Victoria: Extended Heatwave - Jan 13 2014 - Jan 18 2014

[stevco123]

Spare a thought for Adelaide. 45 tomorrow and 46 Thursday!!!!

[stevco123]

Keeping in mind their record is 45.7...

(damn edit button.Come Back!!)

[I_Love_Storms]

Doesn't bode well for us on Friday. 42 is probably a better case scenario. If Adelaide gets 46 Thursday Friday could be a similar temp here...

[mick]

Dry thunderstorms in the far n/w atm starting fires around Rainbow according to local on the radio.

[Jake Smethurst]

Mum and dad have just left home and are on their way to Melbourne for the tennis. They have to travel on the Princess Highway from Colac onwards. I've warned them of a bushfire near Winchelsea which is out of control, 18 vehicles in attendance. Hopefully they get that quick smart otherwise they'll be delayed. But of course always better to be safe than sorry.

Still hot out there, but I wouldn't rule out the risk of some lightning overnight in Melbourne.

[mick]

Temp has plummeted to 40.5 here atm.

Compared to black saturday, its not so bad, there is still some humidity in the air.

[Dane]

Bit of a weak seabreeze like change moving up the bay at the moment.
You can see it on the doppler wind radar.
Temps have dropped a few degrees following that.

[droughtbreaker]

They're not all dry storms either, 7mm at Renmark after a 46C day. Some extraordinary fluctuations in temperature and humidity within that storm, check out Renmark obs, crazy.

This is going to be the worst heatwave ever by a huge margin. It beats Black Saturday due to the longevity of the extreme heat. 4 days in the mid to high 40s up in the northwest and low to mid 40s in the south. The only fly in the ointment is EC which has a significantly cooler day tomorrow, at least in the south (by about 4 degrees). Don't know whether to trust EC though as it has been too low with temps in general.

[sparra]

Love the forecast for the next 3 days. all 41 or 42, with some relief in the afternoon. Look at Adelaide. So jealous right now.

Here's hoping that:

1. Cloud develops early to give some cap on the temps
2. We get some storms to make things interesting.

I'm charging my batteries tonight...

41.6 so far now here

Careful what you wish for......fires going up everywhere out here......thunder lightning and no rain.....not quite what we were hoping for.

Digital thermometer on our back verandah said top of 50....gets very hot with the sun coming straight in in the late arvo.
Hubby gone to get our fire truck as the local one is already gone....not a good scenario

[HarleyB]

Good luck Sparra should you need to put emergency plans into action.

Lightning with these cells continues as it moves down towards the north central and central regions. What are the chances it can start to drop some precip as it approaches elevated areas? A little worried about these.

[I_Love_Storms]

Not sure it will be the worst heatwave ever...temps up north aren't as high as I remember in 2009, yet anyway. The airmass is hot but not record Hot in my opinion. Although each GFS run looks hotter and Adelaides forecast is quite amazimg. Btw cfa website going nuts with new fires In NW not good

[typhoon29]

Ballarat a place always picked on as the coldest town on earth. Well it was miles from that today and yesterday for that matter! 42 hot degrees. Yeah amazing that Renmark 45+ then a storm 7mm and then still in the 40s! WTF! Cloud coming in now looks the goods for some flash bang tonight, it would be nice if we got under the core and got a mm or two. Outside in the pool watching the big bash! Go Renegades!

[droughtbreaker]

Renmark actually dropped to 24C at the onset of that storm and then fluctuated wildly as the rain fell before settling back to 40C. DP there is now 18C.

While there have been comparable days to today in terms of statewide heat intensity like Black Saturday but also January 31st 1968, there's nothing in the records to suggest that there have been 4 days in a row with quite the potential for extreme heat like we are seeing atm. Jan 1959 came close but probably around a degree less overall and that heatwave was only really extreme in the west of the state.

[Rivergirl]

Yes good luck Sparra. I remember the flooding Waterbaby

Sorry for the problems we are still having with the forum. Hoping it will be fixed soon

[Geoff]

Some interesting info about extended heatwaves on this BOM link; http://www.bom.gov.au/lam/climate/level ... /temp2.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It seems 1908 is the year to beat, certainly for Melbourne, but it looks like it was a widespread event. No air-con, no refrigeration!!! Yikes!!!

[sparra]

Just has some rain....only couple of points but enough to dampen things so that is a relief!!!

[Gordon]

Thanks Geoff. If anyone can provide some details/ links for the 1959 heatwave, that would be great.

Looking as if it wants to rain here - I will report if any drops make it to the ground !

[Gordon]

Well there you go, a bit of rain actually falling on us now from that little cell near Ballan. Not much at all, but encouraging that the radar isn't just reporting virga.

Looking at the sky further north and west, maybe we will get some recordable rain, which seems incredible between days of high 30s (and low 40s nearby.)

[nafets]

Maximum of 43.3c today! Shocked that we've had a bit of a shower come though albeit light

[Gordon]

Just heard thunder.