A Tumultuous few weeks...

Since my last post on New Years day, so much has happened.

Tasmania, in particular the south east, experienced its' worst fire day since the terrible Black Tuesday fires of 1967. On January 4th (Friday) the temperature in Hobart reached an incredible 41.8℃ (107.2℉). It was the highest temperature ever recorded in Hobart (around 130 years of records)

The day before was also hot and windy around Tasmania.  During Thursday a number of fires broke out and quickly became uncontrollable. On Friday a fire in the Forcett area moved rapidly to the southeast (towards the Tasman Peninsula) in the very hot and extremely windy conditions.  The out of control fire soon became a serious problem to the communities in its path. The following article best sums up the story of that day.

Forcett fire from top of Reserve Bank in Hobart

Forcett fire - Pyrocumulus cloud 

Forcett fire seen from Hobart CBD

Pyrocumulus from Forcett fire

Forcett fire from Hobart CBD

Just over 2 weeks after the Forcett fire started it is now nearly under control. It has burnt out 24,000 hectares and destroyed over 200 properties. Around 30% of all buildings in the town of Dunalley, including the Primary school, Police Station, the Dunalley bakery, the town community centre and a large saw-mill. The sawmill which was operated by the Kelly family (3 generations) was totally wiped out in 15 minutes.

The following is a video of a family that survived by sheltering under the jetty

Dunalley after the fire

Dunalley property destroyed by bushfire Photo: Peter Mathew

The extreme heatwave and devastating fire have also affected many other regions of Australia.

Perth had a heatwave over the last week of December which was the hottest December week in 116 years of records. These were the maximum temperatures for that week - 25th 39.6℃ (103.3℉)

26th 37.5℃ (99.5℉), 27th 38.3℃ (101℉), 28th 39.3℃ (102.7℉), 29th 40.5℃ (104.9℉), 30th 37.5℃ (99.5℉), 31st 42.1℃ (107.8℉).

Also on January 4th Adelaide recorded a temperature of 45℃ (113℉),  then yesterday Sydney records it hottest day ever with the temperature rising to 45.8℃ (114.4℉). 

The extreme heat has been nowhere more apparent then in inland (outback) Australia where temperatures over the last 4 weeks have been well into the mid 40's. Moomba (in South Australia) recorded a maximum of 49.6℃ (121.2℉) last Saturday (highest temperature in 15 years), with more then 20 other locations topping 48℃ (118℉) or more over the last couple of weeks.

With these extreme conditions - fires have been raging across NSW and Victoria, which have also resulted in extensive property damage. Fortunately, because of better fire management and awareness (including better forecasts of fire weather conditions) there has been only one fatality. 

Next post - "More Preparation"