Through Quentin PERCEROU, editor
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After the weekend heatwave, temperatures dropped 20-25 ° C in 24 hours in the southeast of the country due to the passage of a disturbance from Antarctica. Despite this refresh, the fire alert is still in progress. In the northwest of the mainland, torrential rains and heavy flooding threaten Western Australia due to tropical storm Blake.
5 million hectares have gone up in smoke in Australia. After having experienced its hottest year with a month of December and January when many records fell, the south faced this weekend with difficult weather conditions which aggravated the fires. The heat in question was not as strong and lasting as during the heat wave in December, when the 50 ° C have been grazed in South Australia.
Extreme heat peak, 49 ° C in the Sydney area on Saturday
Thursday, Western Australia has been the subject of several fire hazard alerts. A so-called “catastrophic” alert had been issued for certain parts of this territory. Temperatures reached 41 ° C around Kalgoorlie.
The heat then spread further east, in South Australia and the states of Victoria and New South Wales. Friday and Saturday, temperatures reached 48.9 ° C in Penrith in the region of Sydney, 47 ° C in Gidgealpa, 44 ° C in Canberra and 40 ° C in Adelaide. All of south-eastern Australia has been affected by fire alerts, ranging from “very high” to “extreme” risk.
48.9 ° C recorded 50 km west of #Sydney and 43.6 ° C in the Australian capital Canberra where absolute heat records have just been broken! https://t.co/kCzOWaWXzO
– The Weather Channel (@lachainemeteo) January 4, 2020
Moreover, a state of emergency has been declared in the southeast of the island continent, the most populous region, and orders were given on Friday to more than 100,000 people to evacuate in three states ( South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales).
Dramatic drop in temperatures and return of the rains
Temperatures dropped in Western Australia on Thursday with the arrival of a cold front and rains. This front crossed South Australia on Saturday. As a result, the air cooled significantly over southern Australia on Sunday and the rains in progress, even if they are very insufficient, are a good help for the firefighters who are fighting the fires. In South Australia, many monthly daytime freshness Records fell Saturday 4 and Sunday, January 5, that is to say the lowest temperatures recorded in the afternoon. It noted in particular in Coober Pedy 15.5 ° C 5 January (46.4 ° C against … two days ago), 16.4 ° C to Tarcoola against the 45.6 ° C and 17.5 ° C in Ceduna on January 4 against 41.9 ° C on January 3. We should also mention the record for Port Augusta, where the maximum temperature reached Sunday, January 5 17.6 ° C while two days earlier the thermometer showed 44.9 ° C.
As for the Sydney region, the temperature dropped from 49 ° C on Saturday to 24 ° C maximum this Sunday, a drop of 25 ° C in 24 hours!
However, a thunderstorm alert is underway for the regions of Central Tablelands, West Central New South Wales. Any lightning strike is likely to start new fires and the strong winds under thunderstorms to spread them.
View of the satellite, the impressive and terrible images of the plumes of smoke linked to #incendies from South East#Australia… https://t.co/eVJ2KHMNe5
– The Weather Channel (@lachainemeteo) January 4, 2020
Flood alert in northwest Australia
At the other end of the continent, a tropical storm has formed off the northwest coast of Western Australia. She was appointed Blake by local weather services. An alert was issued for torrential rains for the coastal regions between Darwin, Broome and Port Hedland. 200 to 400mm of rain is expected by Wednesday over this area. It should be remembered that this province is usually hit by tropical storms at this time of year which corresponds to the heart of the cyclonic activity of the season there.
While the southeast of#Australia undergoes historic heat and drought. the northwest of the country suffers from rains #diluviennes and #inondations due to the formation of a tropical depression (D in RED on the satellite image) Source: https://t.co/vSA277OtAY pic.twitter.com/wzwZUthtsd
– The Weather Channel (@lachainemeteo) January 5, 2020
A catastrophic ecological and human toll
The “bushfires” (name given to the fires and forest fires which ravage Australia) have burned more than 6 million hectares since September, twice the area of Belgium. 24 people have already lost their lives. In addition, almost 500 million animals have been killed.
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