Under the Weather

Another day, another extreme weather event in Melbourne. This Labour Day weekend was characterised by two days of severe thunderstorms that brought flooding and hail to Melbourne, much like the event back in mid-February. Saturday's storms shut-down Southern Cross Station when hail stones tore holes in the roof causing water to pour in. Meanwhile, the races at Flemington were called off almost as soon as they got underway. Sunday afternoon saw a repetition of Saturday's weather, with tornadoes reported in central Victoria, and heavy rains in Melbourne from dusk til dawn.

The Annual Downpour

Each year, Melbourne gets hit with at least one truly memorable storm (e.g., this event in 2007). This year, that storm fell on February 10th, and, just as with previous storms, Melbourne quickly began to resemble a scene out of Waterworld (which, by the way, is one of my top picks for 'worst movie ever').

A November for the Record Books

Although the Australian summer officially only started on December 1, summer weather has been with us for at least a month. November came to a close with another entry for Melbourne's record books. The city's average daily maximum temperature for the month came in at 27.4C, blowing the previous record of 25.5C set back in 1862 out of the water. The month included 10 consecutive days above 30 as well as one night where the temperature never dropped below 28C. Fortunately, the extreme temperatures were accompanied by extreme rains that offerred a temporary reprieve from Victoria's Big Dry.

If this is spring. . .

American celebrities are feeling the heat in Melbourne, with persistent abnormally high temperatures baking the city (with more on the way). Tiger Woods has been sweating his way through the Australian Masters and has received a welcome more akin to visiting royalty. Meanwhile, Britney Spears played a show in Melbourne Thursday, causing traffic chaos in my neighborhood just as I was driving home. You owe me 30 minutes of my life back, Britney.

Spring is in the Air

The mercury hit 29C (84F) in Melbourne yesterday, the warmest day on record for early September. Granted, there were a few hiccups such as strong winds that caused power outages here and there. Nevertheless, we managed to enjoy a cold beer (well, I enjoyed the beer at least) at our local, followed by a hearty meal of fish and chips. With warm weather forecast for at least the next week, there's hope that the long Melbourne "winter" is on its way out.

The Windy City

For the second time in two weeks, high winds have struck Victoria resulting in damage comparable to what one would expect from a category 1 cyclone (see this story on the first event). Living upon one of the highest points in Melbourne, such events are particularly exciting for us. It's a bit unnerving watching one's windows bulge inward, but no harm done. However, our BBQ cover did go on a short trip down the street over night, but we managed to locate it and bring it back home this morning.

One for the Record Books

All last week in Melbourne, the forecasts for today were ominous, with talk of a return of last week's heatwave conditions as well as some of the most extreme fire weather in memory. The forecasts proved quite accurate, with temperatures in Melbourne topping out this afternoon at over 46C (117F), the highest temperature ever recorded within the city. Meanwhile, high winds played havoc with bushfires - fires that were relatively small and isolated 24 hours ago erupted into massive fires that burned out-of-control (go here for some photos). By early afternoon, the view from our balcony was totally obscured by smoke from the Bunyip Ridge fire to the east of Melbourne. At present, the death toll stands at 14, with some victims being caught by fast moving fires that provided little warning. But that number is projected to rise. While temperatures have dropped back down to normal levels, the changing wind direction threatens to simply push fire fronts off into new areas.

Update: 8/2/2009: 24 hours later and temperatures have returned to normal levels in Victoria, but the bushfires continue to rage. As of 7:45 Sunday evening, the death toll stood at 66 and climbing, making this one of the worst fires (if not the worst) in Victoria's history. Over 700 houses have been destroyed, and in some instances, entire townships have been erased including the town of Marysville, where I once spent a couple of pleasant nights attending a conference.

It's a Dry Heat

Melbourne is regarded (particularly by those in Sydney and Queensland) as one of Australia's most chilly cities. However, summers in Melbourne can be accompanied by rather extreme heat. This past week was a case-in-point, with three consecutive days where temperatures exceeded 43C (109F). The consequences for Melbourne were readily apparent - a rash of heat-related deaths; a complete collapse of the train system; and widespread problems with the electricity grid that were exacerbated by the eruption of a number of bushfires.

Update 2/2/2009: The heatwave has claimed another victim. Melbourne's brand new observation wheel has been shut down indefinitely due to structural failure during the heat wave.

Closed for Business

In a bizarre blow to Australian tourism, the Simpson Desert has been closed for the summer, due to forecasts of extreme temperatures in excess of 50C. Apparently, the government has decided that conditions are just too dangerous and doesn't want to be in the position of having to fetch more than the usual allotment of corpses from the desert sands.

However, given that high temperatures are nothing new to the Australian landscape, others have proposed alternative explanations for the closure. Adelaide's newspaper, The Advertiser, for example, stoked the rumour mill which is abuzz with whispers about aliens being discovered in the park.

Dramatic End

The end of 2007 brought interesting weather to Melbourne - first, three days of impressive rain which brought flooding to much of the state (including the streets of Melbourne and my own office building). This event suggested to me that rooves in Australia largely exist for decorative purposes, as they proved themselves to be rather incapable of keeping out rain. Actually, it seemed as if nothing in Melbourne works when it rains - the roads, the trains, the trams, the drainage systems, electricity. In short, semi-arid regions appear to cope with extreme rainfall about as well as Florida copes with a snow storm.

This drama was followed with miserably hot conditions between Christmas and the New Year. Temperatures reached 41C on the last day of the year (making it the hottest day of Victoria's hottest year on record), and temperatures are currently climbing back up toward 40C today.