Gosh its danged hot here

quote:

The snow pictures look surprisingly attractive.

The grass is always greener eh?

Or whiter in this case?

Australia is slowly burning. It upset me greatly to live in Australia as the continent slowly turned to desert. So profound was the effect on my psyche, that I still find sunny days a little depressing.

It is not a drought, it is not a heatwave, it is permanent and irevocable climate change and I despair for the future of the country. Particularly with the incredibly short-sighted leadership that continues to exist there. Clean coal? Baby bonuses? Cash handouts to prop-up destructive consumersim? Get real.

Vancouver is a refreshing place to live, from a perceived climate perspective at least.

Dear All,

Well the fires are burning well.

47.5 c at Avalon Victoria. Golly Gosh thats hot.

Here in Sydney we hit 40 c odd and had a few fires but compared to Victoria we are cool. Today is forecast to be hotter than yesterday.

So i hope the aircon is working at the HiFi club venue today. We are using class A 25w tranny amps which get somewhat warm. So aircon onto super freeze please.

it is stinking hot and humid already and it is only 8.45 am.

regards David

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
When does winter normaly start over in Aus?

Officially June 1 to Aug 31. Sydney winters are really nice - not like here. I do not remember wearing a coat in winter during my time down under.

Dear Lontano,

You lived in luxury here.

I live in a student type flat and as such it was absolutely freezing in Winter. Also last winter we had 7 frosts and i had to scrape ice off the car those mornings. Couldnt believe i needed an icescraper here.

I used two duvets at night as it was so cold in my flat. All houses here are designed to lose heat and even in winter they do a good job of that.

Now outside during the day winter is beautiful may be as cold as 8c but with brilliant sunshine so it is georgeous.

But indoors in a crummy flat believe me it is cold. Just like when i was a student in UK in Plymouth.

regards David

I meant to say I did not wear a coat outside. Yes nights can get cold though. Like many Aussie houses, our house was colder inside than it was outside in the winter but yes we did have that reverse cycle air con to take off the chill. We never had any frosts though even though we were just a couple of miles down the road from you. I was a student in Plymouth as well....enjoy the Sydney Audio Club meet today.

Cheers

Today is a lot better than yesterday - it cooled off a little over night which makes it barebal (inside the house). Even ventured outside for a little while.

Dear All,

The fires in Vuctoria area have been very bad with 250 homes lost and about 60 deaths.

This is real sad.



another stinker here.

Still a POT OF TEA cures all ills.

Stiff upper lip etc etc.

regards David

Horrible to think how so many ordinary people have died so awfully, from fires that were probably deliberately lit.

Two weeks ago it hit 45 degrees here in metropolitan Adelaide, and stayed above 40 for about a week. It wasn't just radiant heat from the sun causing the high temperatures, but hot air currents from central Australia, which continued well into the night. It was like someone had turned on a giant hair dryer and pointed it at the city. Most domestic air conditioners, including mine, couldn't cope. All they did was circulate hot air around the house. For the first time, I realised how it was possible for people living in cities to die from this sort of weather.

Steve

We've been very lucky in these here parts David - very little snow. Cold; but I don't mind turning up the heating.

Your terrible wild-fires are making the news here. When can we expect you back?

John.

Hi Steve,

In Melbourne, we only experienced three days above 40C, two at 43 and the last at 46 ( our hottest day in our short recorded history) with winds exceeding 100km/hour. I really prefer that to a full week above 40. I've experienced 43 in India but there the humidity screens the worst of the sun. Here the sun is just punishing.

Perversly we had a cool southerly change on the final evening and even had a few drops of rain befor midnight.

Sadly, Janet's sister has lost her log cabin in the Maysville conflagration. It was historically significant, having been a kiosk on the highway in the early days of travel through the area. She had three trees on the State historic trees register.

Some facts that amaze me (apart from the idea that people actually enjoy lighting these fires):
The death toll this Monday morning is 108, but this by no means final.
The fire the that took out Kinglake advanced 25km in 15 minutes, leaving no time for people to evacuate.
The fires generate such ferocious updrafts that they create their own weather including lightning that then starts further fires.
Burning debris was carried ahead of the fires up to 50km, again starting further fires.
Yesteday afternoon the biggest fire was 220,000 hectares (540,000 acres)after just 36 hours.

David

quote:

Originally posted by bivalve:
The fire the that took out Kinglake advanced 25km in 15 minutes, leaving no time for people to evacuate.

In Miami we do have bush fires in the Everglades, sometimes destroying houses and on rare occasions you have a loss of life.

The sheer verosity of these fires in Victoria is something completely different - these poor folks in Kinglake had no chance to escape.

Dear J.N.,

Anytime now mate.

Appalling fires in Victoria

Appalling floods in Queensland

And now for this evening for New South Wales near the Blue Mountains and Central Coast appalling storms with severe winds and Extreme Hail Storms. So that is Golf Ball to orange sized hail.

Drizzle and overcast for 9 months of the year sounds very appealing. So one dies a quiet and peaceful death by boredom in UK.

The climate is fierce and cruel at times. Some of the stories on the news driving home tonight were Heart rending. One poor women through sobbing and tears was saying that she did not know how many in her family had been killed. That interview nearly broke me and i am a very long way from her and i am in safety.

Truly sad day or two.

They are asking for money to buy simple essentials as there is nothing left in that area.

So i wish you all a safe and secure goodnight.

regards David

David

25km in 15 minutes is just incomprehensible. During the fires in Sydney's upper north shore in 2000, the sky filled with smoke and debris and embers rained down on us in the lower north shore about 20 km away. One of the scariest signts I've ever seen.

Very sorry to hear about Janet's sister's log cabin, but at least she herself was unharmed I assume. I feel deperately sorry for the people who lost their lives.

Steve

Steve,

Yes she's fine. I'll pass on your commiserations to Janet. And I do remember Sydney's monster fires.

David