During the early 2009 Australian heatwave, the town experienced several days of intense heat, with a peak of 48.8 °C (119.8 °F). The reading was the highest temperature nationwide during the heatwave and also broke the record for the highest temperature in Victoria.[5]
Present
The town has one hotel, a supermarket (IGA), a newsagent, post office, chemist/pharmacist, hairdressers, service station, one Catholic primary school and a combined primary and secondary school, Hopetoun P-12 College, which caters for surrounding townships. It also has a fast food cafe and an op shop. It has a hospital with urgent care, an acute ward and a residential aged care facility. Hopetoun Airport serves the town.
With neighbouring townships Rainbow, Jeparit, and Beulah, Hopetoun has a football and netball club, the Southern Mallee Thunder, competing in the Wimmera Football Netball League. The town also has a golf course, lawn bowls, cricket and tennis competitions, basketball and many other sporting and recreational activities for all ages.
Golfers play at the Hopetoun Golf Club on Rainbow Road.[6]
Climate
Climate data for Hopetoun (Hopetoun Airport), elevation 77 m (253 ft), (2004–2024)
^Brocklebank, Deirdre Heather (2010), Tell tales : memoirs of Hopetoun Victoria 1950s-70 ([Revised edition] ed.), Deirdre Brocklebank, ISBN978-0-646-54885-2
^"HOPETOUN". Adelaide Observer. Vol. L, no. 2, 702. South Australia. 15 July 1893. p. 32. Retrieved 26 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
^Phoenix Auctions History, Post Office List, retrieved 28 January 2021