Posted on 02/07/2009 11:14:07 AM PST by MyTwoCopperCoins
SYDNEY: Raging wildfires swept southeastern Australia on Saturday, killing at least 14 people and razing some 100 homes as scorching temperatures and gale-force winds combined into a deadly inferno, while floodwaters in the country’s sodden north continued to rise.
Victoria state police said the death toll might exceed 40 as dozens of fires burned unchecked into the night. Some officials described the day as the worst in the sunburned country’s history of wildfires. More than 30,000 volunteer firefighters were battling fires after dark, when helicopters and planes that hand-dumped millions of tons of water on the flames returned to base for safety reasons.
Residents in the paths of the fires reported seeing their towns ablaze, and television footage showed flames leaping at least 25 feet (8 meters) in the air. “The whole township is pretty much on fire,” Peter Mitchell, a resident of Kinglake town said.
Officials said chaotic scenes on the ground and ongoing firefighting efforts had hampered the collection of information, including the number of deaths and properties burned.
Victoria deputy police commissioner Kieran Walshe said 14 people were confirmed dead at four different sites, all connected to the same fire in Gippsland, a large farming region dotted by small towns and national parks of old-growth eucalyptus trees.
The deadly fire burned on a front of up to 20 kilometres and was moving at around 60kph, officials said. At least 115 square miles (30,000 hectares) was burned out by just one fire.
Of those killed, six died in the same vehicle at Kinglake town, Walshe said. “This has been an absolute tragedy for this state,” he said.
Victoria’s fires were by far the worst of the blazes in three states on Saturday as temperatures soared to 47°Celsius.
47C is about 124F....can that be right?
Double the number and add 30 to get Fahrenheit.
47 + 47 = 94 + 30 = 124
You are absolutely correct.
But it’s summer there...
Melbourne’s weather by the month
JANUARY & FEBRUARY
It is high summer in Melbourne during January and February, a typical day is warm and sunny with a freshening sea breeze arriving from the south in the afternoon. A few days are cool and cloudy, a maximum temperature below 20ºC being recorded about once a week. There are always hot days and the year’s highest temperature of about 40ºC is usually recorded during these two months. Some of the hot days are accompanied by an unpleasant north wind, which can be quite strong. Mostly there are only one or two hot days in a row. Occasionally hot weather may continue for three or more days, when the daily appearance of that cool refreshing, north bound sea breeze in the afternoon, becomes that day’s most welcome visitor. The year’s warmest night, with a minimum temperature of about 24ºC, is also recorded during these two months. Hot weather normally ends with an abrupt cool change when the mercury may fall by 10ºC in only twenty minutes. Some of these changes are dry and arid; showers and thunderstorms accompany others. High levels of humidity create discomfort on very few days, mostly towards the end of a hot spell. It is not uncommon for a fortnight to pass without rain. On occasions prolonged heavy rain can fall.
47C is about 118F
It’s 116.6 F. [(47*9/5)+32=116.6] And yes, I suppose that’s possible. A few weeks ago in Wisconsin we had 40F and 40C at the same time, only they were both minus numbers. -40F/-40C Also hard to believe but I almost think I prefer that to +116F.
HA...we lived in Prince Albert, SK when the thermometer hit that....-40C and -40F....
To be precise
47C is (47 * 9) / 5 + 32 = 116.6 degrees F.
Or between 115.7 and 117.5 degrees.
My brother and his wife are living there now. They say it is pretty darn hot.
20 degrees C = 68 F; 30 C = 86 F; 40 C = 104 F; 45 C = 113 F.
Two easy-to-remember equivalents are that 40 below is the same in both systems, and that 28 C = 82 F.
Terrible. I just saw this on TV this morning.
Are you there somewhere in ‘Strylia?
an Aussie friend of our mentioned this morning it was close to 120 in Melbourne.
No, it’s 47*9/5+32, which is about 116.
Years ago, a company came up with the idea of a fire fighting airship. The value of this is that airships have tremendous lift, and can carry a lot of water. Add to this their ability to maintain position and you end up with an extraordinary capability.
Not just dumping water on a fire, but raining on it for an extended time, subduing both the fire and wetting adjacent fuel, making it harder to ignite.
By adding compressors to the airship, that would return its helium to metal tanks when less lift was needed, the airship could land on a body of water, either a lake or an easy to erect pool, and quickly fill its tanks. No need for a runway and time consuming water refills, as for a helicopter or aircraft.
Then it turns its fans downward and releases extra gas, to give it the lift it needs to get to altitude.
With a cruising speed of perhaps 20 mph, its turnaround time is about the same as aircraft, but with several times the amount of water.
It could even be used to fight large scale industrial fires, as high expansion fire fighting foam could be added to its water tank, resulting in great blobs of foam spraying from the tank like a giant can of shaving cream.
Unfortunately the airship company went out of business before they could even make the prototype.
Yep, warmest it got when I was in that area of Victoria was 49C.
Believe me, it’s possible. It was like hell on earth. I was out there in it fighting the bloody fires yesterday.
Death toll is at least 25 at this point with a suspected toll of at least 40, and a lot of fires are still out of control.
Many thanks to you - and all the firefighters - for this heroic service. Your efforts have been amazing. Many people are alive only because of you. And I am aware that it was not just yesterday that all these efforts were put forth, but for all these recent days and weeks of the heat wave.
Yes, indeed.
No, I’m not in Australia; just caught this online.
No. Only 117F
I’ve read news articles about some of the wicked fires you’ve had there in the past. Hope you’re able to get things under control. Stay safe.
“To be precise
47C is (47 * 9) / 5 + 32 = 116.6 degrees F.
Or between 115.7 and 117.5 degrees.
My brother and his wife are living there now. They say it is pretty darn hot.”
What’s even more astonishing is the temperature the next day is only about 19 deg C
Nearly 30 degrees difference, over 100 farenheit!
Centigrade converts to Fahrenheit by multiplying the C value by 1.8, or by 9/5 and then adding 32 to the result (because freezing is 32 F or 0 C. That is, each degree C is equivalent to 9/5 of a degree F and then you have to adjust to the different starting value.
A really fast way to get close in your head is to multiply the degrees C by two and then subtract 10% of the result (to get to 9/5) and then add 32 (to adjust for the different base level for freezing. It’s fast because 10% is easy to figure in your head.
Thus 47*2=94 and 10% of 94 is 9.4 so the adjusted result is 94-9.4 or 84.6. Then add the 32 and you get 116.6.
I used to walk past a bank clock on the way to work that alternately flashed C then F temps and got pretty good at looking at C and determining F before it flashed on a few seconds later. If I saw 24C, I’d go 48 minus about 5 equals 43 plus 32 is 75 in about the time it takes to read this sentence. (It’s really 75.2 because I should have subtracted only 4.8 instead of 5.)
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