Prelude to a hot day by peterdegraaff

Prelude to a hot day

...taken while walking this morning. Today it just got hotter and hotter and hotter, reaching 44 Celsius or over 111 Fahrenheit here. It never gets that hot here on the coast.

Yesterday afternoon the government sent text messages to everyone in the region warning of possible catastrophic fire events today, with hot weather and high winds. The winds look like they will hit around midnight with a cool change. Fires are burning around 50 kms south of here cutting highway and townships have been evacuated. Thankfully people are safe. There have been dreadful fires in Tasmania.

This week the Bureau of Meteorology upgraded its maps to enable recording of high temperatures to 55C, whereas the maximum had been previously 50C, and has introduced the colour purple for mapping this new temperature range. It is nearly 9pm, getting dark, Melody is cooling the horses with a wash. Still skeptical about global warming?!

Taken with Olympus XA-2
Fuji Superia 400ASA
Sue
Peter this is fabulous, love the colour & processing. Fav (42C here at the moment, Turramurra is usually a bit cooler being up on the ridge - not tonight!)
January 8th, 2013  
Slightly cooler in Tassie today. Still choking on the smoke though
January 8th, 2013  
Rob
Awesome image Peter, so dramatic!
January 8th, 2013  
Great photo. Wow, that is hot for over there. We are having a respite from it at the moment, only in the 30's today, but the humidity seems to be higher than it usually is in summer.
January 8th, 2013  
Our news here is full of the Australian fires. Hope you all stay safe.
January 8th, 2013  
Gorgeous sky colour
January 8th, 2013  
The purple of the sky with the orange reminds me of looking at the BoM map
I had to reassure my parents (by phone) that the fires at Cooma pose little danger to me here in Canberra
January 8th, 2013  
Nat
Ugly around Canberra today too. Hazy skies. Dirt in the big fat summer rain drops. Brilliant capture of the foreboding sky Peter.
January 8th, 2013  
Oh wow- this is quite mad sky. Great colours.
January 8th, 2013  
Great looking sky, looks like a painting
January 8th, 2013  
This is just fabulous! Portentous, is that the word? I love it warm but we are hearing in UK off your dangerous temperatures and bad fires. A fave for me!
January 8th, 2013  
Wow, this is an amazing shot Peter. Great colour and those clouds....what can I say but WOW.
January 8th, 2013  
Amazing colour and textures, love it, fav.
January 8th, 2013  
Amazing processing, looks like an oil painting. 111 degrees is just too hot for humans. Global warming is here.
January 8th, 2013  
And what a hot day it was. Still hot and it's 10pm.
Nice shot.
January 8th, 2013  
This looks hellish, Peter. It sounds hellish. I was just hearing about it all on BBC this morning. Hope it passes soon.
January 8th, 2013  
Phenomenal power in those clouds!
January 8th, 2013  
No doubts here about global warming. Stay cool and safe.
January 8th, 2013  
Can't say I'm jealous of your weather & I thought it was hot here!
January 8th, 2013  
Very dramatic shot! Hoping for relief soon!
January 8th, 2013  
Late Impressionistic. Hope it cools off a touch soon for everybody's sake.
January 8th, 2013  
Those clouds are amazing! I heard it's ridiculously hot over there right now - stay cool!
January 8th, 2013  
@abhijit @redpants the winds from cool change have hit. Not too strong but a breath of fresh air. No rain yet but a few drops here and there
January 8th, 2013  
Sue
@peterdegraaff ~ thanks Peter, I'll have to keep checking!
January 8th, 2013  
Yikes, that's hot. What a spectacular sky you have captured here!
January 8th, 2013  
What a damatic shot. 41 degrees here today. Slightly cooler now at 11.30 pm, still 33 though. I didn't venture out today. Played inside instead.
January 8th, 2013  
Great shot. Not so hot in MEL today, but from here it looks like half NSW is on fire, and worse again in TAS. Hoping for some relief for all.
January 8th, 2013  
Beautifully dramatic shot, Peter! Love the colors!
Sorry about the heat! I know how miserable it can be!
January 8th, 2013  
stay safe
January 8th, 2013  
Yikes that is HOT!!Hoping you all get a nice cold rain over there!
January 8th, 2013  
How beautiful.
Sorry to hear it's so hot... I can't imagine heat like that.
January 8th, 2013  
Fabulour sky!
January 8th, 2013  
Bep
This is dramatic, Peter. Can't imagine such high temperatures. Stay cool!
January 8th, 2013  
That is some cloud cover... oh would I love summer again!
January 8th, 2013  
Beautiful
January 8th, 2013  
Wonderful clouds and colours!
January 8th, 2013  
amazing sky. great shot. keep cool...
January 8th, 2013  
That is one stunning sky. I hope it brings some relief to the extreme temperatures you are experiencing! Hopefully the fires will all be well controlled soon.
January 8th, 2013  
prachtig
January 8th, 2013  
Wonderful sky, Peter!
January 8th, 2013  
Has an impressionistic painting feel. Very nice!!
January 8th, 2013  
Wow it looks like a pretty wild scene. Surely not a climate change skeptic? I'll send you some reading.
January 8th, 2013  
Excellent shot.
January 8th, 2013  
Stunning!
January 8th, 2013  
@fueast it was posed as a rhetorical question for those who are.
January 8th, 2013  
@peterdegraaff Ah I wondered. Hope they manage to get those fires under control soon.
January 8th, 2013  
@fueast it feels quite cold and windy today relatively. The wind can make the fires worse. Due to lots of rain over last 18 months there is a lot of fuel in forests and grasslands that has dried off over summer
January 8th, 2013  
@peterdegraaff Just watching a program about polar bears in the arctic summer and getting a bit depressed...
January 8th, 2013  
@fueast the destruction of habitat is tragic
January 8th, 2013  
Wow! those clouds!
January 8th, 2013  
Jo
Everything ok in your part of the world? Has it cooled down. Its lovely in Canberra now since the cool change arrived. Lovelyshot.
January 8th, 2013  
Sounds pretty dreadful Peter although I love the pic, marvelous sky, fabulous edit , we are having much colder and much wetter than normal so.......
January 8th, 2013  
Awesome. I love this.
January 8th, 2013  
Such a dramatic image. I hope you are all safe!!
January 9th, 2013  
Omg are these ever amazing clouds
January 9th, 2013  
What a beautiful sky. It does sound like it is sweltering there.
January 9th, 2013  
Powerful, dramatic and colorful shot. A fav. My prayers are with those impacted by the fire are with those who are fighting the fires. The national weather service released its 2012 figures yesterday. 2012 was the hottest year on record.
January 9th, 2013  
@joluise Feels almost cold with that southeasterly breeze off the water
January 9th, 2013  
This is just gorgeous. We've been hearing about your heat wave in the news.
January 9th, 2013  
Now that is hot! Be careful in that heat. Nice shot.
January 9th, 2013  
Great shot Peter. Stay safe and as cool as you can
January 9th, 2013  
Just watching this on BBC - hope you all stay safe there Peter.
January 9th, 2013  
I love this! We're getting ready to be hit by a heatwave too... its supposed to reach 60 in 2 or 3 days. I can't remember a time in my life that its been that warm anywhere near my birthday... so looks like one of my presents will be warm weather this weekend (if my actual b'day is tomorrow, I'll be celebrating this weekend)
January 9th, 2013  
This heat is just unbelievable! The US had the hottest year on record. hope you get a break from the heat soon.
January 9th, 2013  
Very dramatic photo, Peter! It looks like a painting. Please stay safe! My thoughts will be with you and your family and all those in your region.
January 9th, 2013  
Amazing story, Peter. Over here, we haven't started feeling winter yet and little if any rain. Fabulous colours in this shot. Very dramatic.
January 9th, 2013  
Worth the heat for the PP? congratulations!
January 9th, 2013  
such stunning colour
January 10th, 2013  
My goodness that sounds hot and those clouds look fearsome - glad to hear you are all OK - the fires must be slightly concerning. This is a great shot
January 10th, 2013  
Wow....just a spectacular shot, full of power and depth.
January 11th, 2013  
This is an awesome shot Peter.
I sat in one of Country Fire Authority's Incident Control Centres Friday 4th and 11th and can assure you they throw all they can afford at fires which may impact lives and homes. We can see the combat aircraft GPS "trails" across the state and scan see them charge any serious fire starts. Aircraft alone cannot extinguish a large fire, but are awesome with the support of the water carrying tankers and the earth moving equipment.
January 12th, 2013  
@fotofella I know that those working in this area are vigilant in often difficult circumstances. A friend works in CFA headquarters, and during Victorian disaster he was at control centre whilst his family and home was under ember attack. There was no criticism of those working to provide assistance in my comments above. It was commented on by many positively that we had receive messages, and during the day that ABC local radio concentrated on immediate coverage and reportage, including evacuation alerts and whether it was still safe to leave. Some lessons have been learned from the past. I am proud my son has joined local SES
January 12th, 2013  
I don't think that I have ever been anywhere that hot Peter. It reached about 34 degrees on holiday last year. I'm with you on global warming, boy we've messed up!! My heart goes out to those affected by the fires.
January 14th, 2013  
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