Cugel posted this snippet in another thread but IMHO it’s news worthy of it’s own.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology recorded the average maximum across the continent as 40.9C or 105.6F. That’s across a land mass not much smaller than the US’s Lower 48.
The previous record was in January 2013 and it’s is likely that the new record will be broken again in the next couple of days.
Add in an very early and bad fire season with 3 mil hectares (7.5 mil acres) already burnt along the East Coast and over 100 fires not controlled.
And people wonder why Australian Christmas celebrations feature snowmen, reindeer and carols like Jingle Bells.
♫ Throw another bunny on the barbie, baby
Rack another rabbit on to roast ♫ …
Oh wait, it’s all Oz that’s melting down. 'Roos going up in flames like holiday candles. Light another other, mate.
Temps around 120f (49c) on the Mojave Desert became noticeable because that’s when cereus and cholla cacti bloomed voluminously. Constricted human visual irises made the intense colors seem fluorescent. What blossoms in summer in Oz?
I don’t know what blossoms, but the most visible ecological anomaly at the moment (apart from, yanno, the continent going up in flames) is the massive number of dead shearwaters washing up on beaches (I saw this myself down the coast about 3 weeks ago - it was very obvious)
Yep, Melbourne dodged a bullet today with max 22.4C (72.4F) It was hotter at 11pm the previous day.
It was 20C hotter to the north and west.
Adelaide peaked at 43.7C (110.6F) and western Sydney topped out at 47.3C (117.1F)
Yep, 39.4°C (103°F) just one hundred km away from Melbourne, here in Bendigo. We’re looking at about 45°C (113°F) tomorrow.
Fortunately, looks like a change is coming through late Friday/early Saturday.