AUSTRALIAN WEATHER ANOMALIES: Severe Fire Warnings As Heatwave Hits Victoria!

February 05, 2013 - AUSTRALIA - Firefighting resources from across Victoria will boost crews battling two serious bushfires as the fire danger increases in hotter conditions over coming days.  The Harrietville fire in the alpine region now has 246 firefighters on the scene, with 140 at Aberfeldy in Gippsland, with dangerous fire conditions expected through until Sunday. 

A severe fire danger rating is forecast in the state's southwest and north-central districts, with a very high rating elsewhere ahead of hot, dry and windy weather.  Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley is urging Victorians not to lapse into a sense of false security after a week of cooler weather.  He says rainfall has been well below average over the past month.  "The lack of rain has completely dried most areas of grassland and bush across Victoria," Mr Lapsley said in a statement on Tuesday.

"This combined with heavy fuel-loads caused by rains and flooding across the state over the past couple of years means we are faced with a serious fire risk. Traditionally, we know that February is a bad month for fires. While we had a reprieve from the heat last week, it will only take a few days of hot weather, like we have coming up this week, to be faced with severe or extreme fire danger again."

Crews at both fires in the state's alpine and Gippsland regions have been focusing on back-burning and consolidating control lines in preparation for the unfavourable conditions. Back-burns have been completed to the south of Harrietville to offer greater protection to the town and another one northwest of Mount Hotham to limit the potential spread of the fire. Firefighters in Gippsland have built 300km of control lines while also conducting extensive back-burning. The Harrietville fire has burnt about 6500 hectares since it started on January 21 while the fire in Gippsland has burned about 75,000 hectares, killed a man and destroyed 21 homes. A total fire ban has been declared for the Wimmera, central, north central and southwest fire districts for Wednesday. - The Australian.

EXTREME WEATHER: Mercury Soars & Rises Past 45C in Victoria, Australia - The Hottest November in More Than a Century!

November 29, 2012 - AUSTRALIA - Victorians have sweltered through the hottest November day in more than a century with the temperature soaring above 45C in some parts. Many rushed to beaches in a bid to cool down. But it wasn't all fun in the sun, with grass fires breaking out in Victoria's northwest. In Melbourne, the mercury crept towards 40C, with a high of 39.2C recorded at 6pm.

The state's hotspot was Mildura, where a maximum of 45.5C was recorded. That beat the state's previous November record of 45C, which dated back to 1905 in Mildura.  The biggest grass fire was near Baringhup, close to Maryborough, which spread over 200 hectares after starting about 3pm (AEDT) before being contained.  The Country Fire Authority also dealt with a blaze at Lillicur, 8km west of Talbot, which burned 20 hectares of grass and bush.  There were also grass fires in Edenhope, one near Avenel which caused smoke that disrupted traffic on the Hume Freeway, a plantation fire at Dartmoor and a four-hectare fire at Murtoa.  A CFA spokeswoman warned dry lightning could hit in the west of the state on Thursday evening, which could cause further problems.  Total fire bans are in place in the Mallee and Wimmera districts, with farmers, particularly in the state's northwest, warned of extreme fire risk.  Ambulance Victoria said it had dealt with 25 reports of heat-related illness by 4pm and an additional eight cases where children had been locked in cars, including a three-year-old and a two-year-old in Greensborough.

That was despite peak motoring body RACV warned motorists never to leave children or animals inside cars.  CitiPower customers in Melbourne's CBD and inner suburbs were hit by power outages, with 2500 homes losing power at some point on Thursday.  Some 1300 Powercor customers in central and western Victoria, and Melbourne's western suburbs, also experienced outages during the day.  In St Kilda East, a driver suffered minor injuries when a power pole exploded, causing his windscreen to shatter but authorities aren't sure if the incident was heatwave-related.  It was an uncomfortable journey home for some Melbourne workers.  Commuters faced delays on a number of Metro train lines because of issues unrelated to the heat, after balloons floated into overhead cables near busy Southern Cross Station and a signal problem at Caulfield. - Herald Sun.

DELUGE: Australian Weather Anomalies Continues - Melbourne Soaked in the Wettest May Day in 17 Years!

Melbourne has had its wettest May day for 17 years, with more rain expected into the weekend.  Twenty-eight millimetres of rain fell on the CBD on Friday, the most in a May day since 1995, while the top temperature of 11C degrees just before 2.30pm (AEST) made it the city's coldest May day since 2000.

Pedestrians caught in the downpour.

The average rainfall in Melbourne for the entire month of May is 55.8mm.  Monbulk on Melbourne's eastern fringes recorded the highest rainfall tally, with 46mm falling between 9am and 7pm.  Duty meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, Dean Sgarbossa, said the rain would continue into Saturday.  "Heavy rain is likely to persist over the eastern suburbs for most of Friday night while isolated showers are expected right across the Melbourne metropolitan region for the remainder of Friday evening and into Saturday morning," he said. 

"We are expecting a continuation of isolated showers on Saturday but they will tend to scattered during the afternoon as a cold front moves through."  Winds have also lashed Melbourne's bay regions, with gusts reaching up to 100km/h over Port Phillip Bay and 83km/h in Frankston, in the city's south.  The bureau has issued severe weather warnings for the Wimmera, southwest, north central, central and Gippsland areas.  "We've issued the warnings for damaging winds, with mean winds of between 50km/h and 60km/h and gusts of around 100km/h, particularly for the central forecast district," Mr Sgarbossa said. - SMH.