Hell Hath No Fury Like the Climate Scorned

Hottest February day in NSW as “extraordinary heatwave” moves across Australia

The heatwave moving across the sub continent is expected to intensify over the weekend, elevating the threat of potentially catastrophic fire conditions, authorities warned.

New South Wales could face its hottest February day on record, with temperatures reaching 47ºC in western parts of the state, said the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

The temperature reached 47.4ºC in Hay Airport, making it the third-hottest day recorded in February for NSW, and the record could be shattered on Saturday, said reports.

Meanwhile, Sydney set a temperature record for the number of days over 35ºC, as most of the city broiled in the 40s.

 

 

Extreme Weather Events Pummel Australia

Extreme Rain Events, High Winds  Pummel NSW, Tasmania as Queensland Mops Up

“Wild weather that thrashed parts of Queensland over the weekend is continuing to pummel New South Wales, with the east coast low pressure system reaching as far south as Tasmania amid warnings of heavy rain, flash flooding and damaging winds,” said a report.

A flood evacuation warning is in place for multiple areas in NSW including residents living along the Georges River, in Sydney’s southwest, the report said.

Huge surf is also causing widespread coastal erosion with police door knocking affected homes in the Northern Beaches.

Hundreds of thousands of homes across the state have been affected by power outages as a result of wild weather.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from North Lismore, as major flooding peaked at 9.1 meters in the Lismore area Sunday afternoon.

The weather system has also extended down to Tasmania, with an “exceptional” huge swell expected to hit Tasmania’s north-east on Monday.

The state is predicted to receive up to 200 millimeters of rain in the coming days, with warnings of flash flooding.

Flood warnings are in place for eight rivers in the state, with major warnings current for the Meander River and Mersey River, with forecasters warning the Mersey basin is at most risk of major flooding.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has forecast ‘king waves’ of up to eight meters to cause erosion along the northeast coast.

Mount Victoria recorded rainfall amounts of 76mm, with destructive winds peaking at 107 km/h at Mount Read.

“That north-easterly swell’s actually getting up to the six to seven-metre mark on Monday which is very, very, large for our secondary swell,” a BoM forecaster said.

“Typically we only see those swell heights in our south-westerly stream. So it’s an exceptional swell for the east coast.”

Since Friday morning, 382mm of rain had fallen at Upper Springbrook in the Gold Coast hinterland, with nearby Mount Tamborine receiving  357mm, BoM reported.

12 Disaster Zones Declared in NSW, Australia

State of emergency declared in New South Wales amid deadly weather

More than two days of cyclonic storms with pounding rain and gale-force winds  have prompted the NSW premier Mike Baird to  declare disaster in a dozen areas between Sydney’s Northern Beaches and the Hunter Valley in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW).

The disaster declarations cover Dungog, Newcastle City, Maitland, Cessnock, Gosford, Warringah, Great Lakes, Lake Macquarie, Pittwater, Port Stephens, Singleton and Wyong, said the Baird in a statement.

At least three people were killed in the town of Dungog, north of Newcastle, on Tuesday, and police retrieved the body of a fourth victim near Maitland, north-west of Newcastle, late Wednesday, said a report.

The State Emergency Services (SES) issued an evacuation order for several areas warning residents to leave immediately.

Related Links

• ‘Storm of the Century’ Batters NSW, Killing Three, Destroying Homes  April 21, 2015

‘Storm of the Century’ Batters NSW, Killing Three, Destroying Homes

Deadly storms pound NSW, leave ‘whole streets decimated’

Powerful storms packing “cyclonic” winds  and torrential rains have battered the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), killing at least three people, destroying many homes, and cutting power to hundreds of thousands of customers.

The deaths occurred in Dungog, where 312mm of rain fell in under 24 hours.

The worst affected areas are Sydney and the regions of Hunter, Central Coast and Illawarra, said officials.

“There is no doubt this is a very severe storm event, indeed it is a once in 10-year event,” said NSW Premier Mike Baird.

“We have lost some homes. There is a number of roofs taken off. We have also lost life. It is a huge storm event that is wreaking havoc across NSW.”

“We haven’t seen this sort of weather pattern, this east coast low or one as severe as this in years,” said SES Deputy Commissioner Steven Pearce told ABC News.

“The consistent gale force winds which are actually cyclonic in some areas with gusts up to 135km/h.”

“I haven’t seen a storm of this magnitude in my time here at the SES and, indeed, this would be the largest storm operation in the last 10 years,” he said.

“We’ve never seen these cyclonic winds last for 24 hours straight. That’s what’s caused the majority of the damage.

Media player: “Space” to play, “M” to mute, “left” and “right” to seek.

“We’ve had over 6,500 requests for assistance and on top of that, with the enormous amount of rainfall – up to 320 millimetres in over 24 hours – we’ve seen about 80 flood rescues. We’ve seen homes washed away, whole streets decimated.”

“Apocalyptic Storm” Hits Sydney, Australia

EXTREME WEATHER AND CLIMATIC EVENTS
MEGA STORM
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Mega storm hits Sydney with lightning , thunder and heavy rain

Severe thunderstorm and torrential rains swept through Sydney and much of New South Wales in Australia on Wednesday, wreaking havoc across a vast region.

Massive clouds rolled over Sydney harbor spawning a ferocious electrical storm described by some residents as an “Apocalyptic Storm.”

More storms are expected to hit New South Wales (NSW) over the next few days, forecasters said.

Major Heatwave Enters 5th Day in Australia

Perth experiences earliest spell of five 35-degree-plus days in 71 years

A major  heatwave is shifting eastwards, pushing the mercury up to 40ºC in Adelaide by Thursday, and into the 30s for Sydney by Friday, local meteorologists forecast.

[Sydney’s average temperatures for December is 25.2ºC.]

Perth and surrounding areas were put on a severe fire danger alert Monday morning amid hot, dry and windy conditions, following a sweltering weekend, said a report.

The alert followed a large bush fire in the Shire of Toodyay, which needed more than 170 fire crews to control, as the blaze edged menacingly towards two housing estates. The fire had consumed more than 270 hectares, as of posting.

Rows of baled hay went up in flames most probably due to spontaneous combustion in Toodyay farmland on Sunday. Photo credit: Nine News Perth

Monday is the 5th day of a major heatwave which has pushed temperature highs above 40ºC.

On Saturday it reached 40.4ºC in Perth, and peaked at 37ºC Sunday. Parts of the eastern metropolitan Perth could see the temperature reaching 41ºC today.

In November, Perth recorded its hottest spring in 116 years, with overall average of 18.8ºC

Related Links

• BACK-TO-BACK Australian Disasters

Costs of Back-to-back Disasters in Australia Continue to Mount

Extreme fire danger issued for Sydney and Hunter region, as fire conditions worsen

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology has issued the following fire alerts for New South Wales warning that fire conditions will significantly worsen on Wednesday, October 23, 2013.

NSW declared a state of emergency on Sunday, amid the states worst fires in living memory.

• Extreme Fire Danger is forecast for Greater Hunter and Greater Sydney Region.
• Severe Fire Danger is forecast for  North Coast.
• Worsening fire conditions are forecast.

In addition to Blue Mountains National Park, all state forests in Sydney, the Hunter, the central west and the Southern Highlands will be closed due to  high fire danger.

Other parks closed to the public include Kanangra-Boyd National Park, Wollemi National Park south of the Capertee River, all Hunter and Central Coast national parks and all fire-affected Port Stephens parks, said a report.

The bureau has raised its maximum temperature forecast for Sydney to 35ºC, up from 32ºC, as the air pollution levels turn hazardous.

NSW Health has warned people against heavy outdoor exercise because many areas in the state are experiencing poor to dangerous air quality, even hundreds of kilometers away from the fires.

“The last thing you want to do is to go out for a jog when you’re breathing in such heavy pollution,” AAP quoted The Australian Medical Association’s NSW president as saying.

How Many Fires?

At least 63 fires were burning, more than 14 of them uncontained, as of posting. The blazes have so far devoured more than 160,000 hectares (4000,000 acres), destroying or damaging hundreds of homes, and forcing thousands of evacuations.

As of noon on October 21, some 855 claims had been lodged with insurers, with losses of nearly $94 million, said Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), warning insurers that more claims will be lodged later this week.

Back-to-back disasters since the start of 2010 have caused billions of dollars of damage across Australia, with the insurance losses of nearly $9 billion, according to ICA.

The Global Threat Posed by Coal Consumption – Australian Coal Statistics

Australia is the world’s largest coal exporter. Coal is Australia’s second-largest export earner behind iron ore, worth nearly A$40 billion ($38 billion), with A$16 billion from exports of thermal coal. Iron ore exports are worth about $57 billion.

Coal accounts for 18 percent and oil and gas for 9 percent of Australia’s exports.

Black coal exports accounted for 60% of total energy exports, and 87% of black coal production. Black coal exports have increased by more than 50% over the past 10 years.

In 2009-2010 Australia exported 293.4 million tons of black coal to 33 destinations–Japan (39.3% of Australia’s black coal exports); China (14.5%, almost double the previous year), South Korea (13.9%), India (10.9%), Taiwan (9%), with 28 other countries taking the remaining 12%.

Australians boast their trains transporting coal are among the longest in the world, with as many as six locomotives and 148 wagons, extending more than two kilometers back to back, and capable of . carrying about 8,500 tons of coal.

The global seaborne trade in 2013 is forecast to increase to a total of 919 million tonnes. Japan’s 2013 imports are forecast to increase to 129 million tons.

According to International Energy Agency (IEA) data, world thermal coal trade is estimated to have jumped 14 percent in 2012 to 989 million tonnes, driven by demand in China and India. Growth is projected to slow to an average 2.1 percent a year between 2013 and 2018.

• Australia’s average production costs in 2012 were about $85 a ton!

Australia’s thermal coal exports grew to a total 148 million ton in 2011.  In 2012 they increased by 10% to 162 million tons, and further growing  at an average annual rate of 11% between 2013 and 2017, to total 271 million ton by the end of the period has been forecast.

Australia’s exports of metallurgical coal are forecast to increase at an average annual rate of 8%, reaching 218 million tonnes in 2017, said a report.

• Total coal production forecast for 2013:  405 million tons

Related Links

• Back-to-Back Disasters Could Hit Australia: FIRE-EARTH Forecast (2011)
• More Australian Coal, Anyone? Posted on January 31, 2011
• State of Emergency Declared in NSW amid Firestorm October 20, 2013
• Australia Declares Emergency as NSW Bushfires Destroy “Hundreds of Homes” October 17, 2013
• Thousands Evacuated due to Bushfires in NSW September 10, 2013
• Australia: Entombed by a ‘dome of heat’ January 8, 2013
• Australia’s Runaway Bushfires Threaten Lives and Property
• Back-to-Back Disasters Could Hit Australia: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• Australia on Fire: Tasmania Burning

Australia Declares Emergency as NSW Bushfires Destroy “Hundreds of Homes”

Hundreds of NSW homes may have been lost to worst bushfires in living memory

More than 90 fires are burning, mostly uncontained, around the state of New South Wales (NSW) fanned by high winds and soaring temperatures, said a report.

Authorities have issued emergency warnings for multiple location across the state.

Wildfires have destroyed at least 30 homes at Springwood, in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, prompting evacuations, “blanketing Australia’s biggest city in choking yellow smoke and closing highways,” said a report.

“The airport at Newcastle, 160 km (100 miles) north of Sydney, was closed and schools, workplaces and entire neighborhoods were evacuated.”

“If we get through with less than 100 homes destroyed today, we have been lucky,” the NWS Rural Fire Service Commissioner (RFS) told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

A massive, 300-hectare bushfire is raging out of control this afternoon threatening the GlencoreXstrata’s Mangoola coal mine, said a report, prompting RFS to issue an emergency warning for the Blackjack Mountain fire, West of Musswellbrook near Wybong Road.

Power was cut to tens of thousands of homes and businesses in multiple areas, especially the Blue Mountains, as well as other areas west, southwest and north of Sydney, said reports.

Sydney sky described as “apocalyptic”

Clouds of smoke have enveloped Sydney, turning the sky and the harbor orange, with smoke particles raining over Australia’s most populous city in scenes described as “apocalyptic.”

Developing news. More details to follow…

Related Links

• Thousands Evacuated due to Bushfires in NSW September 10, 2013
• Australia: Entombed by a ‘dome of heat’ January 8, 2013
• Australia’s Runaway Bushfires Threaten Lives and Property
• Back-to-Back Disasters Could Hit Australia: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• Australia on Fire: Tasmania Burning

Thousands Evacuated due to Bushfires in NSW

Bushfires threaten Sydney’s western suburbs

Wildfires destroy homes, injure fire crews and force mass evacuations in west Sydney.

At least 59 bush and grassfires are raging across New South Wales (NSW), including 40 uncontained blazes, with more than 500 firefighters and 200 fire engines on the ground, said NSW Premier.

The fires have forced the authorities to  evacuate scores of homes and a University of Western Sydney (UWS) campus following a power outage that affected the entire Richmond area.

Additionally, more than 300 students from St Paul’s Grammar School In Castlereagh were evacuated to Penrith’s Whitewater Park after an emergency warning was issued for a fire threatening properties on nearby Devlin Street, said a report.

Intense heat from a wildfire sets a truck on fire near Londonderry Road, West Sydney. Photo credit: Nick Moir/ via the Age.

The heat was so intense firefighters were forced to abandon their trucks when they became surrounded by bushfires in Sydney’s western suburbs, said a report.

The bushfire season has come early to Sydney area, with out-of-control fires devouring the city’s west, reports said.

Hottest Hell on Earth

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,159 Days Left 

[January 8, 2013] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,159 Days Left to the most Fateful Day in Human History
• Symbolic countdown to the ‘worst day’ in human history began on May 15, 2011 ...

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Global Disasters/ Significant Events

Australia: Entombed by a ‘dome of heat’

Hundreds of fires fanned by record temperatures and high winds are currently burning across Australia, many of them out of control.

About 90 percent of New South Wales (NSW) was in severe danger, with “catastrophic” conditions declared in five areas: the Illawarra, Shoalhaven, the Southern Ranges, the northern and eastern Riverina and southern parts of the lower Central West Plains.

• Temperatures soared to near 46ºC (118ºF) today.
• Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has forecast temperatures of up to 54ºC (129ºF)  in central Australia next Monday and has accordingly extended its temperature chart by adding two new colors, pink and purple, to allow for the extremes.
• High winds and atmospheric conditions have created a ‘dome of heat’ entombing Australia, experts said.

Australia Forecast Map for 06:00 UTC on Saturday 12 January 2013 . Source: BOM

Global Temperature Forecast Map for 06:00 UTC on Saturday 12 January 2013 . Source: BOM

SH Temp Forecast for 06:00 UTC on Sunday 13 January 2013

Power Outages

“The blistering heat also caused a blaze at a nuclear research facility in southern Sydney after cabling overheated in a nearby electricity substation, while thousands of homes in the city’s north experienced power outages due to soaring demand,” said a report.

FEWW Links and Forecasts

• Australia’s Runaway Bushfires Threaten Lives and Property

• Back-to-Back Disasters Could Hit Australia: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• Australia on Fire: Tasmania Burning

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

GLOBAL WARNING

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Could Dust Storms Bury Sydney, Australia?

Yet Another Dust Storm Shrouds Australia’s New South Wales

Less than a month ago, on September 22 – 24, 2009, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane and much of New South Wales, Australia experienced 100 kph winds whipping up heavy dust storms followed by severe  thunderstorms.

Road traffic slowed down to a crawl, ferries canceled, flights diverted or canceled as dust storm shrouded Sydney, and suffocating haze forced the residents to stay indoors.

“This is unprecedented. We are seeing earth, wind and fire together,” said Australia’s Weather Channel presenter.

The storm was one of the worst dust storms in Australia.

There were more dust storms on the following days. Four days later, on September 26, another intense storm swept eastern Australia, covering much of Queensland and New South Wales across to the Pacific Ocean in a thick blanket of dust.

The dust storms are certain to continue. As temperatures rise, more droughts set in and the winds intensify, all of which trends have long been repeated, the question becomes one of not if, but when the dust storms would bury Sydney.

The dust storm that started the previous day had intensified by the time the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite flew over on October 14, 2009. The large image, which encompasses a wider area, shows that the dust plume stretches tens of kilometers south of the area shown here. NASA Earth Observatory images courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Holli Riebeek. [Edited by FEWW]

How Much Dust Would  it Take?

Just how much dust would it take, and under what circumstances could it make Sydney uninhabitable?

FEWW Moderators have asked their friends at EDRO to provide a realistic estimate, the details of which would be posted here.

UPDATE

Here’s a link to a reply prepared by  EDRO TEAM:

How Large Is Your Dust Storm?

Related Links:

• And dust to dust …
• Australia: Uranium Dust Threat Real?
• Australia: What can burn, will!

• Image of the Day: Human Excesses
• Australian fires toll may exceed 200
• A Living Hell Heated by Australian Coal
• Torrential Rains Flood Northern Australia

• You want to lose weight without exercise?
• Australian Coal and the Planet
• Vast swarms of locusts sweep across Australia
• Murray-Darling River Communities Are Struggling
• Hell Hath No Fury Like the Australian… Bushfire!
• The day God [sic] washed his hands off St. Andrew’s church

• The Mesopotamian Dust Bowl
• Iraq Faces Environmental Catastrophe
• Riyadh City May Collapse by 2010
• Iraq Ecocide Nears Totality
• Image of the Day: Sandstorm in Saudi Desert

• First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Future Scenarios
• Nuking Earth for Lifestyle
• World Problems: The Root Cause Matrix
• Giga Trends
• World CO2 Emissions

• Look me straight in the eye & tell me you can’t
• Protect Economy from Climate??!
• Blind scientists examining the economic elephant
• How Much Carbon Dioxide Does Your Money Make?
• Cosmic Scale Evil
• Index of Human Impact on Nature

• New York Cognitive Dissonance

• Carbon Footprint of Your Dollar
• The Billionaires’ contribution to CO2 pollution
• Stop Burning Earth
• Energy: 286W

• Failing Ecosystems

Australian Oil Disaster Links:

• Australia Fails to Plug Oil Leak in Timor Sea
• Timor Sea Oil Slick: Growing Australian Disaster
• Major Ecological Disaster Underway in Timor Sea
• Australian Oil Disaster May Get a Lot Worse

• The Australian Clean Energy Ruse
• Australia declares ‘natural’ disaster [again]
• Stick the Policies, Stop the Climate Change!

• How Much Oil Pollution Is Too Much?
• FEWW Earthquake Forecast: Timor Sea
• Magnitude 6.8 EQ Strikes BANDA SEA
• Australia hit by another man-made disaster