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<\/p>\nAvid lawn bowls player Ian Von Stanke regularly hits the greens during summer and knows how scorching the surface temperature of the green can be.<\/p>\n
“When you’re out there, the heat in the bottom of your shoes is unbelievable,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Von Stanke plays bowls in and around Mount Gambier in South Australia, and is not surprised by the 80-plus-degree temperatures that have been recorded by emergency services recently.<\/p>\n
“It’s the heat that generates up from the carpet up into your face that is the killer,” he said.<\/p>\n
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Thermal imaging at the Mount Gambier Bowls Club shows how hot common surfaces get on a 40C day. (Supplied: SA SES)<\/p>\n
The South Australian State Emergency Service (SES) deployed a drone with thermal imaging capabilities over Mount Gambier on a hot day in January to record the temperature of common surfaces.<\/p>\n
The temperature of the green measured by the SES was 86.75 degrees Celsius, more than double the air temperature on a 40C day.<\/p>\n
A unique angle to see heat<\/p>\n
South Australian SES chief remote pilot Brad Flew was undertaking a routine drone test flight when he decided to test out its thermal imaging capabilities.<\/p>\n
“It was an opportunity to use drones in the heat and actually test their capabilities,” Mr Flew said.<\/p>\n
“It gave us some really interesting insights into \u2026 the surface temperatures.”<\/p>\n
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Brad Flew says he was surprised to see some surfaces measure double the official temperature. (ABC South East SA: Samuel O’Brien)<\/p>\n
While warnings about hot footpaths and roads are common in summer, Mr Flew said the use of drones meant a wider variety of surfaces could be measured.<\/p>\n
“To actually see how broad that temperature was, even on things like astroturf or fake grass through the concrete and bitumen [was surprising],” Mr Flew said.<\/p>\n
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Even during cooler parts of the day, synthetic fields regularly reach extreme temperatures. (Supplied: SA SES)<\/p>\n
The phenomenon is known as urban heating, in which surfaces absorb heat, making communities much warmer than the actual temperature.<\/p>\n
Mr Von Stanke said that, even on cooler days, it could be unbearable for players to compete on the greens, forcing many to find innovative ways to beat the heat.<\/p>\n
“I usually have a bowls rag that I wet and put underneath my hat; I do it every second end,” Mr Von Stanke said.<\/p>\n
“I get wine casks and I cut the liners out of them and put the silver side down [inside my shoes] so it reflects the heat.”![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fb9c15009dab666cc17198f24a4788d9.jpeg\")
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Ian Von Stanke is a regular player at Mount Gambier Bowls Club. (ABC South East SA: Samuel O’Brien)<\/p>\n
Mr Von Stanke has been pushing for more localised heat policies for bowls competitions on the Limestone Coast.<\/p>\n
Currently, bowls pennants are called off if the predicted temperature is forecast to reach 37C in Naracoorte, an hour’s drive north of Mount Gambier.<\/p>\n
“There is no heat rule for tournaments \u2026 there is only a rule for pennants,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We played a tournament the other day and three or four [players] went down.”<\/p>\n
An issue for growing towns<\/p>\n
While areas like western Sydney often feature in headlines about urban heat problems, growing regional cities like Mount Gambier are just as susceptible to their impacts.<\/p>\n
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