Winter 2014/2015

[Stanley]

Cathy has sent us some pics....

[Cathy]

Thanks Stanley. This was our Moon on the night we had to evacuate (3am), all pics were taken around my area. Love the one of the Koala, I've called it Fighting fires is hard work. Bless him.

[Moh]

Awful time for you over there, poor Barossa Valley - all those vinyards. We went there to see Cliff Richard in ' Barossa Under the Stars' (never saw the stars it was cloudy !!), but a beautiful part of S. Australia. I wonder if my cousin's ex. home in Modbury Heights is OK.

[Cathy]

Hi Moh, there's a lot of work being done to help stop the fire reaching too far into The Barossa and rest assured your friends at Modbury Heights are fine, they would have been alarmed and experienced the smoke etc but no emergency threat as in evacuation as far as I am aware. It's 2 suburbs away from me in the other direction. They may have left of their own accord ofcourse because of the smoke.

[Marilyn]

Good news...email came thru at first light that friend's house is still standing, and all their dear little black-faced sheep have survived. They can't go home yet though...

[Stanley]

You're due for some good news!
No frost this morning, calm and dry at the moment. Glass is back a bit at 29.6". Forecast is for a mainly dry day, light SW or S wind and an expected high of 5C. It will get wetter and windier as the week goes on.

[Cathy]

It was lovely waking up to clean sweet air this morning. I think the wind has turned again now tho and I can smell a bit of smoke again. We have 34C today, higher for Tues and Wed, but we might get rain on Friday with 21C. We are not out of danger yet, the fires are still burning and lots of evacuees haven't been allowed to return home yet:(
Hope you are all staying warm and cosy.

[Stanley]

I hope the thunderstorms forecast are very wet ones....
Just heard the long range forecast on Farming Today. An exceptionally strong jet stream has built up over the Atlantic and is generating some very severe depressions which of course mean strong winds. Luckily the track of these depressions is expected to be North of the Isles so Scotland will bear the brunt of them but the affects are going to be felt down here in England and the nearer you are to Scotland the worse the winds. At the moment to worst low is expected on Thursday/Friday. One warning, there is a possibility the lows could change track and this might mean worse winds down here.

07:20. We've had our walk on a quiet, dry, calm morning with no frost. My friends, the dog-walkers who have to go to work and the lady in Barlic Bites are back in the old routine. The Xmas lights are off except for the trees on Fernbank Avenue. A quiet return to normality and the realities of the working year.

[Moh]

My cousin moved to Port Elliot a few years ago Cathy, it was their old house I was wondering about.
The first flower on our forsythia has appeared - much earlier than usual.

[Cathy]

Ah, I know a young(ish) lass who lives down that way, now who could that be, mmm will have to put my thinking cap on for that one, hehe
..
2014 was the 3rd hottest year since reliable climate records began in Australia in 1910. 38C today (100F)

[Stanley]

Rain and breezy this morning out there. Glass is back to 20.1". Forecast is for rain this morning on a brisk SW wind, brighter later and the wind will abate a little as it swings to the West. Expected high of 7C.

[Marilyn]

Email and pics through from friends affected by bushfire. They had to go against police orders at a road block and insist on going home yesterday ( so are expecting a fine for that)...they are camping on their property as still no power on. Had to clean our freezers/ fridges of rotting food as power off since last Friday and temperatures in the high 30sC.
Pics terribly sad. Fire burnt right to their doorstep and scorch marks externally...paddocks totally blackened...large garden and fruit trees gone...roses gone...sleeper retaining walls gone.
How the animals survived is a miracle.
They had a beautiful sweeping entry to their property, with gates and plants .Now all that is left is a black track.
It must be heartbreaking, and yet so much joy to know the house survived. ( in need of a full scrub and repaint and new gutters, carpets, drapes etc)

[Cathy]

I have emailed some images as well. Day 5 and over and 12,000 hectares have been burnt. Fire Fighters have retired for the night to their 'tent city'. 60% of the fire's perimeter has been contained Yeay!
38C again for Wednesday with possible thunderstorm and a shower or two.

[Marilyn]

...I don't think they can appreciate the tragedy we experience Cazza...The scale of things...the devastation,..the loss of homes and animals...thousands being evacuated...no power for five or six days...the misery for those who lost everything.

[Stanley]

Cathy sent some more pics.....

[Cathy]

Thanks Stanley. Pic 1 shows a Victorian Fireman taking a dip on his deck after saving his own home. Pic 2 A Fireman reacts as rain starts to fall. Pic 3 The caravan home was saved. Pic 4 A Wildlife Sanctuary owner is comforting one of the surviving Kangaroos. She lost her home and and 10% of the Sanctuary's animals didn't make it.
All up 38 homes have been lost.

[Moh]

Dreadful time for you al.
Yes Cathy, Maz told me she is about 10mins. from my cousin in Port Elliot.

[Stanley]

Dry and breezy outside under a full moon. No frost but it is a cold wind! Glass is steady on 29.4". Forecast is for it to be fry until mid morning but then the wind starts to strengthen and it will be wet for the rest of the day. Expected high of 7C but it will feel colder. Gale warnings in all areas except Biscay and Trafalgar, worse the further North you go. These are the systems which may bring us stormy conditions fro Friday onwards.

[Marilyn]

42 C here with high winds which are dust and smoke laden.
Wind whistling around every corner of the house...thunderstorm on its way...sky the strangest deep blue/black I have ever seen. Battle-stations! Batten down!
Some new fire fronts are forming and Cazza sent me a message earlier that some evacuations have occurred.
But the positive news is that if we have enough rain with this thunderstorm, we may extinguish the fires. Fingers and toes crossed.

[Stanley]

Good luck with it Maz and Cathy as well of course. Plenty of rain here this afternoon..... Pity we can't beam some over for you.

[Wendyf]

Maz, Cath & Liz...thinking of you all suffering what sounds like nightmare conditions. Hope it all settles down soon.

[Cathy]

Thanks Wendy, and Stanley thanks for the rain, we had a quick but good downpour this afternoon over most of the fire areas and the fire area is now 95% contained. A few hours later and we now have a full thunderstorm and lots more rain. They have warned that lightning strikes are starting new fires but if this new rain keeps up we should be fine. Great news:) We can breathe again. Feels so good.
Fire Fighters are still on High Alert but the Emergency Status has been lifted.

[Stanley]

Good! One thing about it, a lot of the under-brush will be burned off now and you'll be safer for a year or two. So many people forget that one of the characteristics of Eucalyptus forests is that they need regular fires to maintain the heath of the system. Bad news for the humans but good for the forest.
Light rain this morning but nothing serious. The really serious weather news is the shipping forecast for the North of Scotland, almost all areas are forecasted to have severe storms to hurricane Force 12. We will feel the affects of this tonight.... The glass is steady on 29.1". The forecast is for a reasonably bright day with the chance of an occasional shower, a moderate SW wind and an expected high of 5C. The wind will start to rise later tonight but it's unclear yet how strong they will be.
08:00. Back from the butcher's. As soon as I walked in Kath said to another customer that it was going to be bad tomorrow because that was was brought Stanley down a day early! We had a breezy but dry and mild walk, I suspect it will not be as good in the morning.... A very dark morning, the overcast must be thick....

[LizG]

As if the hot weather wasn't bad enough now we are being told to watch out for flooding! This week we've had 42 degrees and the fire trucks were over the road again putting out spot fires. Since then we've had hot days in the 30's with rain, and today it's back to 18 and more rain.

Haven't needed to water the veggies for a few days. Some of the beetroot are the size of a small pumpkin! I can see beetroot relish on the horizon.

[Stanley]

Breezy morning, clouds scudding across the moon, not raining at the moment. Glass is on 29". Forecast is for a relatively dry morning but rain this afternoon. Brisk west wind all day and temperature rising into double figures because of the warm wind. Not as bad a day as I thought.....