Record Adelaide Heat Wave 2009

Well, we are only 4 days into this season's first heat wave and we've already borken a record. The record was for Highest Overnight Low Temp. It only got down to 33.9 C (that's 93.02 for you who think in fartinhights) last night. I think that was around 1 am. By 5 am it was already 99 F (or 37.2 if you think in celtzers).

The forecast is for 44 C (111 F) in the shade. There's also no end to the heat. Here's the official word from the Ozzie BOM (remember, this is in C and it's in the shade):

Adelaide Forecast
Issued at 11:40 am CDT on Thursday 29 January 2009

Warning Summary
Nil.

Forecast for Thursday
Dry. A mostly sunny and very hot day. Moderate to fresh northwest winds, turning
moderate southerly during the late afternoon or evening.

Precis Dry. Mostly sunny.
City: Max 44
Elizabeth: Max 45
Mount Barker: Max 44
Noarlunga: Max 43

UV Alert: 9:20 am to 5:30 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 12 [Extreme]
Fire Danger: Extreme (Mount Lofty Ranges Fire Ban District)

Forecast for Friday
Dry. A mostly sunny and very hot day. Moderate to fresh northerly winds,
becoming light and variable during the afternoon, tending moderate southeast
late evening.

Precis Dry. Mostly sunny.
City: Min 30 Max 41

Saturday Dry. Mostly sunny. Min 25 Max 40
Sunday Dry. Mostly sunny. Min 23 Max 40
Monday Dry. Mostly sunny. Min 22 Max 39
Tuesday Dry. Mostly sunny. Min 22 Max 38
Wednesday Dry. Mostly sunny. Min 22 Max 38

The next routine forecast will be issued at 4:00 pm CDT Thursday

Another thing to keep in mind is that for the last 3 days they had been forecasting 41. Then at the morning, they bump it up to 44 for that one day. Right now at the ole homestead it is 111 F in the shade (we are spot on with the official temp) and it's 137.7 F (58.7 C) in the sun.

Ummmm, that's cooler than yesterday, BTW.

TRAIN TRACKS BUCKLE AND IGNITE IN THIS HEAT!!!!!

Yup, that's true. A couple of sections of the commuter rail track buckled and bent in the heat, forcing Adelaide Metro to use massive amounts of buses during peak commuter times. Here's a picture:





And there's also been a report or two of the rails themselves spontaneously combusting --that means the railroad track catches fire. I know, you are asking how the heck does that happen. Well, oil and grease from the engines and rail cars gets deposited onto the tracks. The sun heats the iron (that's what rail tracks are made of) up to a pretty darned hot temp and then it goes... Ka-Whumph!

Gee, and you thought Ripley's was unbelievable. BTW, CFS (Country Fire Service) crews are on alert all along rail areas --and pretty much all areas for that matter. Heck, all the national parks are closed; all it would take is for some moron to have a spark from a stink-stick (cigarette) drop onto the ground ANYWHERE and there'd be a big ole bushfire.

Oh, I just got a news report where they've said that the hottest 11 years in Australia have occured in the last 12 years. Of course, the deniers were all over the comment section... Did I mention yesterday was the hottest day since 1939?

Last year in March we had a heat wave. It wasn't this hot, but it set an Australian record for a capital city for consecutive days over 35 C (95 F). Doesn't sound too hot, but after a month of it...

Of course there's a bay up in the north end of WA (Western Australia) that holds the world record for consecutive days over 100 F. 160 days in a row. Ouch.

I've got some good pics of the morning cockatoo flock sitting in the trees here. They've been very quiet, like deathly quiet (if you know cockatoos then you know what I mean). The way they beat the heat is to lay all their feathers against their body, spread the wings out slighty, and pant. They also look very pathetic when they do this. No pictures are going to be uploaded today, cus I'm going in the pool.

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BEER!

Ahhhhhh, 94 F water never felt so cool...