We're having a worryingly warmish New Year here in New South Wales.… - Rambler - Gleaning in Fallow Fields

We're having a worryingly warmish New Year here in New South Wales. Lots of inland areas have been having above-40-degree (104F) days for a while -- traditionally they hit both higher summer & lower winter extremes than the coast -- but today (New Year's Day) the forecast for Sydney was 41, and it's actually hit 44 (111F), which is 20C (68F) above average, with the traditional coastal summer humidity up beyond 80%. Now it's 8.30 at night, and still 40C. We're half-waiting, half-dreading a Southerly Buster that's heading up the coast, dropping the temperature behind it down to a safer 25C (77F), but freshening up fires with its wind (80-110kph 50-80mph??), and pushing them around in a different direction.

Sydney Morning Herald 'snapshots' of Sydney Fires: www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2006/01/01/1136050344907.html

There's quite a few bushfires around, some of them have been going for a while, but so far it looks like (dv, inshallah, touch wood) not as bad as some of the past years really bad multi-fire situations, but it's early in the season yet.