Heatwave in SE Australia

[Sundae]

My thoughts are with you for what it's worth.
Tell your brother to move!!!

[ZenGum]

The heatwave is nearly over here - just 33 today and tomorrow, 40 again on Friday, then a change coming through sometime on Saturday, high in mid thirties, then highs in the mid twenties for the rest of next week. Melbourne will not get the change until Sunday and so Saturday there will be well over 40.

33 is nice; we're calling it the new 25.

Meanwhile...

[TheMercenary]

heh, great pic.

[ZenGum]

They lied to me.

Friday is aiming for 43, and Saturday's cool change looks like coming in later, and so 40 to 44 is expected. They're expecting Sydney to go over 40 this weeekend too.

[lumberjim]

pump some of that heat this way.....the cold is soaking up through the floor into my feet and legs here.

[DucksNuts]

We havent had a day under 40 for over a week, and the heat at nite is unpleasant.

Things are on the improve though....

Friday 16 / 41
Saturday 21 / 43
Sunday 20 / 33
Monday 12 / 27

No rain forecast for the next 3 months....

[piercehawkeye45]

Its 40 degrees here today. If I didn't have a 25 minute walk to work at seven in the morning, around 5 degrees at that time, I would consider wearing shorts.

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45

Its 40 degrees here today. If I didn't have a 25 minute walk to work at seven in the morning, around 5 degrees at that time, I would consider wearing shorts.

WTF??? Minnesota? February? Are you talking centigrade or farenheit?

[Kingswood]

Melbourne's had a respite from the heat for a week as the heat retreated north, but it is back with a vengeance today. 44C is forecast ahead of a cool change. The forecast is notable for being higher than the record maximum for Melbourne for February. The record maximum for February is (I think) 43.2 set on February 8, 1983. That day brought us a dust storm:

Outside, my thermometer is reading 44C in the shade.

Not only has it been hot, it has also been dry. Rainfall in the Melbourne rain gauge since January 4th: 0. If we're lucky, the 35-day dry spell will be broken this evening with a few light showers. For Melbourne, the record for the most number of consecutive days without rain is 40 days.

The heat wave has had many consequences:
Melbourne morgue full after heatwave deaths
The fire conditions are rated as the 'the worst ever' according to some.
A bushfire east of Melbourne in the Bunyip State Park has broken containment lines and threatens homes.

[Kingswood]

Melbourne has just broken the all-time heat record, reaching 46C at 2.28pm. Some suburbs have reached 47C. I can tell you that's bloody hot.

The previous record was 45.6C set on January 13, 1939.

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

WTF??? Minnesota? February? Are you talking centigrade or farenheit?

Haha, if it was 40 degrees centigrade here in February we would have broke the temperature record by 50-60 degrees F or 35 degrees C.

Though 40 degrees is still very warm for here. We tied the high temperature record with 46 degrees F or so last Saturday. Not as warm this week but still a good 10 degrees above average.

I am welcoming it fully.

[ZenGum]

Updated information http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...08/2485317.htm.

It is pretty much normal each summer to have scrub and forest burn.
It is not unusual to lose sheds, fences, livestock, and maybe a few isolated farmhouses.
In this fire we are losing whole towns. This is very rare - not since the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983 have we seen the like, although the Canberra fires of 2003 came close.

Raylene Kincaide from Narbethong north-east of Melbourne says her home has been destroyed and there is little left of the town.

"Everyone we know has lost everything they had - it's not nice," she said. "I've been in Ash Wednesday but this is probably worse."

ABC Local Radio caller Georgina, whose husband battled to save the town of Strathewen with CFA volunteers, says the town has been devastated by the devastating fires.

She fears many of the town's residents may have lost their lives.

"It's just absolute devastation and people have seen things today that have been absolutely horrific," she said.

"There's a lot of families in Strathewen that we haven't been able to account for.

"The school's gone, the hall's gone... some people left it too late. We've lost friends, and we're just waiting for more - children, loved ones."

She says the town is largely inaccessible as fallen logs and debris block the main roads, but has urged trapped residents to remain optimistic.

"They're just so cut off out there and we just wait for daylight now and hope that there's nothing out there left to burn," she said.

"They're calling out to houses and they can't hear people answering. Hang in there anybody that's listening and still cut off because they're coming."

The Country Fire Authority says there is "possibly one building left standing" in Marysville, after relentless bushfires engulfed the town, north of Melbourne.

Fuck.

[Kingswood]

My two nephews who live in Kinglake are safe but the news I have so far is that one of my nephews has lost his house to the fires. I have no word yet on the state of the other house but it is very likely that has gone as well. Almost every house in Kinglake has been burnt.

I am still waiting on news from other people I know living in the district.

[Sundae]

2C here today and yesterday (35.6F apparently)

I went into town yesterday just wearing a jumper (sweater).
My Dad had gone to the supermarket - naughty, naughty on a day when only essential travel was advised!
He was coming off the roundabout and saw someone dressed in pink.
He told Mum when he got home, "I knew it had to be Cherry, no-one else would be out without a coat in this weather" adding, "anyway, I could see her smile from the top of Elmhurst Road."

Which made me very happy.

[Aliantha]

Holy snapping frog shit batman! That's farking hot!!!

I feel sorry for you lot. I hope it eases very soon.