opplevelse

Yep waiting for the wind here in Melbourne. It is all calm at the moment but they are talking about sustained 40-50KNOTS with gusts to 70-80 kts!!!! Bloody hell!

Lovely warm weather with a smoke haze over the city of Melbourne over the last few days 28-30C

Today I had the oportunity to help do some repair work at the Children First Foundation ( http://www.childrenfirstfoundation.com/ )farm house near Kilmore. The Kilmore East fire started nearby the farmhouse and the fire got within 5m of the house, but 4 CFA trucks were able to save the house (which actually was subject to Ch9's Backyard Blitz!) Anyway, a few pics. Didnt take too many as there was too much to do (click for larger). Smoke over Melbourne at 7:30 this morning The Childrens playground was destroyed This was a slide I dont think the sign is necessary any more (I actually saved this from the tip to be used as a memorial) I cant remember but I think it was a crawlling tube in the playground Not much left in the paddocks Looking south from the farmhouse A few more to come The Rotary club sign at the front gate did not fare too well Neither did the pine plantation In the end the area was made safe for the kids again The 110km/hr sign on the Hume near the Clonbinane exit

I am sure everyone in Australia appreciates your sympathies Chins up, now is time to rebuild These are my experiences for the day written to friends in Oslo ...

It is very subdued at work today. Fires are still threatening the NE communities around Beechworth etc. and there is a risk that if it gets into the Alpine Nat Park, a fire like what occured in 2003 may result (when 1.3Million Hectares was burnt). I fought those fires. Re-reading this thread is a little chilling to be honest as my posts were before any fires actually had taken hold.

Death toll from this tragedy is up to 108 now :lol: The scenes of devestation have been simply extraordinary, and PyroCu have created lighting which has started still more fires. Weather conditions have eased somewhat, but there are still areas of major concern in the NE of Victoria :lol: around Beechworth. http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/bushfires/ Has it been getting any coverage in the UK ... the entire State, and indeed the country is struggling to cope with this ... and it is not over yet

EXTRAORDINARY video of Marysville http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200902/r337253_1529939.asx But from the CFA

Official death toll is now 26 but 8 people in intensive care at the alfred (major hospital) and many towns have not been able to be searched as the fires are still cutting off access. Pyrocumulus have been creating havoc with dry lightningstarting many new fires, and an unstable band of thunderstorms is now moving through the area. While the cool front has made things more pleasent in Melbourne it is not good news for the fires as all it does is change the wind direction, which if you can imagine, changes a fire which has burnt 20km with a 1km wide front, into a 20km wide front ... Entire towns have been wiped from the face of the planet, with reports of just one building left standing in Marysville ... one of the prettiest towns I have ever been to. Extrodinary weather, from 46.4C here yesterday, it is now a pleasent cool 22C, and a max of 24 is expected.

14 people confirmed dead with fears of up to 40

http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/bushfires/ Friends family is holed up in their farm right in the firing line ... she has just called and is distraught, hasnt heard anything for a while

Cool change has arrived, but that is very bad news for the fires ...

46.4C which is alltime record temp. in Melbourne incredibly strong winds 6 major fires around built up areas.

You can monitor the situation from this live stream http://www.abc.net.au/melbourne/radio/?nav=true Just went outside, my eyes are stinging from the heat ... seriously extrodinary ... someone mentioned apocalyptic ... an appropriate word, and probably not overstating it. Fires with fronts 20km wide, with flames 20-30m high ... listen to the link above.

This is seriously unbeliveable ... 46.2C outside Your eyes sting in the heat, fires everywhere across the state. Power network breaking down. All trains stopped across the state ... and cool change still at least 4 hrs away. This is about 2hrs old Simply unbelievable ... radio is going crazy with reports of fires etc ... I will try and find a live stream if anyone is interested

Fires now popping up around Melbourne, 44.4C here wind at 40kts still and no cool change in the near future. You can see the smoke plumes on the radar ... and if you know Melbourne these fires are on the outer edge of the city.

God help anyone in the bush today. It is midday, 41.1C outside already in Melbourne, very very strong North Westerly winds, gusting to 41kt, humidity is around the 10% mark. Total fire ban declared for the state (obviously) but my god, I would hate to think what will happen if a fire gets hold. We have all been told to remain indoors, refrain from driving or any other activities which might create a spark ... it is seriously oppressive outside. In my 30+ years I do not ever recall conditions like this in Melbourne It is scary.

44C expected here tomorrow (melbourne) with the highest level of fire alert in over 30 years ... low humid high winds and extreme temps (44-47C over much of the state) ... it will be awful. But in typical Melbourne fashion they are expecting a 10-20C temp drop in as many minutes when the cool change comes through tomorrow afternoon. While that will drop the temp to about 25C, it will suck if there are any fires. I was up in Brisbane yesterday, and something like 62% of the state is a declared disaster zone .. that is an area larger than Britain!

It has cooled right down now, todays max was only 30 or thereabouts, and it felt quite cool. Overnight mins have been above 20 for something like 7 or 8 days in a row. that is a record I think. TC Ellie hit QLD with a bit of rain and a bit of wind, but nothing amazing. Heading up there tomorrow for work, but fortunately dont need to fly as far as I thought, only going to Brisbane (2hrs or so) More warm weather on the way and still no rain for southern Australia ... it is bone dry here.

Thanks J07 ... that is one of the funniest things I have seen in a while LOL LOL our friends over the tasman can be a little special sometimes ... you might actually give us a run for our money in the cricket tonight though!

Extreme heat and bushfires in the south, and Tropical Cyclone Ellie in the North! ... and I have to fly up to Northern Queensland later this week for work (just south of where the cyclone is due to hit)! :lol:

It was actually an 8C temp drop in as many minutes. That is not unusual for Melbourne, and days in the 40's is not unusual either during Summer. What is unusual is having 3 days of it in a row, and something like 5 consecutive days above 35C. Melbourne is renowned for having "4 seasons in one day" and when the cool change comes through it hits with a vengeance. The Northerly picks up ahead of the front and then the temp plummets as the wind rapidly swings around to a southerly or southwesterly. This is the temp and wind direction for that day http://www.weatherzone.com.au/station.jsp?...p;dt=30/01/2009 A lady next door to where I am staying was found unconcious and rushed to hospital, we actually moved our 5 month old to my inlaws house which had better aircon. It is now a very muggy 34C at 4:30pm with a humid around 40-50% ... it is almost worse than the 45C! I was in Perth earlier in the week that was slightly more bareable. I'll update the graphing script so it shows the last week instead of the last 3 days

No, not enough moisture for any serious convection. Very low humidities, which provided some relief for us humans, but provided appalling fire conditions . I was involved in fighting the 2003 alpine fires here in Victoria which burnt over 1.5million hectares of land ... that was huge, and the humidites then were higher than they have been recently.

Only a little ... out of the frying pan into the fire ...

I find myself in Melbourne Australia for the moment, and well ... it has been "interesting" Melbourne temps over the last few days have been just silly hot.... Tuesday 36.4 Wed 43.4 Thursday 44.3 Friday 45.1 Power outages and public transport has all but melted down ... Melbourne is normally hot in summer, but not normally this hot ... This is a current graph. It will update and only takes readings every hour (hence it missed the max of 45.1C)

ahhh was sitting at the pub waiting for some friends when i read this, I must have missed the dates ... d'oh