Well the fire fighting helicopters are off again to the fires north of here, but they're slowly getting on top of them as we're now down to 39 fires in the area now which is down from the 47 we had after Thor's performance here last Thorsday, though most are still in inaccessible areas.

There are 84 fires state wide so they're concentrated at this end of the state.

Anyhow this morning's fog has gone only to be replaced by smoke haze.

Stay safe.

Cheers.

The gusty winds certainly stirred up those fires to the north of here today with even a refueling stop for choppers was setup down on the oval today (though they wern't required).

Anyhow out average low temp for October was down on the long term average by 0.5C at 6.7C while our average max was up by 3.7C at 23.8C. Meanwhile it's been another dry month with just 13.5mm falling here well down on our 75mm average which at 375.25mm so far this year is well down on the 650mm year to date average.

Hopefully November will deliver some more rain.

Cheers.

We only managed to get to 20C (felt like 17C), but still no rain, as firefighting choppers were refuelling down on the oval by the pairs all day as the B-double tanker was replaced by 2 semis and they certainly made a big impact on the fires north of here (though you wouldn't think so with all the smoke still hanging about).

12 fires were put out today while 34 still persist in the area, but access to the Queensland border is still closed so the village was filling up all day with caravans looking for a place to pull up for tonight in the hope that the highway will reopen tomorrow.

Now that the big light in the sky is about gone there's 1 tanker staying again overnight down there ready for in the morning when those choppers take to the air again.

Stay safe.

Cheers.

The BOM outlook was for a hot & dry build up to the wet, and that's what we've been getting.
36°c days instead of around 34°c, and October is generally good for around 70mm of ran. Managed top get 1.6mm.

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Grant
Darwin NT

After weeks of choppers landing down on our oval for refueling today has been a quiet 1 as we're now down to just 4 fires in our region, down from 48, and the regional response headquarters in town, Glen Innes, is being packed up, but there's a big problem developing further west of here.

Emergency warning as RFS works to contain Hudson bushfire in north west New South Wales.

Other than that most of the state is pretty much under control for the moment thankfully.

Cheers.

For the month of November we wound up with our average min temp being up by 1.6C at 11.6°C and our average max up by 1.2C at 23.7C.

We fell 4.5mm short of the average monthly rainfall at 85.5mm, though we did have 18 days of recorded rain for the month, but we're well down on the year to date average of 740.5mm with just 452.75mm being recorded so far this year.

Anyhow we'll just have to see how December goes now.

Cheers.

It's no wonder why we had so many bush and grass fires around earlier in November.

A stunning graphic has emerged that reveals how common and widespread lightning strikes have been in Australia over the last month.

And more are generating up again as I type, but things around here are a lot damper now.

Stay safe.

Cheers.

Well, October sucked getting only 1.6mm of rain when it's usually around 70mm.
November continued the trend with 60.4mm when it's usually around 140mm.

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Grant
Darwin NT

A combination of unusually hot weather and recent thunderstorms have set off 34 bush/grass fires around the state (3 of them around here). :-(

This unstable weather is set to continue for a couple of more days before we should return to more normal temps. I'm hoping so as I have a brew ready to bottle, but it's just far too warm to fire up the ring burner ATM and it's looking like I'll have to wait until Monday to do that.

Though I much prefer the 33C on top of this mountain range than the 40C+ temps down on the flats.

Stay cool.

Cheers.

More lightening strikes yesterday now have 67 bush/grass fires going around the state and we should find out in about 30mins whether the pop up fuel station opens up again today.

We had 3 single engine Hueys here yesterday refueling all day while several crop dusters assisted them.

Anyhow stay cool and safe,

Cheers.

Floods, fires, heatwaves & now a cyclone- all at the same time.
It's proving to be a very hectic summer season.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Yes, it's certainly out of wack Grant.

Cyclone, heatwaves and flooding dominate Australia's weekend weather of extremes.

Well it seems that we have 2 AT-802F Amphibious Scooper Air Tankers operating around here. They're scooping of the dam/lake at the Rangers Valley Feedlot (about 17kms from here as the crow flies, as well as most planes) staying just west of the village for the most part on their way to a bushfire at the Bolivia Hill Reserve (about 10kms to the north). They do make the odd return trip south to the east of the village using the private airfield 5kms to the south where both a fuel and water tanker are made use of with our large firetruck protecting them just in case of an emergency (it can't be used where the fire is and the smaller smaller firetrucks are doing more border protection due to the rugged, rocky and overgrown terrain).

I still havn't seen any of those flying fans around as yet, but their fuel tanker is back down on the oval with the driver relaxing in the shade of a tree.

Anyhow we're already up to 29C here on our way to 33C before more thunderstorms are possible, but that's still at least 4.5hrs away yet.

Stay cool and safe (as I'm about to do a few more minutes out there).

Cheers.

Well those 2 Amphibious Scoopers were certainly at it this before the flying egg beaters turned up, 3 of them again, but all different to yesterday's. After a month or so we have the blue single jet Huey spotter come fire bomber back, along with an early twin jet Huey water bomber and the return of the big Aerobus. Though something more might turn up yet.

Now I take it that both planes are having a lunch break in at Glen Innes airport as their last return trip staid west of here before I decided that it was time to come inside to cool down again with a beer where it's 25C (feels like 22C) whereas it's currently at 31C (feels like 30C) outside.

[edit] Oh BTW it seems that those 2 amphibious scoopers belong to the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services doing a bit of cross state line co-operation seeing as we have some land crews up on their side. ;-)

Stay cool, hydrated and safe.

Cheers.

Well the last flying eggbeater to leave here, the Airbus (I have no idea where I got "Aerobus" from), is the first to return so I wonder how long that it'll be before either of the Hueys turn up.

Anyhow those amphibious scoopers are working overtime again.

Hang on, I hear a Huey, yes as expected it's the twin jet 1.

I expect that the single jet Huey won't be all that far away.

We're now at 32C (feels like 31C) here, but thankfully the clouds are starting to pop up like pimples that just have to grow bigger, so I'll stay in here where it's 26C (feels like 24C), though there is a downside to closing 1 self inside and that's while the humidity goes down outside (35% ATM) it goes up in here (65%).

Stay cool, hydrated and safe.

Cheers.

We're now up to 87 bush/grass fires after yesterday's storms and there's still a good plume of smoke coming off of the hill just north of here so I guess that the planes and flying fans will be back. Those storms were even ripping off roofs down south.

NSW temperatures rise above 40C before late-afternoon storm damages homes on Central Coast.

Yesterday it was 43-44C where I came from down in Sydney so I feel better about the 32C (felt like 31C) we had here now, 29C is expected today.

Anyhow I better go and tend my veggies before the heat arrives and I close myself inside.

Stay cool, hydrated and safe.

Cheers.

There's only 1 of those amphibious scoopers working here today (the other is likely attending to a new fire to the NW that's encroaching on the border) while the spotter and arsonist flying fan (an older Bell 206L Long Ranger) is back along with it's bigger brother (an older ex-military version of a Bell 206LT Twin Ranger), though the sound of them still has a few surviving older fellows around here go strange at hearing them, as well as yesterday's Airbus EC 145 (an older 1? it has an exposed tail rotor) with its half size bucket (the multi-bladed setup on that doesn't bother them at all).

Hopefully they can be done with these here over the next 3 days before another run of storms comes along.

[edit] Meanwhile in S.A. and Queensland.

South Australia braces for another day of rain, potential flash flooding in some areas.

Cyclone Jasper to bring strong winds north of Gladstone from today as it tracks towards Queensland.

Stay cool, hydrated and safe.

Cheers.

Well the crews now have our state's bush/grass fire count down to 67 and the same crew is back in operation again so we're in for another noisy day.

This easterly wind that we're getting today could prove a problem with the fires around here and now the hill just to the NW of us (about 10kms) is burning again and the 1 further to the NW that kicked off yesterday near the border is getting out of hand while the the hill to the north is still putting out a good amount of smoke.

Anyhow stay cool, hydrated and safe.

Cheers.

It's quiet again as the last 2 choppers leave the place and the usual 3 choppers was joined by a more modern Bell 427 water bomber so it was a bit noisier than the last few days here.

Stay cool, hydrated and safe.

Cheers.

That amphibious scooper is on the job early this morning, I wonder if those choppers will be early as well.

Though our states bush/grass fire count is up 1 to 68 this morning, though no new 1's around here thankfully.

Anyhow stay cool, hydrated and safe.

Cheers.

Those egg beaters are out at it yet again this morning.

The day before yesterday saw and extra 2 water bombers as well as another fire bomber added to the usual 3 and yesterday saw an extra water bomber as well as the big boss' big ex-military job taking the count to 8 in total, but yesterday there was only 1 fuel truck available to them so it was getting crowded down on the oval at times with up to 5 being on it at times. We'll see how many fuel trucks turn up today. Also yesterday the ground crews for those egg beaters were actually supplied with transit vans to take cover in and carry their supplies about, before they were being dropped off by the choppers with all their gear to lug about in the heat and dust.

Anyhow only time will tell what will turn up today with a windy 28C being expected.

[edit] Yesterday;a use of those vans must of just been a trial of some sort as the original fire bomber just landed and unloaded all its gear and ground person. That's 2 very big bags (1 containing a water bucket, the other containing its attachment cables so that it can change roles), about a dozen fire magazines (30cm metal cubes with handles on top) and all the stuff needed to keep the ground crew member comfortable (chair, esky,etc) which makes up quite a pile in total.

Stay cool, hydrated and safe.

Cheers.