The heat over Victoria is so sustained that any 'rain' clouds never actually rain while lightning strikes the area and produces fire in this drought stricken region. All people that could remotely be disaffected need to be evacuated. The 'heat transfer system' clouds are NOT rain clouds. They exist to transfer heat from the equator to Antarctica where the heat is then absorbed by the ice that is subsequently sublimed.
The point is that any rain clouds that 'might' occur will never produce enough rain to reach the ground and except for what humans can do to extinguish these fires they will not let up. Evacuation of any life from the region is paramount to their well being.
I am not surprised at these dynamics. The surface of the planet is too hot to allow anything but evaporation should rain be predicted.
Queen's shock at bush fire deaths (click here)
The Queen has expressed her "shock and sadness" at the death toll in the Australian bush fires.
At least 108 people have died in the fires in southern Australia, the worst in the country's history.
She also expressed her admiration for the work of the emergency services to contain the situation.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has telephoned his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd to offer sympathy and assistance dealing with the bush fires.
In a statement issued by Buckingham Palace the Queen said: "I was shocked and saddened to learn of the terrible toll being exacted by the fires this weekend.
"I send my heartfelt condolences to the families of all those who have died and my deep sympathy to the many who have lost their homes in this disaster on so dreadful an occasion as this for Australia....
This is the current climate image of Australia and one will notice the chronic 'heat transfer' system that crosses Australia at Victoria. Noted at the northern end of that heat transfer is a severe storm, Tropical Storm Freddy.
Sodden state wary of new stroms (click here)
4:00AM Friday Feb 06, 2009
BRISBANE - Sodden residents of northeastern Australia were trying to clean up from weeks of rain, even as forecasters said two offshore storms could turn into cyclones by tomorrow.
River levels were beginning to fall in some parts of Queensland while emergency workers continued to evacuate people left stranded.
A 42-year-old man was rescued after clinging to a tree near a swollen creek for more than three hours. He was treated for minor injuries.
Ingham, the hardest-hit town, has been underwater since a weekend storm, but water levels were beginning to drop....
Queensland is northeast and has been hit hard with chronic rains and flooding. Victoria, where the fires currently are blazing is at the direct opposite of the continent, in the southern region. South of Victoria are the Bass Strait and the Island of Tasmania, then on into Antarctica.
The flooded Ingham area between Cairns and townsville in north Queensland
Australian floods wash crocodiles into streets (click here)
3 days ago
SYDNEY (AFP) — Floods ravaging northern Australia have washed crocodiles onto the streets, where one was hit by a car, authorities said in a warning to residents Wednesday.
More than 60 percent of the vast northeastern state of Queensland has been declared a disaster area, and flooding after two recent cyclones has affected almost 3,000 homes, they said.
The army has been called in to help with rescue and recovery efforts, while three reports of large crocodiles washed up from flooded rivers have come in from homes in the Gulf of Carpentaria region.
"I'm not sure if it's the same crocodile moving around -- on the three sides of Normanton there's been a large croc seen right up close to the water's edge," said mayor Joyce Zahner.
"Hopefully he'll stay in the water and the kids will stay on the land," Zahner told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation....
Michael Bachelard and Cameron Houston(click title to entry - thank you)
February 8, 2009
FOURTEEN people are confirmed dead but as many as 40 are feared to have died as bushfires swept across Victoria yesterday and continued to burn through the night.
Police, who last night could only begin going into the blackened ruins of towns and communities, said six people were killed in a single vehicle in Kinglake.
But they acknowledged they had little idea of how many could be buried inside their ruined homes, or burned as they tried to escape, and that the death toll could go much higher.
Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said official predictions that 40 people had lost their lives was only an estimate.....
...The six killed in Kinglake were all in the same car, Mr. Walshe told reporters. (click here)
“This is an absolute tragedy for the state and we believe the figure may even get worse,” said Mr. Walshe....
