OT - Heatwave

[Legbreaker]

Damn it's hot in this part of the world at the moment. Hobart, our southern most state capital at a latitude of 41.42S (about the same distance from the equator as New York) recorded it's hottest EVER temp today - 41 degrees C (106F) and the south east of the state is currently experiencing some very, very nasty fires. Just to put that temp into perspective - Mount Wellington which overlooks Hobart received a snowfall just last week.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/one-feared-dead-as-fires-ravage-tasmania/story-fncyva0b-1226547910432

But it's not just here either. Almost the entire south east of the Australian continent is experiencing 40+ degrees and some places have been at that level for the past two weeks without a break!

[mikeo80]

Damn it's hot in this part of the world at the moment. Hobart, our southern most state capital at a latitude of 41.42S (about the same distance from the equator as New York) recorded it's hottest EVER temp today - 41 degrees C (106F) and the south east of the state is currently experiencing some very, very nasty fires. Just to put that temp into perspective - Mount Wellington which overlooks Hobart received a snowfall just last week.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/one-feared-dead-as-fires-ravage-tasmania/story-fncyva0b-1226547910432

But it's not just here either. Almost the entire south east of the Australian continent is experiencing 40+ degrees and some places have been at that level for the past two weeks without a break!

This is the kind of weather the Midwest part of the US had during the summer.

Here in North Carolina, the winter has been mild with a good dose of rain recently. The MidWest is cold, but needs something like 15 feet of snow to rebuild the water tables for next growing season.

Maybe we should invest in corn, wheat and beef futures

My $0.02

Mike

[Grimace]

Aaaahhhh...106. It would be nice to be so toasty warm.

I woke up to -3 degrees Fahrenheit (that's -19 Celsius) today.

During the summer here, we got into the 90s a few times, but we only crested 100 two days. We were rather short on rainfall, though, which was unfortunate.

[Raellus]

I live in southern Arizona, so I know hot. Four months of 100F + temps is pretty rough, but the trade off is only one "cold month" and being able to wear shorts pretty much the other seven months of the year. When a good deal of the rest of the country is getting snowed in, I'm outside playing sports. My concern is how the general global warming trend is going to impact the future, especially for my kids. This year, Arizona tied its record average high and, AFAIK, most of the state is still under what the federal government classifies as drought conditions (this minor drought has lasted years, now). Although the high temps might be bearable now, what's it going to be like in 10 years That's what worries me.

[kcdusk]

49 here at home yesterday, on the west coast of South Australia.

[Targan]

49 here at home yesterday, on the west coast of South Australia.

I had heard last night that parts of SA exceeded 48 degrees yesterday (49 degrees celsius is 120 degrees fahrenheit for our American friends BTW). Lucky they breed 'em tough out your way huh KC

Still, I find it funny that the national news broadcasts are only now talking about a heat wave. Weather travels west to east across Australia so the hot weather being experienced in eastern Australia now hit my city a week ago. We were tortured with 3 or 4 consecutive days over 40 degrees C (104 F) right through the New Years period. That's actually pretty normal for us at this time of year, but it's still brutal every time.

[Legbreaker]

Things have gotten very nasty in the last 12 hours or so. Up to 100 homes burnt to the ground in Tasmania alone (many "towns" have populations of just a few hundred people to start with) and at least one death.
A weather station in the worst fire zone recorded the following yesterday - 4.00 pm - 38 C (100F), 4.20 pm - 54.9 C (131F). That's the hell the fire fighters are having to deal with hour after hour.

[Raellus]

Holy shit. I guess I don't know heat.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/09/16429395-family-escapes-australian-tornadoes-of-fire-by-clinging-to-jetty-for-3-hourslite

[Targan]

Australia is definitely getting hotter. Like it wasn't bloody hot enough already. Sheesh.

[Legbreaker]

I've seen reports of some people trapped in the water for up to 5 and 6 hours. One image stuck in my mind is that of a boat, still on it's trailer backed into the water and pushed out a few yards. The car is still on the ramp, half in the water - above the waterline is burnt out. There was no trees, bushes or other sources of fuel for a dozen yards.

The fires were hot, REAL hot. The ash is about as fine as you'll ever see and there's absolutely nothing left in most areas - usually you'll see some grass stubble under the ash, but in this case it's burnt right down to, and even into the dirt.

A couple of days ago Australia broke it's own record for highest average maximum temperature (all maximums across the country averaged). It peaked at 40.33C (104.594F) on Monday the 7th. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/q...-1226549755617
Remember, that's averaged across the entire continent!

Temps have dropped in the last couple of days, giving the fire fighters a small reprieve in which to back burn and create fire breaks, but are expected to climb again during the weekend.

[Jason Weiser]

Kee-rist..yeah, I'll remember this during our summers, when it barely breaks 100 with the humidity....

[Medic]

You guys can only guess, how hot it is inside the firemens' suits in those temperatures, when fires blaze around them. Even here in the cold north the firemen consume a huge load of water in the summer, when they are out working.

But a funny contrast, a couple of hundreds klicks east of my position, it's about -54 centigrades...

[Legbreaker]

On Mt Wellington, only 45 kilometres west of Dunalley, there was a forecast of snow during the height of the fires...

[Legbreaker]