Are you ok jed?

[zigs]

Been watching the news

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/australian-bushfires-catastrophic-conditions-042608300.html

Don't know what part of Oz you are in.

 

[Jed]

Been watching the news

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/australian-bushfires-catastrophic-conditions-042608300.html

Don't know what part of Oz you are in.

Thanks for your concern zigs. Summer has really only just begun.
My property's 50 miles from those disastrous fires. 128 homes have been lost with thousands of farm animals and native wildlife killed.
There was some respite from the hot weather last night when, would you believe it snowed at 3,000 feet. My property is 2,000 feet above sea level.
My water supply,a creek has dried up so I need to carry water from a spring down the track on my property. We have plenty of gardens to keep watered so the over night showers were fantastic. Here's a couple of pics. The first is of the spring that I've set up to catch the trickle that fills 2 drums one overflows to the next.
The second is me filling the gardens water tank which has seen better days and has been patched with tar and plugged with tree branches and silicone.
We have a house tank next to this one of the same size.

 

[zigs]

Blimey, glad you're ok, 50 miles is not far. Must be a worry mate.

Good plan with the water from the spring.

Have you been getting the 45c temps at that altitude?

I've only experienced that sort of temperature working in Turkey and it was a killer.

Any plans for when the water butt gets beyond repair?

 

[callingcolleen1]

fire very scary, glad to year you OK! :°

 

[Jed]

Thanks callingcolleen1.
I've lived in the bush here for 30 years and I reckon this year I've been the most concerned. The weathers changing.

Last Friday was a killer day and we only got 40C. That fire was only one of 40 burning that day. I was just lucky there wasn't one burning north west of my property. If that happens this year I may get a bushfire through here.
The mainland state of New South Wales is getting hit hard today with 130 bush-fires with 40C plus and strong winds. Those sort of days are officially called catastrophic one up from a severe bush fire warning.
Australia record the highest annual temps last year so I guess i'ts all a part of Climate Change or what was once known as global warming.
Here's a link if you are on Fb.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tassie-Fires-2013-Photos/279291775527721

 

[maddie]

Glad to hear that all is well with you Jed. But this is really so sad... I was on a holiday in the jungle and saw the trees on fire in a couple of spots...Our guide quickly called up the authorities and had them put out.. I can only imagine the kind of loss and damage these fires cause.. :/

 

[ChanellG]

Jed I was thinking about you with all the rain we had this week; I couldn't even lift my container today to empty it (a rare occurrence) and I'm trying to figure out how I will store more water as it is supposed to rain again over the next several days.

It's rained so much the ground is oversaturated, which means flooding for some areas. Some places had over 10 inches of rain in two days. Interestingly enough my neighborhood only saw 2.66 inches. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about flooding where I am, but the heavy storms make it very difficult to get around.

Hopefully, your area will finally see some relief from both the heat and the fires.

 

[Jed]

Your fortunate to have had only a smaller amount of rain. Too much at once is not what a garden needs.
The weather has cooled and we are having mid 20's C. / 73F.
The worst thing is the bushfire season came 4 weeks early. Some fires are still burning and are not easily accessible. The one north of me is potential a concern if we have more of those very hot windy days. After seeing some footage of the fires I will definitely skedaddle out of here if I can.
A quarter of a million acres of land has been burnt out by that one fire alone.
Many farm animals and wildlife were killed or severely burnt .
Check this video out of just one community devastated.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-11/looking-back-on-tasmanias-bushfire-crisis/4461752

 

[zigs]

Blimey Jed thats terrible.

At least no one has been killed as far as they know. Hope you get some decent rain soon. When does The Wet usually start?

 

[ChanellG]

Jed, those unreachable ones sound like the underground burning we discussed recently. How long are you able to be outdoors without having breathing issues? I told you what it was like for us last summer with the marsh fire that refused to go away; every time the wind changed...

 

[Jed]

Being high up 2,000feet above sea-level there is no smoke here. Most of it is also being blown out to sea with the current prevailing winds.A couple of fires are inaccessible and if the temperature rises they will again be a problem Summer has only really just begun.
One of the fires is burning in a national park (started by lightning) and no doubt some of it is burning peat below the surface. It's mostly in moorlands and buttongrass plains.
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/tas/content/2013/01/s3667370.htm?site=hobart

Funny you should ask about the wet zigs. There's a cyclone 3,000 miles from here that may eventually bring us some rain.

 

[zigs]

Only 3,000 miles I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Our news reported that your roads are melting

 

[ChanellG]

Being high up 2,000feet above sea-level there is no smoke here.

Well, that's something at least. Hopefully that cyclone can bring some cool air as well as water to extinguish the fires. Unfortunately if it gets close it can also bring high wind and destruction, as you well know.

 

[Jed]

Tasmania being an island state has pretty much a maritime climate. Most of the weather comes from the west and the Southern Ocean. The hot dry winds that we were experiencing come directly from the mainland. These types of conditions only happen a couple of times a year. Unfortunately it came much too early and will happen a few more times before summer is out.

The weakening cyclone is tracking further south than normal so I'm hoping it picks up plenty of rain and dumps it on Tasmania. That's the cyclone to the left of the picture. You can see another Low at the top which may again become a cyclone. They generally track through central Australia.
As you may have gathered it's cyclone season for much of the north of Australia.
That's Tasmania on the 1023 isobar. New Zealand is off to the right bottom corner.

 

[ChanellG]

Jed, do you have the means to collect and store more water if the rains do come? If summer is just starting I have a feeling you may be carting water again before long if things continue in the way they began. I saved 5 gallons last week and there's probably another gallon in their now with more rain on the way. I just have to figure out where to put it all.

Do you have the threat of tornadoes behind the cyclones there? We never used to have to worry about that, but after Katrina they started getting closer and the second year after one actually came through my neighborhood.