Record Heat Wave in Australia in the making...
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Victoria, South Australia brace for brutal heat; bushfires feared
Herald Sun
January 29, 2009 12:01am
VICTORIA is bracing for another day of brutal heat amid warnings the tinder-dry state could erupt in flames, while South Australia is looking at six days of 40-plus temperatures.
The Herald Sun reports more than 100,000 firefighters are on standby as forecast strong winds will make the blistering heat even more dangerous. A total fire ban is in place across Victoria as Melbourne braces for another scorcher. More than 150 public transport services were cancelled as the state baked yesterday, and today's transport trouble is expected to be worse.
The Mallee towns of Hopetoun, Nhill and Longerenong all hit 45C. Scorchers were also recorded at Mildura (44C), the Latrobe Valley (43C), and Albury (41C).
Melbourne hit 43.4C at 6.15pm, leaving the city frazzled and without relief in sight. Temperatures of 43C are also expected today and tomorrow, just shy of the city's record of 45.6C, which was on January 13, 1939 - Black Friday.Water use in the 24 hours to 8am yesterday averaged 250 litres per person, well above the recommended 155 litres.
In Adelaide, the mercury soared to 45.7C, just shy of the all-time record of 46.1C.
Ceduna, northwest of Adelaide, clocked an incredible 47.4C, the hottest temperature ever recorded in South Australia.The furnace-like conditions were forecast to continue until at least Sunday, likely giving the city six days in a row of 40-plus temperatures for the first time since 1908, after Tuesday's top of 43.2 degrees. The relief will be minor, with Monday's temperature expected to be 38C. Last March, Adelaide had a record long heatwave with 15 consecutive days above 35 degrees.
Conditions further north were even worse yesterday with some outback centres reporting temperatures above 50C, prompting health authorities to urge all South Australians to take extreme care.
Firefighters were on high alert across SA while power authorities said the state's electricity network was coping reasonably well with the high demand.
Police said they had 40 operation Nomad patrols on duty, checking on people considered at risk of starting fires.Melbourne's rail system buckled, causing the cancellation of a record 150 services, while in Adelaide the public transport system literally buckled in the heat.
At Rod Laver Arena, tennis officials invoked their extreme heat policy and closed the roof. Star Serena Williams said she had an "out of body experience" before the roof was closed, but she recovered to win her quarter-final.
In the news yesterday, it was stated that not since 1908 (?!) (or was it 1948?) has there been so many consecutive days of searing temp of 40 deg C and above in Melbourne.
The heat was so bad that :
- The temp in the tennis court during the Australia Open reached 50 deg C, causing the organisers to invoke the decision to activate the roof over the stadium and turn on the air-conditioning; and
- Train services were disrupted for 2 hours whilst Connex employees hosed down sections of rail which had warped from the heat.
I thought it'd make an interesting topic.
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oh no....i'm going back soon....T_T
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Ahhh harharhar! This comment posted by someone at the end of the article is too funny!!
Turtle of Wanneroo WA Posted at 12:22pm todayIt is all the hot air coming out of Parliament House in Canberra that is causing the heatwave.
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what is happening west is affecting the east... sad case!
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Originally posted by fairlady_xoxo:
oh no....i'm going back soon....T_T
As long as you come back from Sunday onwards, you would have missed the heat wave in Melbourne.
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av just told me that the Singapore newspapers reported about the Aussie heat wave too and there are casulaties. av, you care to share here?
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oh...i'll be going back on 8th then having a field trip to melbourne on 10th onwards...
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I was just telling the Club 30 peeps that my 40L aquarium tank, which is normally at 25-26 deg C, is 33 deg C today and I had to drop ice cubes into the tank because my loaches appear distressed, swimming in a zig zag fashion in mad frenzy!
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Don't you have an air con in the house?
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I'll be damned... my indoor thermometer says it's 40 deg C IN MY HOUSE right now!!!
I'll go sit my thermometer outdoors for a while... see what the outdoor temp is right now... -
Oh ya my friend in-game was telling mi outside is like 41 degree .. zz
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people who is always complaning singapore is hot should got to aus now...
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Originally posted by Rhonda:
I was just telling the Club 30 peeps that my 40L aquarium tank, which is normally at 25-26 deg C, is 33 deg C today and I had to drop ice cubes into the tank because my loaches appear distressed, swimming in a zig zag fashion in mad frenzy!
i see wow...=((
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Freaking hell!!!!!!! My thermometer when placed outdoors read 48.5 deg C!!!
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Singapore is hot all year round, while Australia is very hot for short duration once in a while.
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oh no the fishies =(
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Originally posted by Rhonda:
Freaking hell!!!!!!! My thermometer when placed outdoors read 48.5 deg C!!!
That's almost as hot as some of the middle eastern countries.
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OK, the weather channel states that it's 41 deg C in Melbourne now, 43 deg C later. Yesterday, they predicted it will hit 45 deg C today. And we have two more days of hellfire...
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Originally posted by [J]erry:
people who is always complaning singapore is hot should got to aus now...
Actually, I've got family here now and my bro, his wife and his in-laws are all saying that the 'heat' in Singapore is nothing and they'd love to go back and won't complain about the Singapore heat anymore!
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Originally posted by Rhonda:
OK, the weather channel states that it's 41 deg C in Melbourne now, 43 deg C later. Yesterday, they predicted it will hit 45 deg C today. And we have two more days of hellfire...
/pat Rhonda
*pass iced water to Rhonda*
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Originally posted by maurizio13:
Don't you have an air con in the house?
No.
And last Summer wasn't THIS bad so I didn't get a cooler this year. I only have two fans but fans are hopeless cause they just blow the hot air right into your face. Next year, MUST get a cooler! Better still, next summer, head back to Singapore to 'hide'! -
Let's just hope for the rain =(
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Originally posted by fairlady_xoxo:
oh no the fishies =(
Yeah... four ice cubes into the tank so far. Water Temp in the tank is now 30 deg C. Tank lights are turned off cause it generates heat (sorry plants!), hope it'll help...
Oh noooo... just went to check... water temp in tank is now 32 deg C!!
I can't cool down my aquarium fast enough!! -
Blistering heat in Adelaide nears national capital city record
The Australian
January 28, 2009 04:19pm
THE soaring temperature in Adelaide has threatened the national capital city record of 46.2C, set in Perth in 1991.
As a heatwave gripped southern Australia, the mercury in Adelaide pushed above today's forecast of 44C, threatening a record set in the city in 1939, The Australian reports.
Temperatures in the CBD and suburbs topped 40C at about 10am (CST), reaching 45.5C just before 2pm, before dropping back to 45.2C.
The hottest temperature recorded in Adelaide was 46.1C, 70 years ago, which is still cooler than the state's record of 50.7C, set at Oodnadatta in 1960.
This is the second day in a row in which SA temperatures have topped 40C, with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology tipping temperatures to be above the heatwave benchmark until at least Sunday.
The heatwave in Victoria is also expected to last several days and be the region's worst since 1908, raising fears of heat-related deaths and bushfires following years of drought.Soaring temperatures claimed two victims in Melbourne today - a 75-year-old man who collapsed while walking 500m to his car and a 24-year-old who was waiting for a tram.
"Over the next few days, it's important to avoid the heat where possible, and stay inside,'' said Ambulance Victoria operations manager Paul Holman.
Organisers of the Australian Open tennis in Melbourne were forced to interrupt the tournament for the first time as temperatures rocketed to 41C. (Odd... yesterday's evening news reported 50 deg C!)
Serena Williams' singles quarter-final with Svetlana Kuznetsova was halted for about 45 minutes as organisers enacted their "extreme heat policy'' and closed the roof on the Rod Laver Arena.
The South Australian Country Fire Service is hoping that forecast northerlies stay calm.What would normally feel like a gentle breeze on a cooler day, has turned into a blast furnace on the city streets.
Fire bans are in place across each of South Australia's 15 districts, with volunteers and fire appliances on a "code red'' high alert, closely monitoring hot spots for grass and stubble fires.Police patrols are visiting the homes of 38 known firebugs and keeping watch on high risk areas, as part of Operation Nomad.
The South Australian Ambulance Service has not yet seen an increase in heat-related callouts, but is anticipating a rise later this evening as older people struggle to cope with the heat. -
Originally posted by Rhonda:
No.
And last Summer wasn't THIS bad so I didn't get a cooler this year. I only have two fans but fans are hopeless cause they just blow the hot air right into your face. Next year, MUST get a cooler! Better still, next summer, head back to Singapore to 'hide'!
I know about fans and heat. I was in Sydney some time back, there was a heatwave, my friend's car couldn't even start. Finally they managed to get the car started (by putting towels soaked with water on the engine), we were driving along, there was no air con in the car, they kept the windows shut. I was thinking why do you keep the windows shut when it so warm in the car. I unwound the window felt the breeze, then decided it's not a bad idea to keep the windows shut afterall.It felt like hairdryer blowing directly at your face.