Hot Enough For You?

[wombat666]

Sydney (Australia) 40.8C, 15% humidity and Bush fires all over New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern areas of Victoria.
If you like REALLY HOT then Coober Peady in Central Australia is up around 45C and below 10% humidity.
Really dangerous conditions in all states with NSW rapidly catching up to the damage in Tasmania, here's to the CFA Volunteers and ALL the Emergency Services people, .
No sign of any problems in my area, but the first thing done when we decided to build in a probable fire zone was buying and burying a 40' shipping container in the side of the hill, better safe than sorry.

 

[Jagdflieger]

Ouch! Summer in the southern hemisphere. I hope your neck of the woods remains untouched by fire.

 

[demorier]

Wildfires blazing everywhere in the eastern states....follows at least the last 2 summer seasons of floods and cyclones. Aerial water bombing going on everywhere at the moment.

 

[wombat666]

We really need the Monsoonal Rains, could be another couple of weeks before the window of opportunity opens.
So Tony, we've had Cyclones and Floods, Fire right now, I think I can do without the Pestilence and/or Famine that should turn up next year!

 

[Daveroo]

i was talking to a buddy of mine last night,i used to race cars against this guy,he is an HFEO for CalFire,HFEO..is a fancy way of saying he is a firedozer driver and mechanic...he was telling me he got an email yesterday afternoon that he maybe sent to Australia to help,as a bull dozer operator..but nothing is set in stone as of yet..i have another friend from alaska flying a S-64 skycrane (Helitanker) he is down there as well.

 

[srgalahad]

buying and burying a 40' shipping container in the side of the hill,

Cars and bikes to the rear, women and children next -- as long as there's insulation at the entrance and a source of air you should be OK

Stay safe!

 

[SPman]

We've been lucky over here in WA, so far. A few fires around but nothing serious close to built up areas (so far).
They've been having it worse in the East.....poor buggers.

Have the swimming pool / reservoir and 2 fire pumps, fire breaks in, paddocks mowed/devoid of grass, trees cut back and under tree loads cleared out, so, in theory, under the old criteria, we'd have a fighting chance. The trouble is, the severity of the fires seems to be increasing - that 600C radiant heat front is mighty intimidating, and ambient temperatures of up to 65C in the fire zones, but, with all the animals and stuff, what do you do - stay and fight - and possibly snuff it, or do the sensible thing and clear out!
The trouble is, the missus would stay to the bitter end............

No sign of any problems in my area, but the first thing done when we decided to build in a probable fire zone was buying and burying a 40' shipping container in the side of the hill, better safe than sorry.

Unfortunately, we've got too much quartzite and other rock in the ground to dig a hole big enough for a 40 container - ours are all above ground......parboiled motorbikes, anyone.....

 

[wombat666]

There's a lot of very interesting information being passed on to the GP from Meteorologists as to the reasons behind the heat covering the vast amount of the country, and in simple enough terms that one hopes people will take on-board.
I never knew about the 'Average Australian Temperature' for example, when I discovered it is around 39C it caught my attention!!
Simple enough, maximum temperatures from each state are added together and averaged out, not something that most of us coastal dwellers would have considered.
As one might put it, "One 40C day in Melbourne doesn't constitute a heat wave", but travel a couple of hundred klicks inland and the 'Average Temperature' takes on a whole new meaning.
Apparently Birdsville (Central Australia) is expecting a new record today, possibly 50C plus change!!
Maybe the Cat4 cyclone forming of the upper Northwest will pull the Monsoon in, the country needs it.

And SPman, we're building on what's best described as ledge in the Dandenongs, a front-end loader, a decent drilling bore, a hired crane and a few mates (plus a slab or three) got container the job done quite rapdly.
I'm very happy to not have your geological problem, I only keep two bikes (My prized Duke and a very useful KTM 990 SMT) in the 'Big Tin Box', the rest are living at our workshop in Knox.
:ernae:

 

[Jafo]

Those blokes who pretend to foretell the weather just added a new colour to their maps....50 to 55c.

But then...2 years ago on Black Saturday I was laying bricks....[it was only 46]...

 

[wombat666]

Those blokes who pretend to foretell the weather just added a new colour to their maps....50 to 55c.

But then...2 years ago on Black Saturday I was laying bricks....[it was only 46]...

What? Not running up nifty designs for Windowblinds mate?????

 

[warchild]

Welll, I usually dont think much of most conspiracy crap,but i gotta admit, watching the weather worldwide has me real edgy about much of the current activity going on at HAARP. Herein Bend, we should typically be in the twenties or lower, maybe some snow on the ground.Instead, its raining, 40 some degrees, a fine northern california day.. but this isnt california..
I just hope whatever is causing the global heat wave goes away soon..

 

[nigel richards]

A change of priorities?

As someone who grew up in the Western Australian countryside and in great awe of the unique natural heritage of Australia, I find it saddening to look at some of the figures; e.g.
"State Govt invested $13m in aerial firefighting fleet in 2011-12"

as opposed to;

"$375million over three years from 2013 14 to commence construction of the Perth Major Stadium at Burswood"...

while an almost bankrupt Greece (about the size of the average Aussie sheep station) is spending $44m this year on an S-64 Erickson Air-Crane contract...

Anyone for cricket?

 

[SPman]

"$375million over three years from 2013 14 to commence construction of the Perth Major Stadium at Burswood"...

Hah - it should blow out to $5-600 mill. That, as well as all the other "monuments to large ego's" being built around the place - doesn't leave much cash for fire fighting.
Wait until they have a major fire in the hills and lose a few lives - then - maybe - they may pay more than lip service to fire fighting. A couple of 747 tankers would be fun, although there is an Air Crane they can call on over here.! The local FES have already said there are a lot of areas they won't go into, in event of a major fire, due to concentration of fuel and lack of access roads - living in the middle of the bush down a no exit road, isn't my idea of a stress free summer!
We live out past Toodyay in the Wheatbelt, on top of a hill - 18 days over 40C last year, already 10 days over 40C this summer, with 2 months to go, although it's also been moister this summer as well, due to increased sea temperatures leading to more evaporation & more moist thunderstorms coming inland. Last year, the sea temps were up to 8 deg above normal, so more sharks coming inshore to feed -> more surfers being taken - 3 in WA this last year.......

 

[Jafo]

What? Not running up nifty designs for Windowblinds mate?????

Nah....there's enough time spent on Wincustomize doing the Admin ..... the last 3 years or so I've been playing with hairy planes ....there's more to the skinning world than just skinning the GUI...


A few years ago one of the firies I work with at the Motor Racing was the 'spotter' for Elvis. The managed to save a few wineries up on the Murray ...and when it came time to freight Elvis back to the US it had ....um.... gained weight. They'd loaded the tank with wine....

 

[AussieMan]

In my deployments throughout NSW as an Air Radio Operator I have met up seth several Sky Crane pilots as well as several Canadian pilots who come out here for the season. They work hard and we work hard keeping track of them and making sure they make all their call skeds.

After a hard day it is great to get together with them at the local club and knock back a couple of cold ones. Not only do they work on bushfires but they are also called upon to help with flood relief. I have also had deployments on those as well.

 

[luckydog]

Welll, I usually dont think much of most conspiracy crap,but i gotta admit, watching the weather worldwide has me real edgy about much of the current activity going on at HAARP. Herein Bend, we should typically be in the twenties or lower, maybe some snow on the ground.Instead, its raining, 40 some degrees, a fine northern california day.. but this isnt california..
I just hope whatever is causing the global heat wave goes away soon..

No global heat wave..........just the opposite. Check out China, India, Russia......

 

[nigel richards]

Hah - it should blow out to $5-600 mill. That, as well as all the other "monuments to large ego's" being built around the place - doesn't leave much cash for fire fighting.
Wait until they have a major fire in the hills and lose a few lives - then - maybe - they may pay more than lip service to fire fighting. A couple of 747 tankers would be fun, although there is an Air Crane they can call on over here.! The local FES have already said there are a lot of areas they won't go into, in event of a major fire, due to concentration of fuel and lack of access roads - living in the middle of the bush down a no exit road, isn't my idea of a stress free summer!
We live out past Toodyay in the Wheatbelt, on top of a hill - 18 days over 40C last year, already 10 days over 40C this summer, with 2 months to go, although it's also been moister this summer as well, due to increased sea temperatures leading to more evaporation & more moist thunderstorms coming inland. Last year, the sea temps were up to 8 deg above normal, so more sharks coming inshore to feed -> more surfers being taken - 3 in WA this last year.......

The 747's would pack a hefty punch, with a fleet of Canadairs to clear up the remains. The Canadairs would be very cost effective based near coastal areas where the bulk of the population are at risk and there's good access to water.

SPman, I remember Toodyay well, and recall the beautiful natural stone from the area too.

I've never met warmer, more good natured folk than the hard working farmers of Australia.