Birdsville experienced its hottest October day in more than two decades on Thursday as temperature hit the mid-forties in southwest Queensland.

An extremely hot air mass building up over central Australia sent the mercury soaring in Birdsville on Thursday, reaching 44.7 degrees shortly after 1pm local time.

This was their highest October temperature in 23 years and the highest this early in the season for more than 60 years.

This afternoon's heat wasn't too far off Birdsville's October record of 45.1 degrees from 1995, which was also the highest October temperature ever recorded in Queensland.

Birdsville is forecast to reach the low forties again on Friday and Saturday, before daytime maximums drop to 'cooler' levels the mid-to-high thirties from Sunday into next week.