Thread: Climate Change and our Land of Fire, Flood and Drought.

Originally Posted by AK83

Surprising that Vic didn't declare today a Code Red(Catastophic) considering the potential.
Weather in the mid 40's across the state, and strong N-NW winds.

Just had a quick peek, and only a couple of grass fires out close west(near Ballarat) .. thank god!

Because an FDI (fire danger index) calculation consists of temperature, wind and relative humidity calculations. An FDI calc shows that only part of my area, North Central Vic got into the severe category (two down from catastrophic or Code Red). If part of a fire danger area is predicted to get to a severe or extreme then the whole fire district reflects the highest rating.

To be a code Red we would need stronger winds and lower RH. Interestingly one of the things that increases RH and therefore lowers fire danger is smoke in the air. The smoke across Victoria actually lowered the risk because it carried some moisture and reflects heat.

You can't call a code Red or catestrophic day if you don't have the predicted conditions. That's not how it works.

The Fires Near Me ap, which I highly recommend, is quite scary with the number of live blazes.
BTW the fires near Coffs Harbour that caused our friends to be evacuated three weeks ago are still burning. Probably only rain will put them out.

Originally Posted by Slunnie

Maybe Bathurst, Goulburn, Sydney. Turns 2:45 into a 4:30 trip to Sydneys north. 5:20 if you have to go via Wollongong.

Yes, I missed that one, but while it is a while since I have used it, I do not remember it being suitable for heavy traffic, such as deliveries to stores west of the mountains.

At the moment the great Western Highway has reopened, but I would not count on it staying open. And the Hume has apparently been closed intermittently overnight!

Edit 0646: Bloke on the radio just now trying to get to Wollongong from the Hume, saying that while the Hume is open, speeds are down to 25k due to smoke, and predicting that Macquarie Pass getting down to Wollongong will not cope with the traffic.

Good news for SA & I hope that Vic cops it as well.

Yesterday 43c. This morning measured at the same spot 16c. Still no wet stuff even though one forecaster said there could be & another No way.


Hell of a Hydrogen Bomb thundercalap over head yesterday though.

Hot days in summer.
Cold days in winter.

A pattern i noticed some 40 odd years ago.
Little has changed. Beautiful day in Vic yesterday!
Was i not busy i may have got some tan time.

Originally Posted by Johndoe

Hot days in summer.
Cold days in winter.

A pattern i noticed some 40 odd years ago.
Little has changed. Beautiful day in Vic yesterday!
Was i not busy i may have got some tan time.

And if it all goes tits up you may still may get some in, & a bit more severe than what you may have had in mind..

It's still only mid December and already we've had a month of fire crisis.
Normally it would rain in the Christmas school holidays and then the fires would come in February. None of that has happened.
People need to stop being complacent and wake up. There is nothing normal about this situation.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

It's still only mid December and already we've had a month of fire crisis.
Normally it would rain in the Christmas school holidays and then the fires would come in February. None of that has happened.
People need to stop being complacent and wake up. There is nothing normal about this situation.

Victoria experienced a significant fire season in 2012–2013. Between December and mid-March more More than 190,000 hectares of public and private land were burned between December and mid-March. A community member and four firefighters lost their lives, and 46 houses were destroyed.

Source Past bushfires

Actually fires during this time are not entirely uncommon.