 |
 Bushfire
status at 7pm. Blaze symbols are going (spreading) fires, star symbols
are contained fires and red dots are fires under control. VIC DSE |
 |
Today's temperature departures from normal:  minima
(above) and  maxima
(below). BoM  |
 |
 VIC
bushfires concentrate east of Melbourne
Two major fires continued to burn out of control east of
Melbourne this evening. The most threatening was at Tonimbuk,
25km NW of Warragul in the West Gippsland. The fire, covering about
700 hectares, was being attended by 65 firefighters and 53 CFA tankers
mostly engaged in protecting houses and property. The largest blaze,
on the eastern side of Blue Rock dam 25km NE of Warragul, had burnt
over 2,000ha by early this evening and was still burning in native
forest.
Elsewhere across the state  ,
milder conditions and gradually easing winds allowed firefighters to contain
and begin mopping
up fires.
Major
fires brought
under control included
- the 375ha Marginal Road fire 20km NNW of Healesville,
which threatened homes in Glenburn to the north and Castella to the south
and closed the Melba Highway,
- the 240ha Patrol Road
fire 17km NNE of Warragul, which burnt to within 1km of houses,
- the 60ha
Glow Worm fire 15km SE of Eildon,
- and the 20ha
Agters
West
fire 20km
SE of
Alexandra.
Around
50
fires were still burning across the state late today keeping about
400 firefighters busy. The CFA told the ABC today that most of the fires yesterday
started from private
burn-offs
started a few days before.
Melbourne's
hottest April night in over 148 years A weak
trough heralding cooler air crept across VIC today, but not
before providing a record warm April night. In Melbourne city, the
mercury
sat on 26.8
at midnight, dropping slowly to 26.1 at 3am, 24.9 at 6am and 23.9 at
9am. The official minimum temperature for the 24 hours to 9am was 23.0°,
12.3 above average and the highest minimum temperature recorded in
April in the city since records began in May 1855. The previous highest
April minimum was 22.2 on 2 April 1887. The highest minimum temperature
recorded in VIC was 23.5 at Lakes Entrance, while Strathbogie in the
northeast ranges reported a low of 21.5, 16 above average.
The timing of the trough produced well above normal night-time temperatures
from central and eastern VIC northwest to the northern Flinders Ranges
of SA  .
It also presented some other unusual temperature anomalies. Wilsons
Promintory, not renowned for
its balmy
nights, recorded
its
maximum temperature for the day ended 9am at 6 this morning with
a reading of 28.9. The trough moved through and by 9am the temperature
was down to 19.4
with a 52km/h westerly. The Prom's warmest April night in 45 years
of computer records was 22.8 in 1994. The trough produced wind gusts
of 95km/h atop Mt Buller at 7am and 87km/h on Mt Hotham summit at 9am.
These peaks, respectively 1707 and 1849m asl, recorded temperatures
in the mid-teens throughout the day, only marginally lowering by a
few degrees during the evening. In the state's far east, the trough
did not move through until early afternoon. Point Hicks recorded a
maximum of 33.9, 14.2 above normal, around midday. Heat
records fall in southern NSW
Ahead of the trough, southern NSW  set
some new record high April temperatures (details below). Lake
Cargelligo, which set a new 33-year high yesterday, reset it today with a top
of 35.2. Tumbarumba, Yass and Taralga all recorded their highest April maxima
in around 40 years of computer record. Canberra Airport recorded a top of 30.7,
10.9 above and the warmest April day since the record of 32.6 was set on 4
April 1986. In the state's west, White Cliffs, Wilcannia and Ivanhoe all reached
or exceeded 37°. |
Records
set this day (previous record and years of computerised record shown in
brackets):
Highest daily maximum temperature for April
New South Wales:
070080 TARALGA POST OFFICE 28.9 (28.2, 43)
070091 YASS (LINTON HOSTEL) 31.2 (30.5, 36)
070310 TIDBINBILLA NATURE RESERVE 29.3 (28.5, 18)
072043 TUMBARUMBA POST OFFICE 29.4 (29.0, 37)
075039 LAKE CARGELLIGO AIRPORT 35.2 (34.5, 33) previous record set yesterday |
