News just in; 2 confirmed dead in Kangaroo Island fire in SA.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Damn, damn, damn...
Looks like the fires have made it to Cabramurra.
At the BoM's weather station the temperature went from 32.5°c to over 60°c
Wind speed from 45km/h, gusts to 80km/h has gone up to Wind speed 80km/h+, gusts to 130km/h.

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Grant
Darwin NT

I'm just watching live news reports and while it's still light here down on the south coast the reports from there it looks to be full night. :-O

Cheers.

The state government has confirmed fire has taken out two electricity substations in the Snowy Mountains region.
The destruction has resulted in supply issues in the state.

The Snowy Mountains is home to the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. One of the main interconnectors for the power grid between NSW & Victoria goes through part of the Snowy-Hydro system.

Depending on the damage, this could cause power supply issues for days, or several weeks, possibly even months if both substations/ switchyards are a total loss as NSW relies on Victorian generation to meet it's demands.
And being Summer, it's the peak demand period.


Edit- the post i made earlier concerning fire around Cabramurra; just north of town is where the Upper Tumut switchyard is located.

Hopefully the heat just resulted in everything tripping due to thermal overload, and not actual damage or destruction of the yard or control facilities.

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Grant
Darwin NT

I'm just watching live news reports and while it's still light here down on the south coast the reports from there it looks to be full night. :-O

There are webcam images from the Koscisuzko walking trail. Dark, blood-red, smoky, hazy landscape.

Edit-
Captains Flat radar has gone offline. I hope it's just a technical issue, there wasn't (as of a few hours ago), any fire activity in that area.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Kangaroo Island fire damage

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Grant
Darwin NT

Video of satellite images.

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Grant
Darwin NT

And as if they haven't got enough to deal with thanks to the fires, in Cooma a water reservoir tank has burst, releasing 4.5 million litres of water. 1 person injured, many homes & vehicles damaged.

With daybreak they're starting to assess the damage from the fires yesterday & overnight.

With the weather expected to be much more mild for the next 5 or more days, it will give the crews a chance to actually try & contain & put out some of the fires.
There are over 150 fires in NSW, over 120 in Vic, with other fires still in QLD, Tasmania, WA & SA.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Emergency evacuation order now for Eden. Middle of the day and there is still no Sun.

Edit- no evacuation order, just an Emergency warning and a Watch and Act.

Edit- now updated to leave if you can't defend your property.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Yes it's freaky watching all those live news locations being done in darkness at this time of day. :-O

Thankfully the smoke cleared from here by morning tea today which got underway here at a smokey 15C with 35C expected by the time that the mid afternoon SE-E windy change gets here.

Of the original 49 fires that we had (all but 1 east of the New England Hwy) there are 11 left (all to the east), but we're up to 19 new fires to the SW of here now taking it back up to a current 30 active fires and our 2 trucks are out on our section of the eastern front watching the last few pockets of heavy forest and preparing for that easterly wind change. Today's changeover times were changed for today to 1am and 1pm so I've wound up with the 1am job this morning and again tomorrow morning.

Anyhow, it's currently 34C (feels like 32C) as we await that change.

Cheers.

Latest estimates for NSW and Vic.
NSW- 3.8 million hectares burnt.
Vic- 900,000 hectares burnt.

And climbing.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Scene in NZ today, that's over 2,000ks downwind from the fires, and it's dark enough to switch on the street lights a couple of hour early.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/01/auckland-goes-yellow-smoke-from-the-australia-bushfires-covers-auckland.html

It's another smokey day here again kicking off at 17C (felt like 15C) while 32C is expected.

Well we've got on top of a lot of those small fires to the SW of here with the fire count for this region of the state back down 20 active fires, but sadly the same can't be said for the rest of the state with over 140 active fires.

Currently it's a smokey 23C (feels like 21C) and Grant should be happier seeing as the monsoon trough is now brushing the top end while we're in for some rain this week.

Cheers.

Thanks for those links Wiggo. I have several 1st cousins in SA & with their kids & grand kids, 3 dozen of them. Since the fires started in SA, left them a message to play safe. I pray all you Aussies get on top of the fires & as safely as possible.

You're welcome Sirius.

Well it's a hazy day here so far. We kicked off the day at 17C while 30C is our expected max and hopefully when the breeze shifts from NE to SE it should clear this smelly haze away and with even better luck we may get some of that wet stuff that the experts keep promising us when that happens.

Fires in this state peaked at 157 over the weekend, though we're now back down to 130 and the smoke from these fires has now reached South America.

[edit] At least 1588 homes have now been destroyed in this state, 670 of them since New Year's Day. :-(

Anyhow, seeing that the cricket finished a day early it'll be another book reading day while trying to stay cool once I finish a few small jobs here this morning.

Cheers.

and Grant should be happier seeing as the monsoon trough is now brushing the top end while we're in for some rain this week.

Actually got some rain last night (not a lot, but it came down for most of the night) and today was very cooler (compared to what it has been) thanks to the cloud cover hanging around.

As to whether we get much from this trough, who knows?
A cyclone has formed off the WA coast and generally a cyclone tends to drag rain away from other areas, but since this one is so far away there's a good chance that as it heads for the coast it might help pull the weak monsoon trough down with it & actually result in more rain here.
We'll see.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Just ensure that you & your mates are as safe as possible. Looking at the CFS incident map, I think my relatives are pretty safe, for now. The ones retired are at the bottom end of Lake Alexandrina. Looking at the map, from the cliff tops, if they look to their right, they should be able see Kangaroo Island in the distance.
The rest are in Adelaide, so hoping they're ok.

We finally got a drop of rain late yesterday (12mm, that'll make the weeds grow) while a couple more of the big fires NE of here that have been burning since September have now been declared out which would account for the lessening smoke here finally over the last couple of days.

It also looks like our run of low 30C temps comes to an end on the weekend with the return of more normal mid-high 20C's and more rain is expected through to mid next week at least (well I bloody well hope so).

Today started at a hazy 17C while 31C expected with showers and/or storms in the afternoon and/or evening.

Cheers.

There's a low moving around up here that was expected to form in to a Cyclone, but the latest forecast has it remaining a low till it passes Darwin and heads to sea again.
So we should be in for a very wet and windy weekend.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Hope our guys can help
https://www.dailynews.com/2020/01/06/local-u-s-forest-service-hot-shots-headed-for-australia-to-help-battle-massive-fires/

Local U. S. Forest Service Hot Shots headed for Australia to help battle massive fires
20 Hot Shot crew members from the Angeles National Forest prepare to leave for Australia to assist battling the devastating wildfires.
Their badges glinted gold in the late Southern California sun as members of the U. S. Forest Service loaded their fire trucks with gear. Family members stood close by as 20 Hot Shot crew members from the Angeles National Forest spent their last hours in the United States at the Little Tujunga Hotshot Station before leaving to help battle the devastating wildfires burning in Australia.
“As the extreme fire danger continues across Australia, the Department of the Interior will continue to do all that we can to support requests for assistance,” said Department of the Interior’s Office of Wildland Fire Deputy Director Craig Leff in a press release.
Bags full of equipment and personal items were tossed on to green fire trucks before they transported firefighters to the airport for the long flight to Australia. The firefighters selected have years of experience battling wildfires and will fill critical roles in the fight.
“I have my game face on, and I am ready to fight fire,” said Texas Canyon Hot Shot member Justine Gude as she talked to members of the media about her upcoming 35-day assignment to the land down under.
The fire fighting cooperation between the U.S. and Australia and New Zealand has been taking place for more than 15-years.
Most recently, in August of 2018, Australia and New Zealand sent 138 firefighters to help battle the massive fires in Northern California and the Northwest. The last time U.S. firefighters went to Australia to help with fire service was in 2010, that is until today.