Australian Fires

[jhenry1]

Have you heard about all the fires in Australia. It is really bad. Hope someone can give us more info .

[OzKiwiJJ]

There have been large, severe bushfires in both New South Wales and Queensland with some lives lost and many homes destroyed. Both states are on catastrophic fire alerts today. So far major cities, like Sydney and Brisbane, haven't been affected but some small rural towns have been hit badly. Brisbane has severe smoke pollution today but so far it is only minor in  Sydney. Hot and windy conditions are expected today so things could get worse, unfortunately. It is one of the worst bushfire seasons ever experienced.

[GUT2407]

State emergency for the rest of the week. At least 3 dead, a couple of hundred homes lost.

[Chiliburn]

11 hours ago, jhenry1 said:

Have you heard about all the fires in Australia. It is really bad. Hope someone can give us more info .

No bad fires near Sydney but the sky has turned red with a dust storm 

[MrsWaldo]

Turramurra has had an emergency warming

 

Spot fires near me have been squashed quickly

 

Not a dust stom 

 

just air pollution   caused by fire particles

 

https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/aqms/aqi.htm

 

[Rusty1963]

There has definitely been a dust storm in the Central West, where the clouds have been pink for most of the day, although thankfully few fires.

I hope those in affected areas are all safe.

[buchhalm]

In the next few days, it won't be pleasant for people suffering from asthma and such ailments.

Quite some air pollution due to the fires , even far away ones. 

Forget about tours to the Blue Mountains, the Hunter Valley and such places for the time being.

[GeezerCouple]

How is the air quality in Sydney now?

 

Thanks.

 

GC

[hop2it]

Anyone can check the Sydney Morning Herald online for updates. 

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, hop2it said:

Anyone can check the Sydney Morning Herald online for updates. 

Also abc.net.au (public broadcaster).

[buchhalm]

www.smh.com.au

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

How is the air quality in Sydney now?

 

Thanks.

 

GC

It's fine where we are (about 8kms from tje harbour bridge). Very clear. The wind changed to southerly last night and blew any lingering smoke away.

 

The worst fires up the NSW coast have been downgraded from emergency level to "watch and act", and many more are at "advice" level. Hopefully some of the more accessible ones will be able to be extinguished over the next day or so if the winds stay reasonable. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

If you want to visually check what Sydney Harbour is like go to webcamsydney.com.

 

Here's a current shot: 

[OzKiwiJJ]

For view looking north try this webcam: https://cafesydney.com/explore-our-venue/live-cam

 

[Chiliburn]

9 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

How is the air quality in Sydney now?

 

Thanks.

 

GC

It’s a lovely day ,cool ,blue skies and a mild wind.

We live in the foothills of the blue mountains (Kurrajong)  .Yesterday was a unpleasant day but I don’t think it warranted a state of emergency for a week.

There wasn’t any fire near us.

Edited November 13, 2019 by Chiliburn

[GUT2407]

19 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

It’s a lovely day ,cool ,blue skies and a mild wind.

We live in the foothills of the blue mountains (Kurrajong)  .Yesterday was a unpleasant day but I don’t think it warranted a state of emergency for a week.

There wasn’t any fire near us.

What I am puzzled by is that yesterday the closed schools all over the place, today there are more fires around me than yesterday yet school is on.

[Chiliburn]

1 minute ago, GUT2407 said:

What I am puzzled by is that yesterday the closed schools all over the place, today there are more fires around me than yesterday yet school is on.

It’s definitely a state of emergency in the New England and the north coast but there’s no fires to talk about else where.
As you said 400 schools closed a state of emergency for a week.A lot of people didn’t go to work.

 It’s not even summer.

 I really hate to say that I think it’s over reaction. People won’t care next time.

Cry wolf

[The_Big_M]

32 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

What I am puzzled by is that yesterday the closed schools all over the place, today there are more fires around me than yesterday yet school is on.

Yesterday was more critical as the temperature spiked to 37, so things could have gotten worse.

 

Today, temperature and winds are much better so they can manage without major risk.

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

What I am puzzled by is that yesterday the closed schools all over the place, today there are more fires around me than yesterday yet school is on.

 

4 hours ago, The_Big_M said:

Yesterday was more critical as the temperature spiked to 37, so things could have gotten worse.

 

Today, temperature and winds are much better so they can manage without major risk.

High temperature, very low humidity (8% in Sydney for much of the day, and high winds meant that any fires that started (or were deliberately started as is suspected for the Turramurra fires) could escalate very quickly. Better to be safe than burnt to death.

[Chiliburn]

59 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

 

High temperature, very low humidity (8% in Sydney for much of the day, and high winds meant that any fires that started (or were deliberately started as is suspected for the Turramurra fires) could escalate very quickly. Better to be safe than burnt to death.

I suppose it’s a wake up for everyone to prepare for summer.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:

I suppose it’s a wake up for everyone to prepare for summer.

 

Yes. But there have been really bad fires early in the season before. I remember ones in the Blue Mountains a few years back that were in September, I think. And then there was nothing else major tbat year.

 

But these are unbelievably bad, and across multiple states as well. Hard to predict what will happen over summer.

[msmoger]

Looks kind of smokey today.  Are the fire risks likely to continue throughout the summer.  We'll be in Sydney on 3 February next year.

 

 

Edited November 18, 2019 by msmoger

[OzKiwiJJ]

Yes, it is smoky today, unfortunately. It was beautiful all last week despite the fires up north but the wind direction has changed and blown the smoke our way.

 

Yes, the fire risks will continue all summer but that doesn't necessarily mean Sydney will be affected by fires or smoke all summer. It's impossible to predict. We've had fire seasons that started in September but fizzled out by Christmas, and others that started right on Christmas or even later.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Also remember that first thing in the morning the smoke is usually at it's worst as there is usually not much breeze then. In fact you can see how it's settled low down over the water and land in your snapshots. It's looking a bit better now.

[msmoger]

On 11/18/2019 at 6:18 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

Also remember that first thing in the morning the smoke is usually at it's worst as there is usually not much breeze then. In fact you can see how it's settled low down over the water and land in your snapshots. It's looking a bit better now.

 

I see what you mean....6:36 AM