That's actually quite weird, Cairns usually doesn't get that hot - the humidity knocks you down but for that very reason the ambient temperature almost never hits 40C.
Sounds awful. Glad I don't live in Arizona. The hottest temperature I experienced was 109 in Sacramento. Temperatures in the low triple digits are common in the Sacramento area during the summer, but they rarely go above 105 or so.
"116 in Las Vegas, NV." ... but I lived in Arizona, for three years when I was a kid, so that's probably not the hottest, but it's the hottest that I had a chance to check on. Walked out of a casino, in Vegas and there was a sign that read "116." Coming out of an environment that was 55 degrees, it really took my breath away!! Kinda hard to breathe for a couple of seconds.