This is that time of the year when Australia gets ravaged by bushfires, especially in the Southern states of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. This year is particularly worse for Victoria with nearly 175,000 sq kms of bushland area completely devastated by bushfires. Thankfully, there has not been any loss of life in this year, just property.
The Victorian bushfire season this year saw the smoke from the fires in Eastern Victoria along Bairnsdale and Sale in the Gippsland area drift to Melbourne over the last weekend. The smoke was so dense that important highways had to be closed down due to poor visibility. The view from my office revealed it all, the West Gate bridge was not to be seen at all, there was an acrid smell in the air when you walked out, the nose and mouth felt filthy with dust and particles, it was not the Melbourne that I had experienced in the last four years.
Last Sunday saw Melbourne hitting the hottest temperature on record for the month of December in 53 years, upto 42 C, with extreme UV levels at around 2.30 in the afternoon. And, being Melbourne, the temperature dropped to around 22 C around 4.30 in the evening because of a cooler change. This is what amazes me about Melbourne weather, you can never say it is too hot or too cold, or too rainy or too windy. It caters to everyone in the span of 24 hours.
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NASA satellite photo of the smoke, from the The Age
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Bushfire image from “The Age”
