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Aussie heatwave


steve99

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27 minutes ago, Tyrone said:

The deserts in Australia are just going to get bigger and bigger the more these fires burn. Who would have thought before 2018 that old growth rainforests would burn.

As sad as this possibility is, interesting this is brought up since there has been chatter, along similar lines, concerning what fires of similar magnitude may do to ecosystems across California going forward. Already some early indications various areas aren't recovering like they should ( X species of trees / other plants not returning / surviving well past germination, if seed germinates at all, etc ).
Here in AZ, specifically in the desert itself, there's a nasty invasive grass that threatens to greatly impact the desert itself as it spreads and helps to greatly intensify fires to which the Sonoran Desert Eco-region did not evolve with. Grass in question was originally brought here, for Cattle grazing..

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1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

As sad as this possibility is, interesting this is brought up since there has been chatter, along similar lines, concerning what fires of similar magnitude may do to ecosystems across California going forward. Already some early indications various areas aren't recovering like they should ( X species of trees / other plants not returning / surviving well past germination, if seed germinates at all, etc ).
Here in AZ, specifically in the desert itself, there's a nasty invasive grass that threatens to greatly impact the desert itself as it spreads and helps to greatly intensify fires to which the Sonoran Desert Eco-region did not evolve with. Grass in question was originally brought here, for Cattle grazing..

We have this invasive grass in the Top End.... very intense and scary fires as a result.....
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/13/increased-fire-risk-fear-as-african-gamba-grass-invades-northern-australia

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Been watching the news, at a point whereby don't know what to say, afraid will say the "wrong thing". At about 3pm today here (2,200 km from the fires in Australia), I suddenly briefly noticed a smell of smoke outside, an hour later the temperature dropped quickly and when the sun was not obscured by lower clouds it looked like this, could look directly at sun and point camera at it easily, no filter needed. 

The other night it happened nearer sunset when a dimmer, red sun is not uncommon, but this was late afternoon mid summer when sun was still >30 degrees above horizon and normally intensely hot!

 

 

S3280004.JPG

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8 hours ago, greysrigging said:

We have this invasive grass in the Top End.... very intense and scary fires as a result.....
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/13/increased-fire-risk-fear-as-african-gamba-grass-invades-northern-australia

Thats one of the nasty Grasses here in the US.  See this particular sp. more often in places like Florida, or S. Texas vs. here in the Southwest though. Our "Raging Devil"  is Buffel Grass, Cenchrus.... **formally Pennisetum**  ciliaris.  Stuff spreads like lightning, particularly along highways.. is tough to kill once established, will kill trees like native Palo Verde by simply out competing them for water resources, and has a very low ignition point, even during wetter times of the year. I see it is causing trouble over in Australia also.. and may have played a significant part in harder to control wildfires that destroyed some old growth forests in places like Standley Chasm up in the N.W. Territory about this time last year.  Stuff has been responsible for some pretty serious fires in the Desert down towards Tucson and further south in recent years. Specialty Nursery i visit there sits below a popular hiking, viewing area and saw post-fire, first hand effects after this grass had invaded the entire hillside facing the Nursery in recent years. Doesn't bode well for the region if what measures have been put in place to keep control are stopped, or never implemented to start with.

The more ornamental types of Pennisetum you see in Nurseries here are causing they're own issues where they have escaped in both California, and Florida as well.. Wish our Ag people would start fining anyone who sells it.. Here in AZ, state Ag Dept is more afraid of NATIVE Morning Glory ( Ipomoea ) Sp.. than non-native/ invasive Fountain Grass.. Specialty nurseries can't sell 'em, don't even think of growing them.. or is what they're trying to sell to the public..

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Wish we could send some our upcoming SFBay area freezing cold air to Australia to cool you down. Having been to Australia (Cains, Kuranda, Sydney, Melbourne, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock area, Tasmania from Port Arthur, Hobart and north to Launceston to Cradle Mountain), we got to experience so many wonderful cities and sites. A lot of our travels were to take in the wildlife and as horrible as I feel for all the residents there and how it is destroying homes and towns, we also are heartbroken over the massive loss of wildlife that hasn’t been able to evacuate. My husband recently spent around 10 days in Alice Springs/Ayers Rock area and Sydney/Blue Mts. and returned shortly before the fires broke out. Seeing his photos of Sydney then compared to what I’ve seen since is mindblowing. 

We’ve experienced the smoke of wildfires over our time here in Calif. but nothing like what so many are having to breathe in there now. Going to affect a lot of people long term healthwise I would think. Amazing the smoke is detectable in NZ. 
 

Honestly don’t know what to say either except I wish safety for all in the fires path. 

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Zone 9b (formerly listed as Zone 9a); Sunset 14

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6 hours ago, WestCoastGal said:

Wish we could send some our upcoming SFBay area freezing cold air to Australia to cool you down. Having been to Australia (Cains, Kuranda, Sydney, Melbourne, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock area, Tasmania from Port Arthur, Hobart and north to Launceston to Cradle Mountain), we got to experience so many wonderful cities and sites. A lot of our travels were to take in the wildlife and as horrible as I feel for all the residents there and how it is destroying homes and towns, we also are heartbroken over the massive loss of wildlife that hasn’t been able to evacuate. My husband recently spent around 10 days in Alice Springs/Ayers Rock area and Sydney/Blue Mts. and returned shortly before the fires broke out. Seeing his photos of Sydney then compared to what I’ve seen since is mindblowing. 

We’ve experienced the smoke of wildfires over our time here in Calif. but nothing like what so many are having to breathe in there now. Going to affect a lot of people long term healthwise I would think. Amazing the smoke is detectable in NZ. 
 

Honestly don’t know what to say either except I wish safety for all in the fires path. 

Thanks for the wishes, my sister has just been evacuated by FESA due to a bushfire.  Would love to take your weather if it were possible.

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As a firefighter I wish I could drive down and help y'all out. But I'm sure the men and women in y'alls fire and ems system are already busting their butts to get it done. I know it's a cliche but thoughts and prayers...

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LOWS 16/17 12F, 17/18 3F, 18/19 7F, 19/20 20F

Palms growing in my garden: Trachycarpus Fortunei, Chamaerops Humilis, Chamaerops Humilis var. Cerifera, Rhapidophyllum Hystrix, Sabal Palmetto 

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No heatwave here any more. Haven't seen the sun in days. Not much difference between night and day temps now. Nights are between 14-18C and days are between 19-23C with many windy blowy days. Not really nice weather, but it's great for mountain species palms like Ceroxylon and LHI stuff. Woke up to a fine mist this morning that eventually turned into drizzle that burnt off when the wind picked up. Looking at the models we've got about a month of this. The synoptic charts look virtually stalled with highs sitting off to our West in the Southern and Indian Oceans. At least we don't have mega fires at the moment.

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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A few scattered showers in Perth today, first rain I've seen in months, only 29c today but very steamy.

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Finally! A drought breaker!  50mm on Thursday and 65mm since....pouring rain outside with plenty to come...and the rain is widespread, benefiting many areas!  And the heavy stuff is still a couple of hours away...

 

Saturday 18 January

Summary
storm.png
Min 19
Max 26
Showers. Possible storm.
Possible rainfall: 70 to 120 mm
Chance of any rain: 95% rain_95.gif

Gold Coast area

Cloudy. Very high (95%) chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm. Heavy falls possible, mainly about the hinterland. Light winds becoming easterly 15 to 20 km/h in the late afternoon.

Edited by Daryl
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Gold Coast, Queensland Latitude 28S. Mild, Humid Subtropical climate. Rainfall - not consistent enough!

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Talk about a rain bomb! Has not stopped pouring all night

 

radar120.JPG.621486524f231b0a300fc96e95262359.JPG

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Gold Coast, Queensland Latitude 28S. Mild, Humid Subtropical climate. Rainfall - not consistent enough!

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2 hours ago, Daryl said:

Talk about a rain bomb! Has not stopped pouring all night

 

radar120.JPG.621486524f231b0a300fc96e95262359.JPG

over 10" ( 250mm ) at the Gold Coast seaway... !

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We ended up with 204mm in the gauge

This is the creek that runs behind my property 

29605B96-CC38-40CF-BD8F-454ADFD34455.thumb.jpeg.1424f4fd15b0cb01127b371a38e4dbec.jpeg

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Gold Coast, Queensland Latitude 28S. Mild, Humid Subtropical climate. Rainfall - not consistent enough!

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7 hours ago, Daryl said:

We ended up with 204mm in the gauge

This is the creek that runs behind my property 

29605B96-CC38-40CF-BD8F-454ADFD34455.thumb.jpeg.1424f4fd15b0cb01127b371a38e4dbec.jpeg

No more watering for you in a while. Risk of fires is now greatly diminished as well. May your garden thrive.

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Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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15 hours ago, greysrigging said:

Dorothea Mackellar was spot on with her famous poem.....
https://allpoetry.com/poem/8526595-My-Country-by-Dorothea-Mackellar

A classic that we all love...my wife commented on the drought/bushfire/flood thing yesterday and this poem was the first thing that came to mind LOL

Gold Coast, Queensland Latitude 28S. Mild, Humid Subtropical climate. Rainfall - not consistent enough!

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11 hours ago, Tyrone said:

No more watering for you in a while. Risk of fires is now greatly diminished as well. May your garden thrive.

Correct Ty, we have had close to 280 mm in the last few days and the ground is nicely soaked. The water table should be rising nicely...all of the weeds have sprung into action as well!

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Gold Coast, Queensland Latitude 28S. Mild, Humid Subtropical climate. Rainfall - not consistent enough!

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A C130 Hercules water bomber has crashed in NSW while fighting bushfires killing the 3 crew. The 3 blokes were all from the United States over here helping with our bushfire crisis. That is a bloody tragedy, fireos are the best. Feel terrible for the families of these blokes.

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6 minutes ago, sandgroper said:

A C130 Hercules water bomber has crashed in NSW while fighting bushfires killing the 3 crew. The 3 blokes were all from the United States over here helping with our bushfire crisis. That is a bloody tragedy, fireos are the best. Feel terrible for the families of these blokes.

It really is the summer from Hell...... RIP..... your sacrifice wont be forgotten.....

 

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That’s a real horrible tragedy to say the very least.

Heat is building over WA again early next week which then blows east by the end of the week. When will it end?

Luckily where I am we miss the extreme heat but half an hour inland is different. I think we may peak at 32C, whereas it will be in the 40s further inland.

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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17 hours ago, sandgroper said:

A C130 Hercules water bomber has crashed in NSW while fighting bushfires killing the 3 crew. The 3 blokes were all from the United States over here helping with our bushfire crisis. That is a bloody tragedy, fireos are the best. Feel terrible for the families of these blokes.

Kyrie eleison. Prayers go out to the families of these heroes.

5 year high 42.2C/108F (07/06/2018)--5 year low 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)--Lowest recent/current winter: 4.6C/40.3F (1/19/2023)

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

The east coast of Australia is now suffering extreme rain and flash flooding, particularly in the Sydney Basin.
Meanwhile an extreme heatwave is building up in the south eastern Top End and Gulf country of the Northern Territory.  Borroloola has 44c ( 111f ) to 46c ( 115f ) forecast for the next 6 or 7 days....all record breaking Feb temps and 45/46 will break all time cecords if it comes off
February is slap bang in the middle of the Northern Wet and those sort of temps at this time of the year is unheard of......
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/nt/roper-mcarthur/borroloola

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