with many recording temperatures higher than 50C.
At Panitya, Nikki Dowden recorded 54.1C on her farm at about 3.45pm.
On the SA border, Birdsville, Qld, had reached an annual record for its highest minimum daily temperature at 35.2C and today it was likely to reach an annual maximum daily record which currently sits at 49.3C and was recorded in December of 2019.
Bureau spokesperson Morgan Pumpa said some regions reached their highest maximum temperature in more than three years.
"We have had a severe heatwave warning out for much of the week and that continues at the moment as well," she said.
"Cleve reached a maximum of 44C which was the highest since that we've seen since December 2019.
"Port Augusta with 45.5C was one of hotter locations and the last time we saw a similar temperature was in January 2020 and this week's temperature was only four degrees shy of the annual record at 49.5C."
Ms Pumpa said the heatwave warning also took into account minimum temperatures as it did not allow people or animals to cool down over night, with many locations also reaching almost record high minimums.
"At Whyalla 23.6C on January 24 was one of the highest in recent years," she said.
"We saw 33.2C at Oodnadatta airport which is the ninth highest minimum in January in this station's 75 years of data.
"At Woomera we got to 31.1C and that was the highest minimum December 2019."
Ms Pumpa reminded people to stay hydrated and out of the heat during the heatwave.
"As we head towards the end of the week there is some relief on the way," Ms Pumpa said.
"Those severe heatwave conditions are gone but we still have some low intensity heatwave conditions although they are quite common for SA so they don't bring as much of a concern.
"We will be seeing an easing temperatures now and in the coming days, but there's still going to be sunshine above us so there'll still be UV and we should be making sure we're covered up and wearing sunblock."
Into next week, Ms Pumpa warned temperatures would again pick up, with highs in the low 40s expected on Eyre Peninsula and in the pastoral areas.
Katie Jackson
Journalist at Stock Journal. Born into a journo family in the state's South East, Katie made the move to the big smoke to join the team in early 2022 after seven years spent at various mastheads in the regions.
Journalist at Stock Journal. Born into a journo family in the state's South East, Katie made the move to the big smoke to join the team in early 2022 after seven years spent at various mastheads in the regions.
