Thursday, January 03, 2013 5:55:14 PM
[Australia] Decade was one of our warmest
The Advertiser - January 03, 2013 10:30PM
As Adelaide swelter's in the heat, youngsters Matilda, Lillana and Molly Oliver cool down
at Brighton Beach. Picture: Bianca De Marchi Source: The Advertiser
IT might seem patently obvious to those people about to endure a week of scorching weather, but new data shows the past decade was one of Australia's hottest on record.
The weather bureau's climate snapshot of 2012, released yesterday, found days were hot and nights were cool last year, with daytime maximum averages half a degree higher than usual.
Tasmania, the mainland's southern coast and southwestern Western Australia experienced above-average temperatures.
But it was cooler than average in eastern Australia, while the Northern Territory, where temperatures often soar, experienced its coldest winter on record.
The first half of 2012 was cooler and wetter than average, with a La Nina event in the tropical Pacific dumping rain across most of the country and causing flooding.
In late February and early March southeast Australia experienced one of its most extreme rainfall events on record.
The cooler daytime temperatures, widespread cloud cover and rain associated with La Nina gave way during winter and spring to the drier El Nino system, which caused rainfall to drop 25 per cent below average.
By the end of 2012, despite January to March being the seventh wettest period on record, Australia had experienced rainfall just a touch above average.
Numerous winter and spring heat records were broken across the country from August onwards as maximums peaked above average.
Overall, the 10 years to 2012 were the fifth-warmest decade in Australia's history, while, globally, last year was the ninth hottest on record.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/decade-was-one-of-our-warmest/story-e6frea6u-1226547365542
======
Heatwave Hitting Australia With Temperatures Set To Soar Even Higher
Luke Hopewell Yesterday 1:15 PM
Batten down the hatches and grab the air conditioning remote, Australia, you’re in for a heatwave (an actual one) this week. Let us explain why it’s going to be so hot, and what you can do to beat the heat.
This heatwave — which is defined as five days straight of temperatures five degrees above average — is being caused by a large mass of warm air moving from its previous spot over the centre of Australia to the rest of the interior of the country.
That warm air means business, too. Temperatures around the interior of the country are set to reach the mid- to high-40s over the next few days. Some parts of the country are set to reach 47°C tomorrow — three degrees off the highest temperature ever recorded in Australia.
The warm air is being pushed by cool fronts all over the country, making the lives of those in the interior miserable right through to mid-next week. Even capital cities like Melbourne will swelter, with temperatures set to hit 40.2°C tomorrow.
So how can you beat the heat? Angus over at Lifehacker has put together some tips .. http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/01/heatwave-how-to-cope-with-australias-extreme-summer-temperatures/ .. on how to get through the swelter. [The Weather Channel .. http://www.weatherchannel.com.au/main-menu/News/Breaking-News/Heatwave-to-bake-inland-Australia.aspx ]
Temperature image by Shutterstock
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/01/heatwave-hitting-australia-with-temperatures-set-to-soar-even-higher/
======
Firefighters on alert as temperatures soar
ABC Updated January 4, 2013, 12:00 am
[ embedded video ]
Victorian authorities are preparing for the one of the worst fire danger days since the Black Saturday bushfires of 2009.
More than 8,000 firefighters are on alert and a total fire ban has been declared across the state for today.
Similar warnings , while there are .
In Victoria, temperatures are expected to hover around or above 40 degrees Celsius for the next six days.
The entire state will experience heatwave conditions, but southern areas will get some reprieve from a weak cool change on tomorrow.
At Mildura, temperatures are expected to hover between 40C and 44C.
Meteorologist James Taylor says it is the longest run of extreme heat since 2009.
"Currently we are forecasting temperatures as high as 44C across the northern part of the state over the next week or so," he said.
"We could potentially see temperatures a degree or so higher than that.
"The record for January, for Victoria, is 47.2 degrees and that was on January 10, 1939."
Emergency officials say the in south-western Victoria and the Wimmera tomorrow and severe just about everywhere else except East Gippsland.
Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley says 41 aircraft are on stand-by and authorities are well prepared.
But he says the community also needs to be on alert.
"We've got absolutely everything in place. We've had small fires over the last number of days so we're not fatigued, we've got all out trucks back in stations," he said.
"We've certainly put the time to put ourselves into the right position at a very high readiness level.
"What that actually means though [is any fires will] run hard, they'll run fast, they'll be uncontrollable."
Firefighters have already brought a grass fire near Shepparton under control.
The blaze broke out at Arcadia South about 5:30am (AEDT) on Thursday.
CFA crews were also attending a small grass fire in the Mia Mia area, south of Lake Eppalock.
Arsonists targeted
As the weather heats up, Deputy Premier Peter Ryan says known arsonists will be the target of specially trained police during days of high bushfire risk.
Mr Ryan is defending the Government's network of arson specialists which was announced last year as part of a bushfire prevention strategy.
A senior police officer has reportedly disputed the description of the bushfire, arson and explosives specialist group as a taskforce.
It is also claimed police may have no idea if a convicted arsonist is living locally.
Mr Ryan says people identified as convicted arsonists are placed on a police database and kept under watch on high-risk days.
"The fact is we now have a network of about 150 experienced police who are located right across Victoria, particularly in the high bushfire risk areas, who are trained as bushfire arson and explosive officers and they are there to combat the ever-present threat of arson," he said.
Mr Ryan is refusing to go into detail about how police target arsonists in an operational sense.
"Be assured those who are in the high-risk category, they are on the LEAP database; police do know who they are and these people are in different ways the focus of additional attention."
http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/15753490/firefighters-on-alert-as-set-to-temperatures-soar/
======
Black Friday (1939)
The Black Friday fires of 13 January 1939, in Victoria, Australia, are considered one of the worst natural bushfires (wildfires) in the world. Almost 20,000 km² (4,942,000 acres, 2,000,000 ha) of land was burnt, 71 people died, several towns were entirely destroyed and the Royal Commission that resulted from it led to major changes in forest management. Over 1,300 homes and 69 sawmills were burnt and a total of 3,700 buildings were destroyed. It was calculated that three quarters of the State of Victoria was directly or indirectly affected by the disaster. The Royal Commission into the fires was to note, "it appeared the whole State was alight on Friday, 13 January 1939".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_%281939%29
======
Black Saturday bushfires
The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that ignited or were burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009. The fires occurred during extreme bushfire-weather conditions and resulted in Australia's highest ever loss of life from a bushfire; 173 people died and 414 were injured as a result of the fires.
As many as 400 individual fires were recorded on 7 February. Following the events of
7 February 2009 and its aftermath, that day has become widely referred to as Black Saturday.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires
The Advertiser - January 03, 2013 10:30PM
As Adelaide swelter's in the heat, youngsters Matilda, Lillana and Molly Oliver cool down
at Brighton Beach. Picture: Bianca De Marchi Source: The Advertiser
IT might seem patently obvious to those people about to endure a week of scorching weather, but new data shows the past decade was one of Australia's hottest on record.
The weather bureau's climate snapshot of 2012, released yesterday, found days were hot and nights were cool last year, with daytime maximum averages half a degree higher than usual.
Tasmania, the mainland's southern coast and southwestern Western Australia experienced above-average temperatures.
But it was cooler than average in eastern Australia, while the Northern Territory, where temperatures often soar, experienced its coldest winter on record.
The first half of 2012 was cooler and wetter than average, with a La Nina event in the tropical Pacific dumping rain across most of the country and causing flooding.
In late February and early March southeast Australia experienced one of its most extreme rainfall events on record.
The cooler daytime temperatures, widespread cloud cover and rain associated with La Nina gave way during winter and spring to the drier El Nino system, which caused rainfall to drop 25 per cent below average.
By the end of 2012, despite January to March being the seventh wettest period on record, Australia had experienced rainfall just a touch above average.
Numerous winter and spring heat records were broken across the country from August onwards as maximums peaked above average.
Overall, the 10 years to 2012 were the fifth-warmest decade in Australia's history, while, globally, last year was the ninth hottest on record.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/decade-was-one-of-our-warmest/story-e6frea6u-1226547365542
======
Heatwave Hitting Australia With Temperatures Set To Soar Even Higher
Luke Hopewell Yesterday 1:15 PM
Batten down the hatches and grab the air conditioning remote, Australia, you’re in for a heatwave (an actual one) this week. Let us explain why it’s going to be so hot, and what you can do to beat the heat.
This heatwave — which is defined as five days straight of temperatures five degrees above average — is being caused by a large mass of warm air moving from its previous spot over the centre of Australia to the rest of the interior of the country.
That warm air means business, too. Temperatures around the interior of the country are set to reach the mid- to high-40s over the next few days. Some parts of the country are set to reach 47°C tomorrow — three degrees off the highest temperature ever recorded in Australia.
The warm air is being pushed by cool fronts all over the country, making the lives of those in the interior miserable right through to mid-next week. Even capital cities like Melbourne will swelter, with temperatures set to hit 40.2°C tomorrow.
So how can you beat the heat? Angus over at Lifehacker has put together some tips .. http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/01/heatwave-how-to-cope-with-australias-extreme-summer-temperatures/ .. on how to get through the swelter. [The Weather Channel .. http://www.weatherchannel.com.au/main-menu/News/Breaking-News/Heatwave-to-bake-inland-Australia.aspx ]
Temperature image by Shutterstock
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/01/heatwave-hitting-australia-with-temperatures-set-to-soar-even-higher/
======
Firefighters on alert as temperatures soar
ABC Updated January 4, 2013, 12:00 am
[ embedded video ]
Victorian authorities are preparing for the one of the worst fire danger days since the Black Saturday bushfires of 2009.
More than 8,000 firefighters are on alert and a total fire ban has been declared across the state for today.
Similar warnings , while there are .
In Victoria, temperatures are expected to hover around or above 40 degrees Celsius for the next six days.
The entire state will experience heatwave conditions, but southern areas will get some reprieve from a weak cool change on tomorrow.
At Mildura, temperatures are expected to hover between 40C and 44C.
Meteorologist James Taylor says it is the longest run of extreme heat since 2009.
"Currently we are forecasting temperatures as high as 44C across the northern part of the state over the next week or so," he said.
"We could potentially see temperatures a degree or so higher than that.
"The record for January, for Victoria, is 47.2 degrees and that was on January 10, 1939."
Emergency officials say the in south-western Victoria and the Wimmera tomorrow and severe just about everywhere else except East Gippsland.
Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley says 41 aircraft are on stand-by and authorities are well prepared.
But he says the community also needs to be on alert.
"We've got absolutely everything in place. We've had small fires over the last number of days so we're not fatigued, we've got all out trucks back in stations," he said.
"We've certainly put the time to put ourselves into the right position at a very high readiness level.
"What that actually means though [is any fires will] run hard, they'll run fast, they'll be uncontrollable."
Firefighters have already brought a grass fire near Shepparton under control.
The blaze broke out at Arcadia South about 5:30am (AEDT) on Thursday.
CFA crews were also attending a small grass fire in the Mia Mia area, south of Lake Eppalock.
Arsonists targeted
As the weather heats up, Deputy Premier Peter Ryan says known arsonists will be the target of specially trained police during days of high bushfire risk.
Mr Ryan is defending the Government's network of arson specialists which was announced last year as part of a bushfire prevention strategy.
A senior police officer has reportedly disputed the description of the bushfire, arson and explosives specialist group as a taskforce.
It is also claimed police may have no idea if a convicted arsonist is living locally.
Mr Ryan says people identified as convicted arsonists are placed on a police database and kept under watch on high-risk days.
"The fact is we now have a network of about 150 experienced police who are located right across Victoria, particularly in the high bushfire risk areas, who are trained as bushfire arson and explosive officers and they are there to combat the ever-present threat of arson," he said.
Mr Ryan is refusing to go into detail about how police target arsonists in an operational sense.
"Be assured those who are in the high-risk category, they are on the LEAP database; police do know who they are and these people are in different ways the focus of additional attention."
http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/15753490/firefighters-on-alert-as-set-to-temperatures-soar/
======
Black Friday (1939)
The Black Friday fires of 13 January 1939, in Victoria, Australia, are considered one of the worst natural bushfires (wildfires) in the world. Almost 20,000 km² (4,942,000 acres, 2,000,000 ha) of land was burnt, 71 people died, several towns were entirely destroyed and the Royal Commission that resulted from it led to major changes in forest management. Over 1,300 homes and 69 sawmills were burnt and a total of 3,700 buildings were destroyed. It was calculated that three quarters of the State of Victoria was directly or indirectly affected by the disaster. The Royal Commission into the fires was to note, "it appeared the whole State was alight on Friday, 13 January 1939".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_%281939%29
======
Black Saturday bushfires
The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that ignited or were burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009. The fires occurred during extreme bushfire-weather conditions and resulted in Australia's highest ever loss of life from a bushfire; 173 people died and 414 were injured as a result of the fires.
As many as 400 individual fires were recorded on 7 February. Following the events of
7 February 2009 and its aftermath, that day has become widely referred to as Black Saturday.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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