# What's the temperature at your place?



## CoffeeKing (9 January 2009)

Curious of other areas

I took these 2 pics (not the best) of the gauge under the patio this arvo

Yep it's getting warmer...

Can't wait for summer, whew

1st one at 1:30pm - 2nd one at 2:50pm


----------



## nunthewiser (9 January 2009)

*Re: Whats the Temp at your place*

LOL your obviously out the back of geraldton WA too then , but my temp guage shows " too bloody hot"


----------



## Bazmate (9 January 2009)

That looks about right for my patio area too. TGIF,  and beer o'clock too


----------



## prawn_86 (9 January 2009)

Still frickn cold for this time of year here in Adel, only about 27 degrees today.


----------



## Smurf1976 (9 January 2009)

Send some down here please... Only got up to 18 today, a rather cold Summer day even by Tassie standards. Actually, it's just been a rather cold Summer so far. Looking better for next week though - 31 on Tuesday.


----------



## doctorj (9 January 2009)

The digital sign across the road from my office is reporting it to be a balmy -2 at last look.  Feel free to send some of those excess degrees up this way.


----------



## noirua (9 January 2009)

Temperature at plus 0.3 deg C at 10.40am in Kent, UK. No wind, sunny with some white clouds. Frost, and light snow from last week, still lying on North facing slopes.


----------



## doctorj (9 January 2009)

noirua said:


> Temperature at plus 0.3 deg C at 10.40am in Kent, UK. No wind, sunny with some white clouds. Frost, and light snow from last week, still lying on North facing slopes.



Good to see another expat on the forum...


----------



## noirua (9 January 2009)

doctorj said:


> Good to see another expat on the forum...



The temperature in the small cottage we rent is 25 deg C. Have to go into work for four hours this afternoon, not looking forward to it as I have to catch the train into Victoria.
Lots of small aircraft flying over today. Five flying over now with jet trails, but in numerous directions and that's only to the west.  Seem to be heading for London City Airport, Manston etc., 
Temperature seems to have gone down to zero again.


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (9 January 2009)

vfh

gg


----------



## doctorj (9 January 2009)

noirua said:


> Have to go into work for four hours this afternoon, not looking forward to it as I have to catch the train into Victoria.



Just thank your lucky stars you're not catching the train into Euston. You'd be better off packing a bag and walking


----------



## Smurf1976 (9 January 2009)

Not sure what happened to Summer but it's 13.4 outside right now. 21.5 inside with the heater running.


----------



## Smurf1976 (9 January 2009)

doctorj said:


> Just thank your lucky stars you're not catching the train into Euston. You'd be better off packing a bag and walking



Thank your lucky stars you actually have trains... :


----------



## Lachlan6 (9 January 2009)

3 degrees celsius here in Akuyreyri Iceland. Quite balmy really considering it is the middle of winter and the North Pole is only a stones throw away!


----------



## Julia (9 January 2009)

Smurf, your temperatures down in Tassie remind me of NZ.  The only reason I moved to Oz was to get warm.
Today in Hervey Bay, Qld, max of 30, currently about 25, cool breeze, occasional showers.  Gorgeous.


----------



## wayneL (9 January 2009)

doctorj said:


> The digital sign across the road from my office is reporting it to be a balmy -2 at last look.  Feel free to send some of those excess degrees up this way.




It actually feels quite watm and balmy compared to earlier in the week.

Sun is streaming down out here in 'Nam...not quite sunbaking weather though. :


----------



## doctorj (9 January 2009)

wayneL said:


> It actually feels quite watm and balmy compared to earlier in the week.
> 
> Sun is streaming down out here in 'Nam...not quite sunbaking weather though. :



Apparently we could be pushing for double figures early next week!  Just as well I brought the thongs and the wifebeater with me


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (9 January 2009)

wayneL said:


> It actually feels quite watm and balmy compared to earlier in the week.
> 
> Sun is streaming down out here in 'Nam...not quite sunbaking weather though. :






doctorj said:


> Apparently we could be pushing for double figures early next week!  Just as well I brought the thongs and the wifebeater with me




28 and very humid in Townsville.

gg


----------



## Smurf1976 (9 January 2009)

Julia said:


> Smurf, your temperatures down in Tassie remind me of NZ.  The only reason I moved to Oz was to get warm.
> Today in Hervey Bay, Qld, max of 30, currently about 25, cool breeze, occasional showers.  Gorgeous.



Now I'm envious...

I should point out though that this Summer has been, so far, exceptionally cold and wet. In recent years we've had warm weather day after day and practically every day was fine. This year there's some rain just about every day and it's getting pretty cold at night, not even very warm during the day.

This time last year I had just moved into this house and was finding it way too hot to get to sleep so I bought a fan for the bedroom. This year I've had the heater on almost every night and the fan's still sitting in the cupboard where I put away it last Autumn. That says it all really.


----------



## noirua (10 January 2009)

noirua said:


> Temperature at plus 0.3 deg C at 10.40am in Kent, UK. No wind, sunny with some white clouds. Frost, and light snow from last week, still lying on North facing slopes.



No improvement with temperature at 10.30am reaching a days high of minus 3 deg C.  A heavy air frost overnight and despite blue cloudless skies and no wind, all the trees are covered with frost.


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (10 January 2009)

Townsville 28deg not as humid as last night   storms predicted 

gg


----------



## noirua (10 January 2009)

I notice in my cousins place, Mississauga, Ontario, that forecasts for next Friday are: High minus 20 deg C  - Low minus 22 deg C, wind factor takes low down to minus 30C - 42C.


----------



## Julia (10 January 2009)

noirua said:


> I notice in my cousins place, Mississauga, Ontario, that forecasts for next Friday are: High minus 20 deg C  - Low minus 22 deg C, wind factor takes low down to minus 30C - 42C.



I honestly can't imagine why anyone would want to live in those temperatures.
Couldn't even go for a walk, could you?


----------



## SM Junkie (10 January 2009)

Welcome to summer in the Pilbara:
Port Hedland 41
Newman 43
Parabardoo 47

Just your average temp this time of year.  Anything under 40 is a cool spell.

It's hot, it's humid and I'm loving my airconditioner.


----------



## theasxgorilla (11 January 2009)

-7.5 degrees celcius in Delft this morning at around 8am.  All the canals and ponds have frozen here.  The ducks don't know what to do with themselves...apparently it's not been like this for 20 years.  All and sundry are dusting off their ice skates.


----------



## derty (12 January 2009)

I was in the Netherlands in the winter of '95-'96 and it was almost cold enough that year to have the 11 cities race. I think the next year it was cold enough.

Anyway 44 deg.C in Kalgoorlie today with a lovely hot northerly blowing.


----------



## prawn_86 (13 January 2009)

43 yesterday and 46 today here in the Riverland in SA


----------



## wildkactus (13 January 2009)

Hong Kong today 15c with a nice haze covering the city.


----------



## doctorj (13 January 2009)

Much warmer here today - hopefully will stay above 0 long enough for the ground around my place to thaw out.

8 degrees.


----------



## noirua (13 January 2009)

Julia said:


> I honestly can't imagine why anyone would want to live in those temperatures.
> Couldn't even go for a walk, could you?



I'm told, if you don't wear earmuffs then you are likely to lose you ears.
Canadians seem to lock themselves away during the long winter. I was one of the few walking on sixth line and using snowshoes proved an advantage.  Strange that it wasn't possible to recognize people as you could only see their eyes through their goggles.
Sometimes I found it difficult to workout how many layers to wear. As it could be minus 20 deg C one day and then minus 5 deg C the next. Being too warm can be as bad as too cold. The coat I wore had the same material in the lining that astronauts wear.
Difficult at times with snowstorms and strong winds that could last for days. At least the snowploughs were guaranteed work every year. It was rare to hear of anyone being injured by falls.


----------



## Smurf1976 (13 January 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> 43 yesterday and 46 today here in the Riverland in SA



Northerly winds blew some of that down here today.  33.5 in Hobart.

Quite warm inside too since I don't have air-conditioning and the house gets the sun all day. I left the blinds closed, that helps a bit, but it was still 28 inside when I got home with the cat sitting in front of the portable evaporative cooler (which turns itself on and off with a thermostat).


----------



## CoffeeKing (14 January 2009)

Was about 20 something at 1.30 this morning when I came home from work...
Even had a shower with just the cold tap as the water is still quite hot at this time in the morning, 
Up here if you want cold water you have to turn your hot water system OFF and then use the hot as cold... 
it's back to front for water in the summer up in the pilbara


----------



## Sith1s (14 January 2009)

Went down to 28 overnight here in Melbourne.  Currently just below 41 at the office!  Lucky i'm inside with airconditioning, but i feel sorry for the guys working outdoors today.


----------



## white_crane (14 January 2009)

I need scuba gear to read the temp here!


----------



## DB008 (14 January 2009)

52 the other day. pilbara.


----------



## Aussiejeff (14 January 2009)

A balmy 43.0C today in Albury/Wodonga - almost got to the all-time record (44.6C or thereabouts) 

*sizzle*


----------



## Schmuckie (15 January 2009)

noirua said:


> I notice in my cousins place, Mississauga, Ontario, that forecasts for next Friday are: High minus 20 deg C  - Low minus 22 deg C, wind factor takes low down to minus 30C - 42C.




Well, it couldn't wait until Friday.  It's minus 22 deg C on Wednesday with a wind chill factor of minus 30 (that's at the Toronto airport near Mississauga).  Thursday and Friday are supposed to be even colder.  There's broken watermains, railway switches are frozen and there's power outages in some local areas.


----------



## J.B.Nimble (15 January 2009)

Schmuckie said:


> Well, it couldn't wait until Friday.  It's minus 22 deg C on Wednesday with a wind chill factor of minus 30




Wow... that makes Shanghai's O degC with windchill of minus 5 seem positively tropical. Just one more week until "spring festival"


----------



## Smurf1976 (22 January 2009)

Well I never thought we'd have dust storms in the centre of Hobart. Lots of wind, power off, trees blown onto buses, roofs blown off and so on. Seen all that before but not the dust storms. 

Like many, I feel as though my face and indeed whole body has just been abrasive blasted and it's not a pleasant feeling.


----------



## psychic (28 January 2009)

Just hit 45 degrees in Adelaide, thats damn hot


----------



## Prospector (28 January 2009)

And this is the forecast for the next week:
Thursday      Dry. Mostly sunny.                   Min 32    Max 41
Friday        Dry. Mostly sunny.                     Min 30    Max 41
Saturday      Dry. Mostly sunny.                     Min 25    Max 40
Sunday        Dry. Mostly sunny.                     Min 23    Max 40
Monday        Dry. Mostly sunny.                     Min 22    Max 39
Tuesday       Dry. Mostly sunny.                     Min 22    Max 38


----------



## drsmith (28 January 2009)

25 in Perth and it's just started to rain.

Most unusual.


----------



## jackson8 (28 January 2009)

victor harbor south australia its 44 just now 
at least the beach is just down the road


----------



## nunthewiser (28 January 2009)

24 in geraldton WA ..... cloudy , windy ........ absolutely bliss

i think we getting a bit of the cyclone offshoot effects


----------



## drsmith (28 January 2009)

Prospector said:


> And this is the forecast for the next week:
> Thursday      Dry. Mostly sunny.                   Min 32    Max 41
> Friday        Dry. Mostly sunny.                     Min 30    Max 41
> Saturday      Dry. Mostly sunny.                     Min 25    Max 40
> ...



At least it's trending down.


----------



## Calliope (28 January 2009)

28 with a nice sea breeze.


----------



## Mr Capital (28 January 2009)

41 & hot.


----------



## Prospector (28 January 2009)

jackson8 said:


> victor harbor south australia its 44 just now
> at least the beach is just down the road




That is so damned hot for Victor, because I guess most places aren't air conditioned.

45.5 here.  Hottest I can ever remember.


----------



## prawn_86 (28 January 2009)

Lovely weather sitting at work or at home in the air con  Only 10 minutes in the heat to wait for a bus


----------



## MrBurns (28 January 2009)

43c or 109.4f here in Melbourne - they shut the roof of the tennis centre where the Australian Open is in progress and one of the players said "why?"

Be nice to be that fit wouldnt it.


----------



## Mr Capital (28 January 2009)

MrBurns said:


> 43c or 109.4f here in Melbourne - they shut the roof of the tennis centre where the Australian Open is in progress and one of the players said "why?"
> 
> Be nice to be that fit wouldnt it.




finally some common sense from the organizers, its too bloody hot for tennis!


----------



## Big_Daz (28 January 2009)

Just over 43 here in Melbourne...

If only it was as easy to pick the tops and bottoms in the sharemarket as it is in this following graph...

http://www.earthsci.unimelb.edu.au/~awatkins/melbtemp.html


----------



## gordon2007 (28 January 2009)

45.5 in Adelaide.

Apparently there has just been a note issued to government employees to expect long delays as buses and trains are breaking down. 

Some train lines are completely shut down due to the rails buckling in the heat.


----------



## drsmith (28 January 2009)

With the extreme temperatures being sustained in Adelaide for several hours, electricity supply must be getting tested to the limit.


----------



## Mr Capital (28 January 2009)

Its still bearable @ my place In Melb, no air conditioning needed as yet.  
41 °+ ?


----------



## y0ud (28 January 2009)

i run music rehearsal rooms in melbourne, were sitting on 17 deg



life is good



outside hurts


----------



## Smurf1976 (28 January 2009)

drsmith said:


> With the extreme temperatures being sustained in Adelaide for several hours, electricity supply must be getting tested to the limit.



Oh yeah it's being tested to the limit alright!

I'll let some figures explain the situation. These are actual generation and demand figures from 5pm (Melbourne time) today when demand was about at its peak.

Note that Victorian generation figures include about 40% of the capacity of the Snowy Hydro scheme which, although geographically in NSW, is electrically in Victoria.

Victoria demand was 10101 MW, SA demand was 3356 MW.

Victoria maximum available generation was 9582 MW, in SA it was 3153 MW.

Victoria actual generation was 9437 MW, SA was 3040 MW.

NSW supply into Victoria (not including that part of the Snowy included in the Vic figures) was 372 MW, no more being available due to transmission line limits.

Tasmania supply into Victoria was 594 MW, also limited by transmission line capacity.

So, that's a total supply availability into Vic and SA combined of 13701 MW. Actual demand was 13457 MW. 

That leaves a surplus capacity of just 244 MW. Not a good situation to be in when you realise that a single breakdown at Loy Yang, Yalllourn, Newport (all in Vic), Northern (SA) or loss of the NSW or Tas supply would individually have pushed the system over the edge and supply interruption would have resulted there and then. It's certainly a smaller margin than is normally considered comfortable.

Tomorrow's forecast is for even higher demand in Victoria, around 10300 MW, but slightly less in SA at 3250 MW. 

To put all these figures into perspective, a mild day would see a 6000 - 6500 MW peak in Vic and around 1400 - 1600 in SA.


----------



## Smurf1976 (28 January 2009)

gordon2007 said:


> 45.5 in Adelaide.



The weather in Adelaide is headline news even here in Tas. And yet somehow we ended up with a sea breeze going all day - it's been around 22 most of the day in Hobart. But drive out of the area of the breeze and it's been in the 30's.

It's rather funny hearing everyone talking about the heatwave then going outside to find it's 22 degrees. 

One thing I'm rather curious about though, is that I keep hearing stories about train tracks buckling in the heat. I thought they put expansion joints in so that wouldn't happen?


----------



## Smurf1976 (28 January 2009)

y0ud said:


> i run music rehearsal rooms in melbourne, were sitting on 17 deg



Isn't that a bit too cold? Most buildings are heated to 21 - 22 in mid-Winter so this seems rather cool for Summer to me. 

I'm guessing there's some special reason for it?

Glad I'm not paying your power bill... :


----------



## MrBurns (28 January 2009)

I'm in Melbourne it really angers me to know that I'll probably never see a sprinkler again in my garden especially on a day like today.

Everything is dying and I'm restricted to 4 hours watering a week, incompetent state Govt never planned forward , their only solution is just use less, so they don't have to think at all, just use less and perhaps restrict supply.

They were warned years ago, could have built extra dams but no, they're just incompetent.


----------



## honey85 (28 January 2009)

It's 43 in melbourne. Running my aircond to the maximum but still sweating! It's crazily hot and it's not funny anymore


----------



## MrBurns (28 January 2009)

honey85 said:


> It's 43 in melbourne. Running my aircond to the maximum but still sweating! It's crazily hot and it's not funny anymore




Same here, if the power goes so does the air and I'll be  stuffed.


----------



## MrBurns (28 January 2009)

Smurf1976 said:


> Glad I'm not paying your power bill... :




Got a huge air condit system running on 3 phase power and I'm still hot.


----------



## prawn_86 (28 January 2009)

our power bill is always a hell of a lot higher in winter than summer, no matter how much we have the air con on during summer


----------



## Prospector (28 January 2009)

Yeah Mr Burns, Rann in SA is as bad as your state governments.  Why Smurf is it predicted our demand will be less tomorrow.  Overnight the *minimum* is going to be 32, the houses have heated up after two days of 40+ and tomorrow is expected to be AT LEAST 44!

The reason why Tassie is cold is because you are getting the cold stream that would normally come to SA and Victoria too, but our bit is being blocked by a large high over NZ.  

God, I am sweating just typing this post, too bloody hot....


----------



## MrBurns (28 January 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> our power bill is always a hell of a lot higher in winter than summer, no matter how much we have the air con on during summer




Air conditioning isn't usually on for days at a time but heating is on every day in winter, plus lights are on for longer in winter.


----------



## Dezza (28 January 2009)

It's a whole 6 degrees in London with a nice covering of grey clouds as usual. 

Did the tarmac start melting in Adelaide?


----------



## Boggo (28 January 2009)

Dezza said:


> Did the tarmac start melting in Adelaide?




No mate, with the condition of our roads under Rann and his mob the potholes can easily cater for any expansion or contraction of any bitumen that is left.

We also have the daily burst water main which requires a committee meeting before SA Water can turn off the mains. That keeps a few main roads and a street or two cool every day.

They cannot fix the existing mains because they have spent all the money on a new office building in the city to house the committee.

We now have a new super duper fire truck recently arrived for the fire brigade and now after we got it some Einstein has worked out that they can only drive it on about six roads in Adelaide due to the axle loads, they cannot allow it on King William Street as it will damage the road.
The three dropkicks that did the purchase approval did get a business class trip around Europe and the US at taxpayers expense so Rann is happy cos they are happy.

Stay where you are Dezza, the cold is predictable


----------



## y0ud (28 January 2009)

i find it easy to maintain the temperature and switch to the highest power fan. pumping the aircon down to 17ish and then maintaining it at 20 on a low power setting 


also, gear + heat = not the best mix


----------



## MrBurns (28 January 2009)

Boggo said:


> No mate, with the condition of our roads under Rann and his mob the potholes can easily cater for any expansion or contraction of any bitumen that is left.
> 
> We also have the daily burst water main which requires a committee meeting before SA Water can turn off the mains. That keeps a few main roads and a street or two cool every day.
> 
> ...




LOL very good....


----------



## grace (28 January 2009)

I live in the bush, and we often get over 40 degrees.  These days (unlike my childhood days) we have both refrigerative and evaporative air (one is ducted, and the other split-systems).  We swap from one to the other depending on humidity.  The evaporative are very cheap to run, but sometimes don't cut it when there are clouds about.

Oh how spoilt we have become!  I was in Melbourne last week and a few days were hot.....it was feeling a little bit like home.


----------



## wayneL (28 January 2009)

Dezza said:


> It's a whole 6 degrees in London with a nice covering of grey clouds as usual.




Ahhh the joys of English weather. 

Seriously, it is just as I like it, Australia was hell for me.


----------



## Smurf1976 (28 January 2009)

Prospector said:


> Yeah Mr Burns, Rann in SA is as bad as your state governments.  Why Smurf is it predicted our demand will be less tomorrow.  Overnight the *minimum* is going to be 32, the houses have heated up after two days of 40+ and tomorrow is expected to be AT LEAST 44!
> 
> The reason why Tassie is cold is because you are getting the cold stream that would normally come to SA and Victoria too, but our bit is being blocked by a large high over NZ.
> 
> God, I am sweating just typing this post, too bloody hot....



The electricity demand forecasts are updated all the time but for SA tommorrow it's still slightly less than today. Vic has been revised up to around 10750 MW however.

So that's 14,000 MW in total across Vic and SA. I'd expect a few problems if demand does actually reach that level. It could be supplied if everything went right, but I wouldn't count on that happening in the middle of a heat wave.


----------



## MrBurns (28 January 2009)

Smurf1976 said:


> The electricity demand forecasts are updated all the time but for SA tommorrow it's still slightly less than today. Vic has been revised up to around 10750 MW however.
> 
> So that's 14,000 MW in total across Vic and SA. I'd expect a few problems if demand does actually reach that level. It could be supplied if everything went right, but I wouldn't count on that happening in the middle of a heat wave.




I'm doing my bit, ducted air con on 3 phase going all day and all night probably.

Cant get over the mental picture of Prospector sweating over the PC


----------



## drsmith (28 January 2009)

Smurf1976 said:


> Oh yeah it's being tested to the limit alright!



Interesting info.

Several years ago a heatwave in Perth which included at least two days over 40 (but with very high humidity, not the dry heat currently being experienced in southeastern Australia) caught the electricity provider (Western Power) by suprise and rolling blackouts were the result. This became know locally as "Ripper Day" after the the then state government minister responsible (Eric Ripper).

While the above situation has improved the Varanus Island gas plant explosion in 2008 revealed further serious shortcomings with the reliability of supply of natural gas to generators. For a few months during the 2008 winter electricity was rationed to some business users while there was a major advertising campaign aimed at residential users to minimise electricity usage.

It's a far cry from the days Western Power used to encourage households to purchase reverse cycle airconditioners. The message now is to turn them off during the hottest part of the day to assist them in managing peak load.


----------



## MrBurns (29 January 2009)

drsmith said:


> -
> It's a far cry from the days Western Power used to encourage households to purchase reverse cycle airconditioners. The message now is to turn them off during the hottest part of the day to assist them in managing peak load.




And dont use water when it's needed most, I think we're increasingly managed by incompetents who do sweet FA when they should be managing our infrastructure better.


----------



## jackson8 (29 January 2009)

aaahh  another fantastic day of 45 degree heat here

im thinking of moving to the gobi desert i beleive its quite nice there this time of year


----------



## drsmith (29 January 2009)

MrBurns said:


> And dont use water when it's needed most, I think we're increasingly managed by incompetents who do sweet FA when they should be managing our infrastructure better.



Some time ago on an interview on ABC radio a gentleman being interviewed was highly critical of water management by progressive governments over recent decades. 

His criticism was that unlike water resource management of earlier times there has not been enough storage capacity developed bearing in mind that Australia is a land of drought and flooding rain. I can't remember who the speaker was but he came across as if he know what he was talking about.


----------



## drsmith (29 January 2009)

jackson8 said:


> aaahh  another fantastic day of 45 degree heat here
> 
> im thinking of moving to the gobi desert i beleive its quite nice there this time of year



Temperatures at the moment look to be a degree or two lower than the same time yesterday so if you are lucky it may only get to 44.

As for the desert isn't that getting closer to Adelaide by the year ?
Looking at the strength of those northerly winds you might get some of it today.


----------



## Calliope (29 January 2009)

Prospector said:


> God, I am sweating just typing this post, too bloody hot....




I heard the minimum temp in Adelaide lat night was a record 33. My computer has an operating temperature range of 10C to 35C. In the absence of aircon an external fan would be wise during the day... it will cool you too.


----------



## Prospector (29 January 2009)

Calliope said:


> I heard the minimum temp in Adelaide lat night was a record 33. My computer has an operating temperature range of 10C to 35C. In the absence of aircon an external fan would be wise during the day... it will cool you too.




Yes, I do have a little fan thingy to go under the laptop but I think it has given up in disgust.  Last night at 11pm we went outside; the temperature was 38!  It was an evil night.  No airconditioner can cope with it. And there is no relief for the next week.


----------



## bassmanpete (29 January 2009)

We moved here (between Port Douglas and Mossman, FNQ) from Melbourne last October. There were several reasons but one was the Victorian water shortages because we like to grow our own vegies. The humidity has been a problem at times but overall we prefer to be here. Current temp is 29.1 °C and the highest reached since we arrived was 35.1 °C.

As for water, I see that Melbourne has had total rainfall of just 0.8mm this month. Here we've had 1,014mm with more forecast before the end of the month. No water shortages here. We should bottle it and send it to Victoria


----------



## drsmith (29 January 2009)

Prospector said:


> Yes, I do have a little fan thingy to go under the laptop but I think it has given up in disgust.  Last night at 11pm we went outside; the temperature was 38!  It was an evil night.  No airconditioner can cope with it. And there is no relief for the next week.



A 1 to 1.5KW split system aircon would be enough to cool an average sized bedroom for sleeping, even on Adelaide's hottest nights.

As an alternative to airconditioning ceiling fans will improve comfort considerably. They are a standard feature in tropical homes where uncomfortably hot nights are the norm.


----------



## Prospector (29 January 2009)

drsmith said:


> A 1 to 1.5KW split system aircon would be enough to cool an average sized bedroom for sleeping, even on Adelaide's hottest nights.
> 
> As an alternative to airconditioning ceiling fans will improve comfort considerably. They are a standard feature in tropical homes where uncomfortably hot nights are the norm.




Yes, true, but ceiling fans dont work well in Adelaide's heat which is very dry.  There is nothing worse than having dry hot air blowing over you.  The 'kids' have just had 1.5 splits installed in their rooms, which are basically in an attic space of a tudor style home.  There is no way they could have ceiling fans.  But their airconds do the trick well. We cant install a ceiling split into our bedroom because the walls are stone and double brick, and there are enough cracks in the walls due to no rain, let alone getting in a jackhammer to cut the hole.
Last night was spent sleeping on a couch in the loungeroom - only problem is that room is the entrance that the boys use when they come home at all hours.  At 3am I was walking around the house just trying to find a cool spot.

Seriously, I undergo a total personality change when I am this hot - cranky as all hell


----------



## Smurf1976 (29 January 2009)

Load shedding is now happening in Victoria as the combined Vic / SA system (including imports from NSW and Tas) has, for practical purposes, run out of capacity.


----------



## prawn_86 (29 January 2009)

Smurf1976 said:


> Load shedding is now happening in Victoria as the combined Vic / SA system (including imports from NSW and Tas) has, for practical purposes, run out of capacity.




Whats this mean in english Smurf? We're out of power, but my a/c is still going nicely  (touch wood)


----------



## MrBurns (29 January 2009)

Smurf1976 said:


> Load shedding is now happening in Victoria as the combined Vic / SA system (including imports from NSW and Tas) has, for practical purposes, run out of capacity.




Whats load shedding ?


----------



## MrBurns (29 January 2009)

Oh crap, how do you know when it's your turn ?



> From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> Jump to: navigation, search
> 
> Blackout.A rolling blackout, also referred to as load shedding, is an intentionally-engineered electrical power outage. These blackouts are normally in response to insufficient resources and inability to meet prevailing demand for electricity. For information about accidental blackouts that are not intentionally engineered, see power outage.
> ...


----------



## drsmith (29 January 2009)

Prospector said:


> Yes, true, but ceiling fans dont work well in Adelaide's heat which is very dry.  There is nothing worse than having dry hot air blowing over you.  The 'kids' have just had 1.5 splits installed in their rooms, which are basically in an attic space of a tudor style home.  There is no way they could have ceiling fans.  But their airconds do the trick well. We cant install a ceiling split into our bedroom because the walls are stone and double brick, and there are enough cracks in the walls due to no rain, let alone getting in a jackhammer to cut the hole.
> Last night was spent sleeping on a couch in the loungeroom - only problem is that room is the entrance that the boys use when they come home at all hours.  At 3am I was walking around the house just trying to find a cool spot.
> 
> Seriously, I undergo a total personality change when I am this hot - cranky as all hell



You tried a pedestal or desktop fan didn't you. There's nothing worse than one of those noisy things blowing a gale past your ear while trying to sleep.

Airflow from a ceiling fan is much more gentle and they are much quieter although it does depend on the speed setting. They are actually more effective in dry heat than humid heat as evaporation of moisture from the skin is more effective in dry conditions.

I had two split systems installed into double brick external walls several years ago and the holes for the pipework were not made with a jackhammer. If memory serves me correct a pilot hole was drilled and then a cutting disc was used to cut the hole to the right size. It was a bit noisy but nothing fell down.

On warm nights I often use the bedroom unit on the fan setting just to corculate air. A ceiling fan would however be better for this purpose as it is less noisy and the air flow is not aggressive.

I'm cranky as hell if I'm up for any reason at 3am.


----------



## drsmith (29 January 2009)

MrBurns said:


> Oh crap, how do you know when it's your turn



When your faced with the prospect of eating a half cooked meal.

ETSA (Electricity trust of South Australia) arn't brave enough to spell it out as clearly as the Wikipedia but the implication is clear.



> *What is load shedding and how is ETSA Utilities involved?*
> 
> Load shedding happens when major problems arise with equipment in electricity power stations or with major transmission lines. The usual power supply is reduced and a large portion of the available power supply is suddenly no longer available. If load shedding is not undertaken at this point, the effects could be devastating with the whole State potentially blacked out for up to eight hours.


----------



## Smurf1976 (29 January 2009)

MrBurns said:


> Whats load shedding ?



Customer(s) ordered to disconnect loads.

In the case of heavy industry that means just shutting things down and this is what's happening now.

If it gets beyond the point where that's enough then other "customers", by which I mean your electricity distributor, will also be ordered to reduce consumption. And that means, in practice, they disconnect some of their customers (commonly known as rolling blackouts).

The industrial load shedding should be enough though as long as nothing breaks down so it's OK so far for households etc.

I need to point out that all this is happening at the margin. When I say we're out of capacity, I mean that the system can't take any more load and there is no spare generation to cover any breakdowns. The system is at its' limit. But that doesn't mean everything's about to stop working. It just means that the system can't do any more than it already is. 

It's like having $200 and having to leave a few items behind because you've turned up at the checkout with $210 worth of groceries. There's a problem but you'll still get most of what you wanted.


----------



## Aussiejeff (29 January 2009)

Smurf1976 said:


> Customer(s) ordered to disconnect loads.
> 
> In the case of heavy industry that means just shutting things down and this is what's happening now.
> 
> ...




So, the current system is obviously insufficient to deal with this "event" and still have a handy % of safe power capacity margin left over.

What extra capacity do they need to build or plan for to ensure a "power safe" system is in place to weather future "events" such as these?


aj


----------



## MrBurns (29 January 2009)

Smurf1976 said:


> Customer(s) ordered to disconnect loads.
> 
> In the case of heavy industry that means just shutting things down and this is what's happening now.
> 
> ...




You in the industry ? I noticed your Avitar is that a power control panel.

I mean I should know all this but I leave it to the drones in Sector 11B


----------



## Agentm (29 January 2009)

yesterday afternoon about 4pm on chapel street

outside air temp on road surface


----------



## Prospector (29 January 2009)

Mike Rann would rather be pedalling the generator himself to keep the electricity on than admit to load shedding.  On the other hand, if it did happen we wouldnt be told it was the reason for no power, there would be some obscure reason that another generator blew up!  There have been many places without power over the last few years.

Rann is damn lucky this wasnt last week; every day we saw his mug shot with Lance Armstrong in the Tour Down Under.  Imagine a cycling race in this heat!

And yes, I am very cranky being kept awake at 3am and the family know to avoid me like the plague.


----------



## kincella (29 January 2009)

portable air cons....about $650...cools one room very well...has a window kit, fits any window...expells the hot air....brings temp down about 10-15 degrees
they were cheaper in dec about 450
some do heating too..
just move if from room to room...magic
not as good as a ducted...but in Melb rarely need the air co....on a first floor unit...insulated
cheers


----------



## kincella (29 January 2009)

had my dog at the prahran market dog wash on tues...seemed cool enough at the time...there 4 hours while....whatever....brought dog home at 
5.oopm...took her over 24 hours to recover...must have had heat exhaustion ???
usually runs around and happy...but just lay there not interested in anything at all
Ok now....she's inside in the air co all day....have no other explanation....feel sorry for the poor dogs that get left outside in the heat all day...well all the animals for that matter


----------



## drsmith (29 January 2009)

Agentm said:


> yesterday afternoon about 4pm on chapel street
> 
> outside air temp on road surface



Doesn't that little engine image bright and bold mean there's something wrong with the engine or that it at least needs to be checked ?


----------



## alphaman (29 January 2009)

Calliope said:


> My computer has an operating temperature range of 10C to 35C.



My CPU and hard disk sit at 50C. How do you get your computer so cool?


----------



## prawn_86 (29 January 2009)

A few of my mates places are now without power, so it looks as though the 'rolling outages' have begun in residential areas here in Adel. Hopefully it doesnt make it to our suburb.... Usually i gave the a/c on for 2hrs then 1 off, but im leaving it running now in case we get a blackout after 1 hr off! 

Like P, im sure they will blame a faulty transformer or something rather than admit to hitting capacity.


----------



## badger41 (29 January 2009)

Anyone starting to rethink their support of daylight saving this week?

At least here in WA we get a referendum in May to kick it out - 3 have already failed in the last 30 years, don't think this one's likely to do much better based on the polls.

Great idea for the UK, Norway, maybe Tassie. Crazy for hot climate countries, IMO.

Cheers, Badger


----------



## glenn_r (29 January 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> A few of my mates places are now without power, so it looks as though the 'rolling outages' have begun in residential areas here in Adel. Hopefully it doesnt make it to our suburb.... Usually i gave the a/c on for 2hrs then 1 off, but im leaving it running now in case we get a blackout after 1 hr off!
> 
> Like P, im sure they will blame a faulty transformer or something rather than admit to hitting capacity.




Same here in Geelong, my business has power being in a industrial zone (paying a higher tariff) but wife tells me the power at home has been cut about 30 mins ago, thank god the beer fridge is downstairs in the coolest room of the house 

Of course Powercor's phone and internet site has melted down and is not working also...


----------



## awg (29 January 2009)

drsmith said:


> Doesn't that little engine image bright and bold mean there's something wrong with the engine or that it at least needs to be checked ?




No, not neccesarily, that light is the "engine systems check" light.

usually goes off after about 10 secs.

by the way temp here is 26 degrees.

I live in a north east facing valley right next to the Pacific Ocean.

Am spoiled rotten, and turned down promotions and career opportunities, cause i did not want to move away from the balmy climate.

I know of an international Uni professor who moved here cause he identified this area as one of the best climates in the world


----------



## Calliope (29 January 2009)

alphaman said:


> My CPU and hard disk sit at 50C. How do you get your computer so cool?




10 to 35 is the ambient temperature range for its best performance.


----------



## MrBurns (29 January 2009)

How do you know what temp your CPU is running at ?


----------



## prawn_86 (29 January 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> Like P, im sure they will blame a faulty transformer or something rather than admit to hitting capacity.




Well i was wrong, they did admit to it:
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24975204-5006301,00.html

Luckily we live in the closest suburb to the CBD.



badger41 said:


> Anyone starting to rethink their support of daylight saving this week?




You get the same hours of sunshine and heat its just the time that is different. I love DLS, and its still gunna be ****ing hot either way.



MrBurns said:


> How do you know what temp your CPU is running at ?




Some more advanced or custom built comps have inbuilt displays showing the core temps. Or take the side off and throw a themometer in there...


----------



## Smurf1976 (29 January 2009)

An explanation of what's happened with the power supply in Vic and SA today. This is an inherently technical topic but I'll try and keep it in layman's terms as best as I can. But the numbers are what it's about... 

Forecast demand was about 14,130 MW across Vic and SA.

730 MW of load was shed due to insufficient supply in those two states. This was done in order to avoid a system overload which would have resulted in a major shutdown. The load shedding was about 200 MW in SA, the rest in Vic.

These figures are for the main grid and ignore localised problems with lines falling down, transformers overheating etc which may blackout individual towns, suburbs or streets. I'm focusing on the power stations and the grid here, not the local transformer that blew up down the road.

What went wrong?

Victoria has 9940 MW of installed generating capacity (summer rating - heat affects capacity). However, 153 MW is unavailable due to Dartmouth dam being too low and a further 60 MW was unavailable due to other factors (plant problems etc). So about 9700 MW was actually available.

SA has 3402 MW of installed capacity (summer rating) excluding wind (which is intermittent in operation). Due to various plant issues only about 3300 MW was available to run in practice.

So in total, there was 13,000 MW available versus the 13342 MW installed capacity. That's a damn good performance considering just how much there is that can go wrong so it would be wrong for anyone to say something ought to have done something about the 3% that wasn't working.

In addition, there would normally be 400MW from NSW and 600 MW from Tasmania. So that's a grand total of 14,000 MW.

What went wrong? Firstly, there was a shortfall of 130 MW. Second, the Tasmania - Victoria link was unable to run at full capacity due to technical issues with the link. It went to zero, due to technical problems, at about 3:10pm for around half an hour.

And so the end result was 730 MW load shedding across Vic and SA.

I should point out a few things here:

1. It was the link that failed and not Tasmanian generation. Tasmania had about 940 MW of idle generation during the blackouts in Vic and SA that was ready to immediately run.

2. The Bass Strait link (Basslink) is a privately owned transmission line. It is not owned by any power distributor, state government or Hydro Tasmania.

3. Using long established conventional industry practice, we should have about 2400 MW of additional capacity installed across Vic and SA to reliably meet high demands as seen recently. This would have easily avoided the  blackouts.

4. There are a LOT worse things that could have happened and, someday, probably will. Individual generating units in Vic produce up to 580 MW and there are several of those. Only a fool would believe that we'll never have one or more of those fail on a hot day. Indeed failures of generating plant are routine events - the industry normally makes sure it has enough spare capacity ready to immediately run ("spinning reserve") in case the TWO largest generators suddenly fail. A century of experience has lead to the conclusion that this is necessary - but it can't be done if there isn't any spare generation. 

So what's going on now?

All load has been restored. Demand is about 13320 MW across Vic and SA. 

Supply is 8373 MW from Vic (of 9628 MW available). SA is generating 3294 MW (from 3482 MW available - there's quite a bit of wind blowing which is 
helping). 

NSW is supplying 1150 MW and Tas is supplying 502 MW to Victoria. The NSW supply is higher now than it could be during the day because the Vic power stations that are presently at low output share the same transmission lines (they are part of the Snowy scheme) as the supply from NSW.

Tomorrow? The peak looks to be about 13800 MW. That can be met without blackouts only if everything goes right. As I said, we really do need some more capacity built...


----------



## Smurf1976 (29 January 2009)

badger41 said:


> Anyone starting to rethink their support of daylight saving this week?
> 
> At least here in WA we get a referendum in May to kick it out - 3 have already failed in the last 30 years, don't think this one's likely to do much better based on the polls.
> 
> ...



Post-WWII daylight saving in Australia is an idea that originated as a means of saving electricity in Tasmania during the 1967 - 68 power crisis. The idea became popular and it was retained after the crisis ended and subsequently extended to six months.

Personal choice in the affected areas I think. Tasmanians in general can't understand why anyone wouldn't want it. Of course there are some who don't like it, but I've never heard anyone doubt that there's overwhelming majority support for 6 months of daylight saving as an annual event.

It's not as though anyone's going to get up at 4 or 5 in the morning just because it's light. Surely not? I'd rather have it not get dark until 9pm - that's far more useful. But then we don't get 45 degree days and 34 degree nights down here...


----------



## Agentm (29 January 2009)

drsmith said:


> Doesn't that little engine image bright and bold mean there's something wrong with the engine or that it at least needs to be checked ?




spot on

high pressure turbo runs on 98 octane, servo had only 95.. so light goes on immediately.. i was told refinery had run out of the 98, was on empty so had to take the 95..


----------



## MrBurns (29 January 2009)

Smurf1976 said:


> An explanation of what's happened with the power supply in Vic and SA today. This is an inherently technical topic but I'll try and keep it in layman's terms as best as I can. But the numbers are what it's about...
> 
> Forecast demand was about 14,130 MW across Vic and SA.
> 
> ...





Great info many thanks..........Smithers take some notes you knuckle head.


----------



## Smurf1976 (29 January 2009)

There's a serious side to this heat. 

If you're in Vic / SA then it wouldn't be a bad idea just to make sure elderly neighbours / friends / relatives are OK. Likewise anyone who is pregnant, ill etc and living by themself. 

I'm no doctor, but I'd expect that after a few days of persistent heat with no relief overnight it could be affecting some peoples health. Better to check just in case I think. Maybe invite the neighbours over for the evening if your house is air-conditioned and theirs isn't. 

Also, hopefully people are keeping a watch for stray dogs etc. They'll overheat and die pretty quickly without water in this weather.


----------



## bassmanpete (29 January 2009)

> It's not as though anyone's going to get up at 4 or 5 in the morning just because it's light. Surely not? I'd rather have it not get dark until 9pm - that's far more useful.




Far simpler, imho, is to work 8-4 instead of 9-5 and everybody should be happy. But then everyone would complain about having to get up an hour earlier. Put the clocks forward an hour though, oh well that's OK!


----------



## drsmith (29 January 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> .... Usually i gave the a/c on for 2hrs then 1 off, but im leaving it running now in case we get a blackout after 1 hr off!



Better just to run it at a higher temperature setting.



MrBurns said:


> How do you know what temp your CPU is running at ?



I too was wondering about his computer's operating temp but I think he's just referring to the room temperature in which the PC is located. 



badger41 said:


> At least here in WA we get a referendum in May to kick it out - 3 have already failed in the last 30 years, don't think this one's likely to do much better based on the polls.



Don't count on it. The politicians want to stack the referendum by putting three options in it. One being no and the other two being yes with the difference between the two yes options being the start and end times.



Smurf1976 said:


> There's a serious side to this heat.
> 
> If you're in Vic / SA then it wouldn't be a bad idea just to make sure elderly neighbours / friends / relatives are OK. Likewise anyone who is pregnant, ill etc and living by themself.
> 
> ...



Many years ago I drove from Melbourne to Darwin in an unairconditioned car. It was December and the day I drove through Tennant Creek it was 46 degrees. It was too hot to have the window down but I found constantly simming iced water to be effective. I was young (21) at the time and although I enjoyed the drive it's not something I would do twice in that heat.

Interesting info on SE Aust's electricty supply too.


----------



## white_crane (29 January 2009)

I've had the pleasant experience of being out on a bushfire when the temp at 8:30am was already 40.





MrBurns said:


> How do you know what temp your CPU is running at ?




You can find out the temp by accessing the BIOS set-up menu.  This is done by pressing a set key/s (usually the delete key) during the power on self test (POST).  Navigate through the menus to find the current cpu temp.

Beware: changing the BIOS settings can have a detrimental effect, so don't be tempted to fiddle around here.


----------



## Smurf1976 (30 January 2009)

New all time temperature record set in Tasmania. The record was historically 40.8 at Hobart (since 1976), now it's 41.5 at Flinders Island. Also some new regional records such as 40.6 at Fingal (on the east coast). 

Not as hot as Vic and SA I know, but we're not too well prepared for heat down here. Not used to it for a start, and for most people no air-conditioning or even awnings etc. Hobart's escaped it somehow though, top of 29 and a minimum of 20 (though that's still pretty warm for a minimum here in Tas).

Update on the electricity. Both SA and Vic forecast is for demand higher than was actually able to be supplied today. 10,500 MW in Vic, 3,400 MW in SA. 

The chances of the same fault with the Vic - Tas link are unlikely, but likewise the chances that everything goes 100% perfectly are also unlikely. Odds are, something will go wrong (just can't predict exactly what or where) and a there will be a few problems with supply to consumers (though it's hard to predict the scale of any blackouts given the differing sizes of generators and other things that could fail).


----------



## wayneL (30 January 2009)

At the other end of the scale: 

Bitter Siberian winds set to bring snow and give UK coldest winter for 13 years

Freezing weather is on the way from Russia – putting Britain on course for its coldest winter in 13 years.

The chill will sweep in from the east at the start of next week, bringing daytime temperatures as low as 1c (34f) and icy winds that will make it feel far colder.


Snow, as seen here in Tring, Hertfordshire in October, is expected to fall in parts of the country next week


Snow and frost across much of the UK will see a return of the dangerous driving conditions that caused havoc earlier this month.

A spokesman for forecaster MeteoGroup said yesterday: ‘Chill winds from the continent will start to be felt across the south and east in the next couple of days, before a blast of bitterly cold air from western Russia sends the mercury plunging during Sunday night and the early part of next week.’

He added: ‘There are growing signs that heavy snow showers will accompany this frigid air during Monday and Tuesday, more especially-across southern and eastern parts of England.........


----------



## Prospector (30 January 2009)

Hey thanks for all the info Smurf - helps to have all the political bullX#*t removed.  Can you tell it was another hot night! 

Well, in the news.com.au they say they only shut down the power to a large list of suburbs (all significantly true blue liberal seats, I might add!) for 45 minutes at 2.45pm (which ties in with your 3.15 timings Smurf)  Nope, 2 plus hours.

Some people, admittedly just a few hundred households but still, have been without power now for 24 hours - oh my god those poor people.  They should put them in a hotel for free until they can find out the problem.

I see Melbourne is getting a change tomorrow; into the mid thirties.  Not Adelaide, forecast 38+ for the next 7 days.  Oh yeah, but the nights will be cooler though, in the high twenties instead of the 30's.  We have big day out today - poor buggers look forward to it all year.

Our environment - well, after this spell I hate to think what the city will look like. And how about Queensland and NSW giving us some water so at least the kids can have a quick cool down under the sprinkler.  I know it was also hot in the old days but at least we could use water to cool down.


----------



## wilbur.kay (30 January 2009)

As a freshly annointed Victorian coming from Tasmania, this weather is oppresive to say the least.  Sitting in the lounge room and not going outside for more than you have to is a bonus.  Pretty glad I don't have to travel on the trams in the armpit of another commuter...


----------



## tech/a (30 January 2009)

Heard the other day that the hottest recorded in the shade for a city was in Liberia.

57.8c


----------



## Ashsaege (30 January 2009)

this week in the barossa valley temps have been around 31degrees at 6:30am, well above 40 degrees during the day (over 45degrees on wednesday!) and still over 40degrees after 5pm.
Luckily i work in a nice cool air conditioned office, tho i do feel sorry for all the gardeners and maintenance workers... not!


----------



## Smurf1976 (30 January 2009)

Prospector said:


> Some people, admittedly just a few hundred households but still, have been without power now for 24 hours - oh my god those poor people.  They should put them in a hotel for free until they can find out the problem.
> 
> I see Melbourne is getting a change tomorrow; into the mid thirties.  Not Adelaide, forecast 38+ for the next 7 days.  Oh yeah, but the nights will be cooler though, in the high twenties instead of the 30's.  We have big day out today - poor buggers look forward to it all year.
> :



Not sure exactly where they've gone, but works crews from NSW and Tas have gone interstate to help fix the power distribution faults.

Looking OK for keeping everyone supplied today so far. Still not much margin for anything to go wrong, but if everything goes right then it should be OK.

As for the warm nights, I found getting to sleep in 25 degrees more than enough. It must be unbearable for anyone in Adelaide without A/C trying to get to sleep at 35 - 40 degrees at night.


----------



## Boggo (30 January 2009)

Thanks for posting that info Smurf, very informative and removes all the media and political spin.

I find it amazing though that we have these power outages (from your posts I understand why obviously), surely someone should actually sit up and plan ahead. 

Let me give them a heads up... it is going to be very hot in Jan, Feb and March 2010, increasing population, increasing temperatures and increasing reliance on power would mean that there will be an increase in demand.
Now, can someone start planning for it !!!!!

Retail stores plan ahead for future demands over Christmas as do airlines, hotels, toy companies etc etc. all based on past experience and demands.

Are electric power suppliers (and the Melbourne public transport system) a bit slow or is it that they don't really give a ****.

I listened to the ABC radio for a while yesterday while many residents and also quite a few small store owners voiced their (valid) disgust at having their power switched off.

I came home through the city at around 10:30 last night and noticed that most of taxpayer funded government offices had 60 to 70% of their office lighting on including the new SA Water (Hilton) office building in Victoria Square.
Not much happens in most of those during buildings during the day so I think I would be right in assuming that they were empty at that time except for maybe some 'Materials Relocation Officers' (public service name for cleaners) tidying up.

All of this after Rann did his "look after your elderly neighbours, the homeless and stray dogs" spiel on the radio to appease the masses.


----------



## glenn_r (30 January 2009)

Highest ever recorded temp here in Geelong yesterday 45.3c and due to the "Bass cable" from Tassie dropping out they randomly cut power, well that's what the spin doctors are crapping on about and I bet the Shell refinery and the Alcoa smelter had full power.

http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2009/01/30/47401_news.html


----------



## Prospector (30 January 2009)

Boggo said:


> I find it amazing though that we have these power outages (from your posts I understand why obviously), surely someone should actually sit up and plan ahead. .



:jump:

Where is the ROFL icon.  You mean, that would be like ensuring Adelaide had enough water to drink.

:rofl:


----------



## trillionaire#1 (30 January 2009)

ive got a 14kw evaporative air/con on nearly flat out and the only time its 
dropped below 25 degrees inside is very early in the mornings,currently
reading 27 degrees.
its been nice having a swim at semaphore south beach every night this week.


----------



## Prospector (30 January 2009)

I heard from an airconditioning person on the radio who said that domestic installations were not built to run 24/7.  At the moment I suspect many are running 24/7, have done so since last Monday and will continue to do so until at least next Thursday.

And apparently there is load shedding happening again.


----------



## nomore4s (30 January 2009)

I don't know what you are all complaining about, it's a nice 28-30 degrees here. Didn't even need my aircon on last night:


----------



## Julia (30 January 2009)

kincella said:


> had my dog at the prahran market dog wash on tues...seemed cool enough at the time...there 4 hours while....whatever....brought dog home at
> 5.oopm...took her over 24 hours to recover...must have had heat exhaustion ???
> usually runs around and happy...but just lay there not interested in anything at all
> Ok now....she's inside in the air co all day....have no other explanation....feel sorry for the poor dogs that get left outside in the heat all day...well all the animals for that matter



Yes, dogs are easily affected because they can't sweat out their heat.
I feel like attacking dumb ute drivers who leave their dogs sitting out on the back deck in full sun all day.  Stupid idiots.


----------



## Prospector (30 January 2009)

Well, I just left work because we just got 'power shedded' which crashed our server in the process.  Just got home and we have been powershedded here too.   And I hear that SA is selling power to the Victorians  then I read on news.com.au that Brumby has said Victoria will be fine.   The roads are chaotic because the lights are all out. Bloody hell!


----------



## MrBurns (30 January 2009)

Prospector said:


> Well, I just left work because we just got 'power shedded' which crashed our server in the process.  Just got home and we have been powershedded here too.   And I hear that SA is selling power to the Victorians  then I read on news.com.au that Brumby has said Victoria will be fine.   The roads are chaotic because the lights are all out. Bloody hell!




Gee thanks our air is pumping fine, of course our needs are more important than yours. 

No I would be furious if I were you that really sux.


----------



## Boggo (30 January 2009)

Prospector said:


> Well, I just left work because we just got 'power shedded' which crashed our server in the process.  Just got home and we have been powershedded here too.   And I hear that SA is selling power to the Victorians  then I read on news.com.au that Brumby has said Victoria will be fine.   The roads are chaotic because the lights are all out. Bloody hell!




When is the next state election Prospector, we desperately need a change.

The only thing growing in this state are government offices and fatcats


----------



## PeterJ (30 January 2009)

Prospector said:


> Well, I just left work because we just got 'power shedded' which crashed our server in the process.  Just got home and we have been powershedded here too.   And I hear that SA is selling power to the Victorians  then I read on news.com.au that Brumby has said Victoria will be fine.   The roads are chaotic because the lights are all out. Bloody hell!




Prospector I lived in Victor Harbor for 11 years and there was only set of lights
Has it grown that much ?
nb I also only recall 2 or 3 days over 40 in all those yearsnd they were the only days we EVER used the air con

Cheers 
Peter


----------



## Prospector (30 January 2009)

PeterJ said:


> Prospector I lived in Victor Harbor for 11 years and there was only set of lights




Hey Peter, I live in Adelaide!:  Seriously, Victor has had three straight days of 40+ - now that is unheard of - normally it only gets hot the day before a cool change.

The next state election is in 2010, hence Marty's slogan! Bring it on....although Rann still gets the popularity vote - I dont get it, he makes my toes curl and all the time he appears in the good news stories.


----------



## trillionaire#1 (30 January 2009)

i used to get comfort on these kind of days knowing that nearby victor harbour
was 10 degrees cooler than adelaide, but this time were all in this oven together!


----------



## dalek (30 January 2009)

Prospector said:


> Well, I just left work because we just got 'power shedded' which crashed our server in the process.  Just got home and we have been powershedded here too.   And I hear that SA is selling power to the Victorians  then I read on news.com.au that Brumby has said Victoria will be fine.   The roads are chaotic because the lights are all out. Bloody hell!




Please note, Brumby always avoids telling the truth and if pressed may even resort to direct lies. 
Temp in downtown bayside Melb just dropped from 45 to 33 !!!!
It actually feels cool !?!?


----------



## prawn_86 (30 January 2009)

Need to move closer to the CBD Prospector  

No power shedding here in North Adel as yet... Prob just a matter of time though


----------



## Smurf1976 (30 January 2009)

Boggo said:


> Thanks for posting that info Smurf, very informative and removes all the media and political spin.
> 
> I find it amazing though that we have these power outages (from your posts I understand why obviously), surely someone should actually sit up and plan ahead.



Yes the power industry has once again inflicted economic loss and misery on the population. Pretty much the same as yesterday although the numbers are slightly different.

What should really be concening people though is that is is happening despite a truly outstanding performance of just about every power station in the system. Someday that won't happen, we'll just get normal performance, and then there will be _real_ chaos.

I'll post some details soon on how I'd fix it both in a technical sense and from a management perspective. The usual spin doctors and objectors will say that's not the answer, but I'll guarantee you that what I'll propose would have kept everything running fine during this heatwave and could be done without much of an increase (no more than 5 - 10%) in electricity bills. Details to follow.

42.2 today in Tassie by the way, beating yesterday's record of 41.5. Prior to this hot weather, the old record was 40.8 set in 1976. I'm now understanding these "like an oven" comments from those in SA and Vic. At least it cools down overnight here - 22 last night.


----------



## Prospector (30 January 2009)

dalek said:


> Please note, Brumby always avoids telling the truth and if pressed may even resort to direct lies.
> Temp in downtown bayside Melb just dropped from 45 to 33 !!!!
> It actually feels cool !?!?





Oh you lucky b.....   still 40 here. Least you might stop pinching our power. hey Prawn, Kent Town has been pulled twice! That is next to the CBD. Must be those lovely ACC councillors throwing their weight around again.


----------



## Smurf1976 (30 January 2009)

OK, here's what's wrong with the power and why we're in this mess. It's much the same with the trains and to some extent the water too.

In short, back in the old days (pre-1980's) we had engineers in charge of these things, a situation that made sense given they are inherently technical areas.

The engineers were given two tasks. (1) Maintain supply and (2) do this as economically as possible. And that's a logical mandate when you realise that engineering is fundamentally about (1) making things work and (2) doing so with the minimum use of materials and labour. 

Those who fail to see the validity of point 2 don't understand what engineering is really about. Anyone can pile up a heap of concrete and build a dam. An engineer will work out how to make it strong enough using no more concrete than is actually needed. But they won't skimp and have it fall down.

Then we decided to get rid of the engineers and put financial accountants in charge instead. These people won't build a power station to ensure security of supply. They'll only build it if it is immediately profitable.

Add in "competition" and it only gets worse. What's happened is essentially a race to the bottom as far as technical standards are concerned. Do everything as cheaply as possible and don't do it at all if it's not _immediately_ profitable. 

Sorry people, but under this system you'll have power during a heatwave only if it's profitable to supply it - and it's not profitable.

Solution? 

(1) put the engineers back in charge. It's not as though there have been big drops in costs since accountants took over, indeed many things are done far more wastefully now, so there's no real argument against that apart from vested interests. 

(2) End competition in its present form. You just can't afford to build capacity to cope with the peaks if you've got a rival who doesn't do that, has lower costs as a result and then takes all your customers. And since electricity is homogenous, consumers can't choose one supplier over the other on the basis of reliability. The whole concept just doesn't work and it shouldn't work - hence many predicted the present situation when competition was introduced.

Same with rail, water and so on. An engineer will know that droughts and hot days happen and need to be properly planned for. Their head will hang in shame if commuters are left stranded, power is rationed or water restrictions are required under anything other than exceptional circumstances.

In contrast, an accountant will see failure as an opportunity to profit - hence electricity that normally sells for $40 has been selling at $10,000 during the crisis. Those who caused the crisis have profited very nicely from it and that's not surprising when the objective is to make money rather than to supply an essential service to the public.

...

Now I'll focus on the specifics of what I'd do to fix the power situation in Vic and SA so that this, or something far worse, doesn't keep happening year after year. This is additional projects or modifications to existing infrastructure and does NOT include projects already planned for future years (mostly gas and hydro in Vic) that will meet growth in demand but will not address the present problems. 

Vic generation. Additional 2000 MW open cycle gas turbines. All open cycle gas turbines to have liquid fuel backup.

SA generation. Additional 70 MW open cycle gas turbine. All open cycle gas turbines to have liquid fuel backup.

NSW generation. Additional 250 MW combined cycle gas turbine. Existing open cycle gas turbines to be fitted with liquid fuel backup.

Tas generation. Restore oil-firing capability to Bell Bay units 1 & 2.

Vic - SA transmission. Restore full 500 MW capacity by adding condensers to the network.

Vic - Tas transmission. Technical modification (possibly considerable in extent) to the converter stations to avoid them becoming unavailable above 45 degrees (Vic) and a ridiculously low 35 degrees (Tas). 

Vic - NSW transmission. Upgrading of soutbound capacity to 1900 MW when Murray power stations are out of service. This will not add to peak capacity in Vic but accesses additional baseload energy from NSW as a tool to manage future gas or water (hydro) shortages or constraints in Vic, SA and Tas.

Now, I'm not saying this is the only means of fixing the problems but it's a logical plan that would actually work. It delivers enough capacity to cope with high demands, planned maintenance shutdowns, breakdowns etc without putting consumers in the dark. And it wouldn't cost a fortune to implement.

It also builds in protection against gas shortages and droughts thus further strengthening the system. This is not well known, but we have very few major sources of gas into SE Australia - if we lose one then we're not going to be able to keep running gas-fired power stations. So it's important that the majority of them are able to burn liquid fuels if needed - it won't be used often but it's a necessary backup to have.

What are the chances of this happening? Basically zero. It would at best get lost in an ideological debate about nuclear power and solar panels. At worst, it would be completely ignored.

An alternative, more capital intensive, plan would be to build a large pumped storage scheme in Vic plus a single new coal-fired or nuclear generating unit.

Another, more radical, plan would be to build the pumped storage in Vic but build a large scale geothermal plant in SA instead of the coal or nuclear in Vic. That would also require additional transmission lines to be workable. From a national strategic perspective, that's what I'd do for the long term. But gas would be cheaper, hence it's what I've suggested on the assumption that minimising cost is part of the objective.


----------



## dalek (30 January 2009)

Now 27.5 ahh.... the luxury !!
Back garden now looks like the Addams family plot after the last 2 days.
Burnt foliage everywhere, some pretty sick looking tree ferns and very sad palms. Pool down about 50mm. 
Some serious recovery work required when this is over.
Tried to feel bad about pinching S.A. power,..... didn't work.


----------



## Smurf1976 (30 January 2009)

UPDATE:

Smurf started typing that last post around 6pm, interrupted by having a meal. As I've said, there are lots of problems with the way power is being run.

I just found out a couple of minutes ago that a massive failure has occurred in Victoria with over 1000 MW being shed. 

And no, I'm not surprised. This is the consequence of everything being done to make $ and disregarding proper technical standards whilst doing so.


----------



## noirua (30 January 2009)

Temperature at 9am is 3.2 deg C, windy, blue skies, sunny, heavy frost clearing slowly. 5 layers of clothing advised and earmuffs.


----------



## Julia (30 January 2009)

Prospector said:


> Yeah Mr Burns, Rann in SA is as bad as your state governments.  Why Smurf is it predicted our demand will be less tomorrow.  Overnight the *minimum* is going to be 32, the houses have heated up after two days of 40+ and tomorrow is expected to be AT LEAST 44!
> 
> The reason why Tassie is cold is because you are getting the cold stream that would normally come to SA and Victoria too, but our bit is being blocked by a large high over NZ.
> 
> God, I am sweating just typing this post, too bloody hot....



Prospector, you have a pool.  Have the Adelaide water restrictions allowed you to make it useable?  Wouldn't this be an alternative when it's so hot, well, at least until the pool water then also becomes unbearably warm?


----------



## Julia (30 January 2009)

Much sympathy to all of you in Victoria and SA.  Must be just dreadful.
Do hope you get a cool change soon.

About 32 max all week here in S.E. Qld with a good breeze.  Overnights about 23.  Occasional showers.


----------



## Boggo (30 January 2009)

Excellent and informative post Smurf, well done.

Unfortunately when you get bean counters running a business it is destined for doom unless it is a government department, then it is ok because public money grows on trees and there is always an endless supply.



> The next state election is in 2010, hence Marty's slogan! Bring it on....although Rann still gets the popularity vote - I dont get it, he makes my toes curl and all the time he appears in the good news stories.




Get rid of compulsory voting and you will solve that problem, most of his supporters would only get out of bed before six pm if there was a handout in it.


----------



## drsmith (30 January 2009)

The conflict of interest between the bottom line and provision of service in extreme circumstances is why essential services such as electricity supply should never be privatised.


----------



## wayneL (31 January 2009)

Just about an hour ago, I was sitting in 47c with 100% humidity. As I sat there (in the steam room at the gym) I thought - thank #### I can walk out of this anytime I want.


----------



## prawn_86 (31 January 2009)

Great info there Smurf. You have obviously worked a lot in the industry. IMO utilities, healthcare and education should be provided by the gov, but by privatising them it just shifts the blame and the politicians get to do even less for their pensions

I agree also with Boggo's comments. Compulsory voting ensures that the main 2 parties stay in power, and both those parties are essentially the same.


----------



## Prospector (31 January 2009)

Hey Smurf, is this true?  http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24987559-5006301,00.html

If the temperature in George Town in Tasmania reaches 33c then automatically the trans-Tasman link shuts down!  Which then shuts down power in SA because we supply it to Victoria?  Who TF organised that little arrangement.  Sheesh, 33 is just a pleasant spring day!

Julia, you mention the pool.  Well, even with restrictions we can have a pool but it can only be topped up by holding a hose in your hand.  And it must have a cover.  The temperature of our pool is around 32 - not very nice at all and yet it is 6' deep at one end.  But of course, better than nothing.

I feel for those people who have been without airconditioning, or even power.  We had the highest rate of sudden deaths yesterday.  One dear lady who had been without power for 24 hours died.  Her neighbours also without power said it was unimaginable.

Another 40 today and tomorrow.  Apparently cooler overnight.  We will see.


----------



## prawn_86 (31 January 2009)

Prospector said:


> Another 40 today and tomorrow.  Apparently cooler overnight.  We will see.




I was up earlyish this morning to go to the markets before it got too hot, and it was cooler thats for sure. It wasnt like stepping into an oven at 8am like the last few mornings have been. The cloud has now burnt off though so its frickn hot!


----------



## mayk (31 January 2009)

The goal of a service provider is to provide service according to service level agreement (SLA). These SLAs dictate what kind of infrastructure they will employ to supply the demand. In most cases the SLAs have a provision to service demand 98% of the time. Thus the 2% failure, like this previous week, is not a huge problem for these companies. 


Well placed regulations can help overcome some of these problems. The requirement by government through legislation to cope with extra demand (during extreme conditions) can mitigate some effects of privatization. Or the consumer groups can demand that in their SLAs. 


One can argue that, no one can guarantee a service 100% of the time, even if they have twice the capacity. As a famous engineer Murphy once explained, if there is a possibility that things would go wrong, they would go wrong at the worst possible time. 


I agree with Smurf that capacity planning should be done by the government and relayed to the service providers. A frame work for these critical services should be provided and enforced (via legislation) by the government. It is a challenge in itself, and one simple solution as pointed out earlier, is to relegate the full control of these companies to the government.


----------



## Smurf1976 (1 February 2009)

Prospector said:


> Hey Smurf, is this true?  http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24987559-5006301,00.html
> 
> If the temperature in George Town in Tasmania reaches 33c then automatically the trans-Tasman link shuts down!  Which then shuts down power in SA because we supply it to Victoria?  Who TF organised that little arrangement.  Sheesh, 33 is just a pleasant spring day!



Tassie isn't as hot as SA but it does get hotter than most people think. Its all time record, 42.2, isn't exactly cold.  

Basslink is the only significant privately owned part of Tasmanian electricity infrastructure.

The Tasmanian generation system, which is government owned via Hydro Tasmania, worked fine during the heatwave. Electricity supplies in Tasmania were just fine. A situation that isn't surprising given all the work that was done years ago after it was realised (due to proper planning rather than an actual failure) that the system needed improving to make sure it worked properly when it's hot.

But we couldn't send power to Victoria because Basslink stopped working. And here's the serious bit. My understanding is that basically nobody, and I mean _nobody_, outside the company was expecting Basslink to shut down at whatever temperature it shut down at. Indeed there's still some confusion as to exactly what temperature that's supposed to be, making the point that the info just isn't out there.

Hydro thought it had to ramp up production to keep things running in Vic and SA during the heatwave. NEMMCO thought there would be supply from Basslink into Vic when it was needed most. Nobody was expecting the link to simply stop working. All the planning, modelling etc assumes Basslink works on an extreme demand (which by it's nature means extreme high temperature) day.

The issues are above ground not under water. Bass Srait sure didn't heat up to 33 degrees. Which means the issues could be fixed with some $ spent. But don't hold your breath - it's not profitable to spend $ to make it work an extra few hours each year. A monopoly utility would do it in order to maintain supply. But private owners in a competitive market sure won't, at least not unless someone forces them.

That said, an outage can cost Hydro up to $6 million per hour, so I'd expect they'll at least be taking a damn good look at what could be done to overcome the problems. And although it's a privately owned link, Hydro is the key financial backer of the project via some complicated financial arrangements. So it will be interesting to see what happens with this one. 

As I said, just about everyone seemed to be in the dark about what would happen with Basslink at those temperatures. That in itself is perhaps the greatest example of what's wrong with having key national infrastructure "planned" in an un-coordinated manner by those seeking profit above all else.


----------



## Smurf1976 (1 February 2009)

mayk said:


> The goal of a service provider is to provide service according to service level agreement (SLA). These SLAs dictate what kind of infrastructure they will employ to supply the demand. In most cases the SLAs have a provision to service demand 98% of the time. Thus the 2% failure, like this previous week, is not a huge problem for these companies.



A realistic long term technical target is closer to 80% availability for major baseload brown coal or nuclear power stations. Black coal, intermediate and peaking plant should be able to do somewhat better - above 90% in most cases although it will vary. Backup plant should be able to achieve 95%+ since it is rarely run and (generally) technically simple plant. Transmission line availability - generally somewhere around 98 - 99%.



> Well placed regulations can help overcome some of these problems. The requirement by government through legislation to cope with extra demand (during extreme conditions) can mitigate some effects of privatization. Or the consumer groups can demand that in their SLAs.



True as long as everyone involved is making sure that happens. As soon as someone doesn't, the whole system is at risk. It's a bit like having one loose wheel on a car - it brings the whole lot down if something happens.



> One can argue that, no one can guarantee a service 100% of the time, even if they have twice the capacity.



True. The standard in Tasmania has long been a 2% annual probability of generation failure to meet 100% of demand. In the event that proper forward planning finds that there is more than a 2% chance of failure, action is taken to avoid it. Within reason, such action is taken regardless of cost - a situation only possible when you don't have (in practice) any real competition.


----------



## BentRod (1 February 2009)

Some great posts in this thread Smurf.

Thanks very much for sharing your wisdom


----------



## nunthewiser (1 February 2009)

> Rann orders report on SA heatwave crisis
> 31st January 2009, 20:19 WST
> 
> South Australian Premier Mike Rann has ordered a report on how the national electricity regulator and power companies handled the heatwave crisis which may have claimed more than 30 lives.
> ...




holy cow!! 30 people!! WTF.. would there be grounds for a class action here or is the electricity problem classed as a "grey " area where theres no comeback ?


----------



## noirua (1 February 2009)

nunthewiser said:


> holy cow!! 30 people!! WTF.. would there be grounds for a class action here or is the electricity problem classed as a "grey " area where theres no comeback ?



Temperature at 10.30pm is 0.8 deg C with forecast of minus 2 deg C, strong icy winds and blustery snow.


----------



## wayneL (1 February 2009)

noirua said:


> Temperature at 10.30pm is 0.8 deg C with forecast of minus 2 deg C, strong icy winds and blustery snow.




Went back to collect my car from my super duper top secret free London parking spot this evening and windscreen wiper fliud was freezing on impact on my windscreen.

That wind certainly was icey as I stood outside scraping the ice off. 

Snow tomorrow they say.


----------



## noirua (1 February 2009)

wayneL said:


> Went back to collect my car from my super duper top secret free London parking spot this evening and windscreen wiper fluid was freezing on impact on my windscreen.
> 
> That wind certainly was icey as I stood outside scraping the ice off.
> 
> Snow tomorrow they say.



Had a similar problem a few weeks ago when the windscreen washer froze up.  Could hardly see where I was going.
Usually I keep a pin handy to unblock the ice but it's never there when I want it.
I use a wash with antifreeze in it but I didn't know how bubbly it would get and the bubbles froze on the windscreen.


----------



## juddy (1 February 2009)

34 yesterday in Perth, late thunderstorm gave us 18mm of rain. Beautiful.

36 today apparently and hopefully another thunderstorm.

Love the geosmin and petrachor smell after the rain.


----------



## Smurf1976 (1 February 2009)

nunthewiser said:


> holy cow!! 30 people!! WTF.. would there be grounds for a class action here or is the electricity problem classed as a "grey " area where theres no comeback ?



The only chance would be a class action against the state government (though I doubt that would be successful).

Nobody in the industry is responsible these days for maintaining supply. NEMMCO is responsible for dispatching the available capacity, but they're not responsible for building it in the first place. 

Your retailer just trades (financially) in the electricity market and sends you a bill. 

The distributor just runs some poles, wires, meters etc that connect small customers to the grid. Apart from losing money, it's not their problem if there's no power to put into the network.

The transmission companies are akin to road authorities. They just provide a physical link and, as long as nobody does anything that would cause physical damage to it, don't care whether or not there's enough capacity to put into it. That's like how the transport department builds roads for everyone to use but it's not their problem if freight companies (for example) don't buy enough trucks to move things about with.

And generators are just selling a product into a market at the highest price they can get away with. That's what they do. Technical efficiency etc has long ago been abandoned in favour of running up prices by any means possible. As with any business, you can't force them to build a new plant if they don't want to (though NEMMCO can force them to run an existing plant if it is technically able to be run).

So no, there's nobody really responsible for this unless you are going to launch a class action on the basis that companies have somehow failed to maximise profit from the crisis. Maximising profit, not supplying consumers, is what management are obliged to be doing and if they haven't done that then you may have a case if you're a shareholder. 

As for the Basslink issue, it seems that it shuts down at 45 in Vic and at 33 or 35 (depending on who you ask) in northern Tasmania. The real worry though is that NEMMCO, Vic and SA politicians all seem to think it's acceptable to have a situation where one technical failure leads to chaos. That situation is ridiculous - a disaster waiting to happen every time it gets hot. It will keep happening if nothing is done to fix it.

Another example of stupidity I could point out is a certain powr station that is very rarely able to reach its nominal output capacity. The shortfall is significant and the plant is in the Australian grid (I'm being non-specific just to be safe legally). Now, the sensible thing to do would be either fix it or, if that is not practical, revise all calculations to take account of the reduced capacity. But no, we continue to plan on the basis that it will work perfectly when we know that it almost certainly wont. That's a foolish act of denial that ensures trouble when demand rises and this plant fails to run as assumed.


----------



## lindsayf (1 February 2009)

Wodonga right now..my place in the shade 46.....


----------



## nunthewiser (1 February 2009)

Smurf1976 said:


> The only chance would be a class action against the state government (though I doubt that would be successful).
> 
> Nobody in the industry is responsible these days for maintaining supply. NEMMCO is responsible for dispatching the available capacity, but they're not responsible for building it in the first place.
> 
> ...




thanks for that indepth and informed answer ......... its a bit like politics really .....pass the blame and deny responsibility until theres no one actually fully responsible for the whole mess

cheers


----------



## Prospector (1 February 2009)

nunthewiser said:


> thanks for that indepth and informed answer ......... its a bit like politics really .....pass the blame and deny responsibility until theres no one actually fully responsible for the whole mess




That is exactly what Rann has done.  eg Mental Health and Health (General) are two different Departments with 2 different Ministers.  So each can blame the other when things go wrong.  

I recall a few years ago there was a dreadful train crash in England as a result of maintenance issues.  Passengers became aware of the problem, but they reported it to Dept who ran the trains.  Maintenance was nothing to do with them, so they did just that, nothing.  Eventually the reported fault was enough to derail a train with fatal consequences.  But of course, no-one was to blame.


----------



## prawn_86 (1 February 2009)

Its situations like these blackouts which are making me more and more disenchanted with Australia.

Dont get me wrong, its still a great country in which to live, but due to our political system and laziness it seems to me as though we are now only standing still, if not going backwards. How can 10 people per day dying due to heat be acceptable in just one state of a 1st world country?? Instead they want to spend $X trying to filter what we see on the Internet when they could save lives. (i know its different between fed and state gov, but to me its all the same; useless)

A lack of vision from our 'leaders' has me looking forward to moving overseas so im not paying tax to the gov here in Aus


----------



## MrBurns (1 February 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> Its situations like these blackouts which are making me more and more disenchanted with Australia.
> 
> Dont get me wrong, its still a great country in which to live, but due to our political system and laziness it seems to me as though we are now only standing still, if not going backwards. How can 10 people per day dying due to heat be acceptable in just one state of a 1st world country?? Instead they want to spend $X trying to filter what we see on the Internet when they could save lives. (i know its different between fed and state gov, but to me its all the same; useless)
> 
> A lack of vision from our 'leaders' has me looking forward to moving overseas so im not paying tax to the gov here in Aus




The standard of polititians has been going backward for years. I now find State Govt is about the standard we expect from local Govt and it's just not good enough, in Victoria we have no water ,our trains are a heap of usless metal, our electricity supply is teetering on pathetic.

*Reasons - *

*Privatisation *- these are essential services and never should have been sold off.

*Polititians *- low grade morons just fit for attending functions.
I guess no one with any brains wants the job anymore ?


----------



## prawn_86 (1 February 2009)

MrBurns said:


> I guess no one with any brains wants the job anymore ?




I know we are going off topic, but personally i think its due to 'the system' and the fact that one person cant actually acheive anything even if they wanted to.


----------



## psychic (1 February 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> Its situations like these blackouts which are making me more and more disenchanted with Australia.
> 
> Dont get me wrong, its still a great country in which to live, but due to our political system and laziness it seems to me as though we are now only standing still, if not going backwards. How can 10 people per day dying due to heat be acceptable in just one state of a 1st world country?? Instead they want to spend $X trying to filter what we see on the Internet when they could save lives. (i know its different between fed and state gov, but to me its all the same; useless)
> 
> A lack of vision from our 'leaders' has me looking forward to moving overseas so im not paying tax to the gov here in Aus





Most 1st world countries have this same problem with extreme cold/hot weather and power outages, resulting in deaths its very common. Thousands of people die each year in North America and Europe thoughout the blizzard season.  Australia is no different, except we have the heat.  I am actually suprised the death rate isn't higher to be honest.


----------



## nunthewiser (1 February 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> Its situations like these blackouts which are making me more and more disenchanted with Australia.
> 
> Dont get me wrong, its still a great country in which to live, but due to our political system and laziness it seems to me as though we are now only standing still, if not going backwards. How can 10 people per day dying due to heat be acceptable in just one state of a 1st world country?? Instead they want to spend $X trying to filter what we see on the Internet when they could save lives. (i know its different between fed and state gov, but to me its all the same; useless)
> 
> A lack of vision from our 'leaders' has me looking forward to moving overseas so im not paying tax to the gov here in Aus




LOL , so prawn .name a goverment that IS ideal ,, the USA under bush? the poms? south africa ?.mate they all got there flaws ....i wouldnt live anywhere except for oz .........


----------



## psychic (1 February 2009)

What really suprises me is that fact that we are so greedy we deprive the sick and elderly of energy.  1 Greedy person needed to cool a room to 18 degrees, while their neighbour down the street got blacked out and died.

When I saw that ETSA was power shedding I switch off most of my appliances, as I felt gulity, and hoped that every bit of power I saved went to a sick or elderly person.

Think about that, we all contibuted to the deaths of these people by our greedy ways


----------



## prawn_86 (1 February 2009)

nunthewiser said:


> LOL , so prawn .name a goverment that IS ideal ,, the USA under bush? the poms? south africa ?.mate they all got there flaws ....i wouldnt live anywhere except for oz .........




I never said there is an ideal one, i am aware each country has its own set of problems. I just feel that Aus as a nation is standing still or going backwards, when it could be even better if our 'leaders' got off their **** and had some vision


----------



## nunthewiser (1 February 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> I never said there is an ideal one, i am aware each country has its own set of problems. I just feel that Aus as a nation is standing still or going backwards, when it could be even better if our 'leaders' got off their **** and had some vision




fair enough but i think this is one situation where the grass wont be greener on the other side........todays world leaders seem to be themselves led by whatever will keep them in for the next term rather than trying to change things for the better .

only my 2 cents


----------



## Smurf1976 (1 February 2009)

psychic said:


> Most 1st world countries have this same problem with extreme cold/hot weather and power outages



Indeed they do, because they too have gone to this "she'll be right" system of ad-hoc infrastructure investment that doesn't meet extreme peaks in demand because it's not profitable to do so.

Bottom line is privatisation and moreso the related "competition" has failed. 15 years ago when all this nonsense was about to happen, we had reliable supply that could meet the peak demands of the day. Then we made it "competitive", plant efficiency went down, marginal costs and emissions per unit of production went up, planning disappeared and now we're in the dark. 

I'd give that whole exercise a "fail".


----------



## noirua (1 February 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> Its situations like these blackouts which are making me more and more disenchanted with Australia.
> 
> Dont get me wrong, its still a great country in which to live, but due to our political system and laziness it seems to me as though we are now only standing still, if not going backwards. How can 10 people per day dying due to heat be acceptable in just one state of a 1st world country?? Instead they want to spend $X trying to filter what we see on the Internet when they could save lives. (i know its different between fed and state gov, but to me its all the same; useless)
> 
> A lack of vision from our 'leaders' has me looking forward to moving overseas so im not paying tax to the gov here in Aus



Those words "1st world country" sometimes mean little. Parts of Australia are deprived areas as there seems no monetary value in investing there.  
Also "still a great country" does again depend on where you live in Australia. Some places I was in were great and a few were so bad it was unbelievable - I am a whinger though. Perhaps the attitude of calling a person a pom because they whinge is a reason for not bothering to improve and lazing around in the heat.


----------



## wayneL (2 February 2009)

It's just started to snow in Cheltenham.

Any snow over your way Noi?


----------



## noirua (2 February 2009)

wayneL said:


> It's just started to snow in Cheltenham.
> 
> Any snow over your way Noi?



At 8pm it's snowing steadily in Kent and depth 8cm, temp minus 1.4 deg C and quite windy.


----------



## Dezza (2 February 2009)

Snowing on and off here in East London...nice and toasty inside though.


----------



## Prospector (2 February 2009)

Missed the tennis and the cricket, we had a blackout 

Temp overnight 30C  We have had six straight days of 40C; this week, 39 until Friday when it drops to 35, then 30 on Saturday and then 25 on Sunday.

If bloody Penny Wong says it is the result of global warming one more time I will EXPLODE!  How she can say that when we have only just broken the record set in 1908   is a truly inspirational piece of denial.


----------



## PeterJ (2 February 2009)

Prospector said:


> Missed the tennis and the cricket, we had a blackout
> 
> Temp overnight 30C  We have had six straight days of 40C; this week, 39 until Friday when it drops to 35, then 30 on Saturday and then 25 on Sunday.
> 
> If bloody Penny Wong says it is the result of global warming one more time I will EXPLODE!  How she can say that when we have only just broken the record set in 1908   is a truly inspirational piece of denial.




Hi Prospector

gotta luv em !!!!!

NO WATER, NO POWER

but Ah yes we will have a Desal plant soon

with no fricken power to run it

are there any brain cells left on North Terrace ?

Peter


----------



## Prospector (2 February 2009)

PeterJ said:


> NO WATER, NO POWER
> 
> but Ah yes we will have a Desal plant soon
> 
> with no fricken power to run it




Hey Peter, do you realise that there has been no mention at all, and certainly no cost estimate, as to how the water is going to get from Port Stanvac to our water supply?  There are no pipelines running from the sea back to any reservoirs!


----------



## PeterJ (2 February 2009)

Yep 
much of this heatwave is being caused from all the hot air
coming from North Terrace


----------



## Boggo (2 February 2009)

Prospector said:


> Hey Peter, do you realise that there has been no mention at all, and certainly no cost estimate, as to how the water is going to get from Port Stanvac to our water supply?  There are no pipelines running from the sea back to any reservoirs!




We have a new SA Water multi-storey taj mahal in Victoria Square, you want pipelines as well... c'mon Prospector, how can we afford that


----------



## noirua (2 February 2009)

The snow is gradually building up but temperature isn't as low as expected, minus 1.2 deg C. Measured snow at 10cm and fully prepared to be snowed in. Wind makes it bitingly cold.

Will leave the heating on all night. That coat I bought in Canada is becoming very handy, will try the snow shoes tomorrow.


----------



## Prospector (2 February 2009)

Actually, I have a good story about SA Water.  Yesterday our sewerage system blocked up, tree roots from a tree we removed last year.  So at lunchtime I called SA Water as you have to check with them first whether it is your side or their side.  Within 30 minutes (and this was a Sunday) an SA Water van arrived and got out his plunger thingy and spent the next 90 minutes cleaning out the street pipes and also doing us a favour by working on our side a bit, he didnt have to do that.  And then he seem embarassed when I offered him a glass of water in the 40degree heat.  Now that, is service.

Noirua, I am ignoring any posts that talk about temperatures less than 35c coz they make me so damn jealous.


----------



## wayneL (2 February 2009)

Central Londinium (from The Daily Wail)


----------



## Pat (2 February 2009)

Prospector said:


> And then he seem embarassed when I offered him a glass of water in the 40degree heat.  Now that, is service.



Maybe he wanted a beer? :


----------



## noirua (2 February 2009)

Prospector said:


> Actually, I have a good story about SA Water.  Yesterday our sewerage system blocked up, tree roots from a tree we removed last year.  So at lunchtime I called SA Water as you have to check with them first whether it is your side or their side.  Within 30 minutes (and this was a Sunday) an SA Water van arrived and got out his plunger thingy and spent the next 90 minutes cleaning out the street pipes and also doing us a favour by working on our side a bit, he didnt have to do that.  And then he seem embarassed when I offered him a glass of water in the 40degree heat.  Now that, is service.
> 
> Noirua, I am ignoring any posts that talk about temperatures less than 35c coz they make me so damn jealous.



Ignoring is fine Prospector, I'm enjoying the posts from the whinging Aussies. 

You'll be pleased to know that I'm snowed in. About 150mm of snow that's drifting and snow still falling. Snow ploughs haven't been used since 1991 and they haven't anyone available to drive them anyway.
All the buses are cancelled, no trains,  Gatwick Airport has abandoned flights for the day.
I was going to the Library but they say that's closed as well.

Will swap your heat for our snow and biting cold wind. Temp zero at 11.30am.


----------



## doctorj (2 February 2009)

wayneL said:


> Central Londinium (from The Daily Wail)



Snow 30cm deep or more in my backyard in the West and here in the city it's still coming down very heavily.

Thanks to the wonders of TfL, my 40min commute turned in to a 3hr 15 min mission.

According to the sign outside RBS across the street, it's -1 and the pound is continuing to do well against the euro


----------



## wayneL (2 February 2009)

doctorj said:


> Thanks to the wonders of TfL,




Just like Windows. Fantastic... when it works.


----------



## doctorj (2 February 2009)

wayneL said:


> Just like Windows. Fantastic... when it works.



Highlights of the trip this morning include the driver coming over the speaker on the tube and saying "Please do not be alarmed if you notice the carriage beginning to fill with smoke".


----------



## Julia (2 February 2009)

PeterJ said:


> Hi Prospector
> 
> gotta luv em !!!!!
> 
> ...



There was someone on ABC Radio today saying a pipeline from Tasmania to Adelaide and Victoria would actually cost less than the desal plant and if positioned to come from a higher altitude Tassie water source would not even need a pump, therefore running costs would be minimal.
I wonder if the S.A. and/or Victoria governments even considered this option?

I remember when SE Qld was in dire straits there was serious consideration given to ships (oil tanker size) carting water from New Zealand to fill the dams.

Has the temperature in Victoria and S.A. eased off any yet?


----------



## wayneL (2 February 2009)

doctorj said:


> Highlights of the trip this morning include the driver coming over the speaker on the tube and saying "Please do not be alarmed if you notice the carriage beginning to fill with smoke".




 LOL


Note to self for when we move to London: Drag the bike out of the shed when it snows. (It's only 7 miles from Wimbledon to the city FFS )


----------



## enigmatic (2 February 2009)

Over 40 most of summer, but right now i think its a mild 30 something 9Pm offcourse, Ill wait till March for the 50's post. But thats what you get in the North west dry hot weather.


----------



## noirua (2 February 2009)

Temperature is easing off in Kent and is down from zero to minus 0.8 deg C.  Raging blizzard now, blustery winds causing snowdrifts.
Will try my snow shoes out this afternoon.  If only we could have 40 deg C for a while.  Can't understand the complaining, you lucky people.


----------



## enigmatic (2 February 2009)

Definitely not complaining hate the cold 30C.. bit to cold for my liking, 15c at night is sweet.


----------



## doctorj (2 February 2009)

wayneL said:


> LOL
> 
> 
> Note to self for when we move to London: Drag the bike out of the shed when it snows. (It's only 7 miles from Wimbledon to the city FFS )



I'd love to cycle in to town, but the absence of appropriate infrastructure puts me off.  Footpaths are pedestrian only and there are very few cycle lanes (even fewer on helpful routes).  Cyclists are all too frequently hit by a wild bendy bus or truck driver not checking his blind spot.

In other news the snow has really eased off here in the last 15mins and it’s just a light flutter now.  Most banks here are operating at reduced capacity (I haven’t looked yet, but apparently volumes are appreciably down on the LSE).

Looks like the UK is turning into another Iceland on the weather front as well J


----------



## wayneL (2 February 2009)

doctorj said:


> In other news the snow has really eased off here in the last 15mins and it’s just a light flutter now.




I think it's all moving over to this side. We've only had an inch or two, but it's starting to get heavier.



> Most banks here are operating at reduced capacity (I haven’t looked yet, but apparently volumes are appreciably down on the LSE). Looks like the UK is turning into another Iceland on the weather front as well J




Just watching The Politics Show just now, they're saying it's going to be hard to raise a quorum... hardly any of the thieving b@stards can get in to Westminster... or is it really starting to live up(down) to the Reykjavik on Thames tag? 

You've got to laugh.


----------



## doctorj (2 February 2009)

OK, it's really bucketing down here now (hmmm - or does that refer to rain? What's the snow equivalent?).  Big chunky flakes.  Exchange Square is well covered.


----------



## nunthewiser (2 February 2009)

doctorj said:


> OK, it's really bucketing down here now (hmmm - or does that refer to rain? What's the snow equivalent?).  Big chunky flakes.  Exchange Square is well covered.




HOLY MOLY! re that photo!


----------



## noirua (2 February 2009)

I'm rising above all these problems. About to put on my snow shoes and head off out into the unknown.  This is despite the blizzard that's heading for London and snow now 200mm deep with blustery winds.
Everything was OK in Canada so should be OK now, snow seems to be more crunchy here and gives a lot more.


----------



## doctorj (2 February 2009)

noirua said:


> I'm rising above all these problems. About to put on my snow shoes and head off out into the unknown. This is despite the blizzard that's heading for London and snow now 200mm deep with blustery winds.



Blizzard?  I haven't seen a weather forecast?  Is it likely to get worse? Will it continue overnight or tomorrow?

We've just had an email go around the office advising us to go home and to make arrangements to work from there.

The Russians (and there's a lot of them in the office) are having a good ol' chuckle at the Brits.  What they don't understand is this is like conversational gold for the Brits - they LOVE talking about the weather and they LOVE whinging about transport delays.


----------



## wayneL (2 February 2009)

Oh its chucking it down in Cheltenham... huge clumps of snow.

Postcard material amongst all the regency buildings here. 

Wooooooow.


----------



## white_crane (3 February 2009)

Let me just get the scuba gear out and I'll get back to you...:fish::fish::fish:


----------



## noirua (3 February 2009)

doctorj said:


> Blizzard?  I haven't seen a weather forecast?  Is it likely to get worse? Will it continue overnight or tomorrow?
> 
> We've just had an email go around the office advising us to go home and to make arrangements to work from there.
> 
> The Russians (and there's a lot of them in the office) are having a good ol' chuckle at the Brits.  What they don't understand is this is like conversational gold for the Brits - they LOVE talking about the weather and they LOVE whinging about transport delays.




Forecast is for about 30cm of snow in London.  So, stay in your office overnight as you may not get back in the morning. 
I came back from my snowshoe walk as I couldn't see much and I should have put on my dark glasses.  Something wrong with this snow, maybe the temperature isn't as low as in Canada.  It's quite hard work.


----------



## doctorj (3 February 2009)

I think I'll do the sensible thing and work from home tomorrow if it continues overnight.


----------



## noirua (3 February 2009)

doctorj said:


> I think I'll do the sensible thing and work from home tomorrow if it continues overnight.



Forecast is for heavy snow in London overnight and temp minus 2 Deg C.  BBC has issued a severe weather warning for London and the home counties. Snow depth is now 25cm in West Kent and snowing steadily. Sky still pinkish grey indicating a lot of snow up there.


----------



## wayneL (3 February 2009)

doctorj said:


> I think I'll do the sensible thing and work from home tomorrow if it continues overnight.




If you get home.


----------



## doctorj (3 February 2009)

I'm thinking about heading off - severe delays and closures on all lines...


----------



## theasxgorilla (3 February 2009)

noirua said:


> Forecast is for about 30cm of snow in London.




You lucky b@stards!  We got a little, but nothing staying on the ground.


----------



## wayneL (3 February 2009)

theasxgorilla said:


> You lucky b@stards!  We got a little, but nothing staying on the ground.




How do they cope with it on that side of the little ditch G? The the world stop turning or business as usual?


----------



## Dezza (3 February 2009)

Snow finally stopped falling for the first time today. Lets see how we go overnight!


----------



## Prospector (3 February 2009)

Julia said:


> Has the temperature in Victoria and S.A. eased off any yet?




Yup, eased off considerably - we had our first day under 40c in 7 days, it was only 39!  39 today, 38 Wednesday and Thursday and 40 again on Friday.  35 on Saturday and then.........25!  But no rain.


----------



## theasxgorilla (3 February 2009)

wayneL said:


> How do they cope with it on that side of the little ditch G? The the world stop turning or business as usual?




When we had a cold snap just after NY that froze all the roads and canals the TV and papers were full of footage of cars that had slid off the road into ditches or canals.  If there was as much snow fall as you guys have had I'd expect the same mayhem.  Heck, even southern Sweden experiences "snow chaos" on an annual basis.


----------



## doctorj (3 February 2009)

The snow in my backyard has actually been melting for the last few hours and there's no sign of the blizzards the BBC claimed were coming... yet.


----------



## noirua (3 February 2009)

doctorj said:


> The snow in my backyard has actually been melting for the last few hours and there's no sign of the blizzards the BBC claimed were coming... yet.



Not sure what happened to your blizzard that should have arrived - that's weather forecasting here.  Temperature is falling sharply again now to below zero after rising to 4 deg C.


----------



## Prospector (3 February 2009)

Last night at 6pm our weather bureau told us to remove cars from under trees, batten down the hatches and prepare for heavy gale force winds.   So we got to work and cut down a branch that was near our power lines, and took all the outdoor furniture inside etc etc
Hm, a gentle breeze later, and by 8.30pm the warning just seemed to disappear off the website.  And no further news of their stuff up this morning.


----------



## Agentm (3 February 2009)

from someone i know in the uk.. they have the extreme of cold

it seems almost tranquil, yet you take a picture of a dried up lawn and dead trees in this heat wave  and it looks as bad and sad as it is...

my garden has lost 3 trees so far from the heat, with a forth about to die quickly soon it seems.. but no fires to worry about and tomorrow i can water the crap out of the gardens


----------



## wayneL (4 February 2009)

Nice photo Agent

Here'a a couple that were in the Telegraph.

This one is Richmond Park; only 7 miles from Big Ben and straight across the road from my new place.






Snow bears? LOL


----------



## wayneL (4 February 2009)

Britain's Biggest Snowball HAHAHA

Some twit even tries to ride it.


----------



## Dezza (4 February 2009)

Haha. Classic. How many freakin' people were there to build/watch that snowball?? 

Here's my snow creation from yesterday...still working out how to build a snowman.


----------



## CoffeeKing (4 February 2009)

Dezza said:


> Haha. Classic. How many freakin' people were there to build/watch that snowball??
> 
> Here's my snow creation from yesterday...still working out how to build a snowman.




LOL... you advertising to the people in all the flats...


----------



## wayneL (6 February 2009)

More snow in Cheltenham this morning, so took some snaps:


♫♫Doo,Doo,Doo. lookin' out may back door♫♫







Sandford Park in Cheltenham. In summer this has flower beds around it... marigolds, petunias, the whole box and dice.






I took heaps more, but as you are probably already bored, that will do.


----------



## Prospector (6 February 2009)

And this used to be a thriving river community:  Lower lakes near the Murray River mouth


----------



## noirua (6 February 2009)

Prospector said:


> And this used to be a thriving river community:  Lower lakes near the Murray River mouth



Interesting as I seem to remember learning about this area very many moons ago - plenty of water then.

Hindmarsh Island (Kumarangk) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindmarsh_Island

Goolwa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goolwa
Site of the first inland port and Australia's first railway:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Harbor_railway_line,_South_Australia

...and this important Steam Ranger Historic Train Society ( the only broad gauge steam trains running in Australia):  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SteamRanger


----------



## Prospector (6 February 2009)

noirua said:


> Interesting as I seem to remember learning about this area very many moons ago - plenty of water then.
> 
> Hindmarsh Island (Kumarangk) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindmarsh_Island
> 
> ...




Plenty of water 3 years ago.  Hindmarsh Island will soon be accessible by walking across the river bed - guess that means it isnt an island anymore.  And Goolwa is a port no more.  The boats are either gone, or stuck in the soil.  There are now dust storms in the river bed.  It is a national disgrace.


----------



## nunthewiser (6 February 2009)

was along the coorong a couple of months ago ..... turned to sludge also some parts of it ...BIG change from 10 years ago./ quite sad actually


----------



## noirua (6 February 2009)

Prospector said:


> Plenty of water 3 years ago.  Hindmarsh Island will soon be accessible by walking across the river bed - guess that means it isnt an island anymore.  And Goolwa is a port no more.  The boats are either gone, or stuck in the soil.  There are now dust storms in the river bed.  It is a national disgrace.



If it was near Canberra they'd spend many millions of dollars on it.  Steam trains are of great interest in the UK, Canada and America, perhaps they'll buy the Island one day and make it what it deserves to be.


----------



## Prospector (7 February 2009)

It is hell at the moment.  41C and gale force northerly winds.  If a fire breaks out now, CFS have admitted that they will be unable to stop it.  Renmark is expected to be 48C today.  I have never seen 48 forecast before.  Victoria must be similar, although they had a cool day yesterday, we had 43.  Yet I see NSW has grabbed the headlines saying it will be the hottest place on earth tomorrow.  Typical NSW-centric reporting.


----------



## captain black (7 February 2009)

Prospector said:


> Renmark is expected to be 48C today.  I have never seen 48 forecast before.




yeh, a forecast of 48C isn't something I've seen before. Renmark is sitting on 45C at the moment, down here in Loxton it's 44C and blowing a gale. Truly awful. Can't wait for the cool change this evening. My poor old vegie garden isn't looking too good today


----------



## prawn_86 (7 February 2009)

captain black said:


> yeh, a forecast of 48C isn't something I've seen before. Renmark is sitting on 45C at the moment, down here in Loxton it's 44C and blowing a gale. Truly awful. Can't wait for the cool change this evening. My poor old vegie garden isn't looking too good today




Ha, Im originally from Waikerie. All i know about Loxton is we used to flog you in the footy :

Glad im in Adel under an a/c rather than up there today


----------



## captain black (7 February 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> Ha, Im originally from Waikerie. All i know about Loxton is we used to flog you in the footy :




heh, you still do, especially when the "roo" comes home to play!! Great match last year when the Roo played for Waikerie and Tony Modra played for Renmark, half the riverland were there!


----------



## Bushman (7 February 2009)

46.4 degrees at 3pm in Melbourne. I have never been so hot in my life. Incredible - like being near a blast furnace.


----------



## awg (7 February 2009)

If anyone watches SBS WorldNews, I have noticed the temp in Bagdad, Iraq is over 40C most days May thru August, even saw 50C one day!

With all the black clothing they get about in, makes me wonder if it contributes to the somewhat murderous situation that prevails over there.


----------



## Smurf1976 (8 February 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> Glad im in Adel under an a/c rather than up there today



Those temperatures especially in Vic are just ridiculous. 46, 47, 48 - now that's hot!

Further to my previous posts about power, just be glad this has happened on a weekend and not during on Monday - Friday. No way would the power grid have coped if all businesses were open, we'd have had major rolling blackouts all over the place. Even on a Saturday, the system in Vic has come pretty close to blackouts with very high demand plus fire damage to the grid itself.


----------



## noirua (8 February 2009)

Bushman said:


> 46.4 degrees at 3pm in Melbourne. I have never been so hot in my life. Incredible - like being near a blast furnace.



Temperature in Kent at 3pm is 1.6 degrees, light wind and sleet. Grey sky with dark grey clouds. Generally gloomy after being bright and sunny earlier, with some snow from earlier in the week still lying.
Forecast for tomorrow is sleet and light snow showers with temperature rising to 4 degrees. Outlook cold and damp with ice cold winds at times.


----------



## GumbyLearner (8 February 2009)

Well in my neck of the woods it's been frigid to say the least.

In the last three weeks the overnight minimum has been -10 or lower.

I live on the Korean Peninsula.

Very close to the resting place of Lee Sun Shin. The famous undefeated Admiral of the Korean Navy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_Sun-sin

It's been the most bitter and cold winter in memory in my experience.


----------



## noirua (8 February 2009)

GumbyLearner said:


> Well in my neck of the woods it's been frigid to say the least.
> 
> In the last three weeks the overnight minimum has been -10 or lower.
> 
> ...



Nearly as cold as Canada. I will have to swot up on Korean history a bit.


----------



## GumbyLearner (8 February 2009)

noirua said:


> Nearly as cold as Canada. I will have to swot up on Korean history a bit.




Yeah Canada is super-cold compared to what Aussie's think. I have work colleagues who will walk out in their T-Shirts. They would laugh at these temps. But they would also melt like chocolate in OZ!


----------



## Prospector (8 February 2009)

Well, we had our third blackout in 10 days.    First time I rang ETSA they didnt even log the job because I was the first caller, and they dont do anything until a second call comes in.  But many people dont worry about reporting blackouts, so that can take some time.  So I called back an hour later to find the job hadnt even been registered.   By now I knew our neighbours were also out, so they agreed to log the job.

Anyway, today is cooler and we even had a drop (1ml) of rain; our first rain since Christmas.


----------



## noirua (8 February 2009)

Prospector said:


> Well, we had our third blackout in 10 days.    First time I rang ETSA they didnt even log the job because I was the first caller, and they dont do anything until a second call comes in.  But many people dont worry about reporting blackouts, so that can take some time.  So I called back an hour later to find the job hadnt even been registered.   By now I knew our neighbours were also out, so they agreed to log the job.
> 
> Anyway, today is cooler and we even had a drop (1ml) of rain; our first rain since Christmas.



I don't know what to say really. I went out for a walk this evening and didn't realize that some of the melted snow has frozen as black ice. Both feet went and I took a tumble but no harm done, and I was being careful. 

When the winter comes there will be so much rain the Murray Mouth will flood and you'll all be under water.  You must be due for lots of it, nature always balances in the end.


----------



## Prospector (8 February 2009)

Hey Noirua,  you said it three times!


----------



## noirua (9 February 2009)

Prospector said:


> Hey Noirua,  you said it three times!



I don't know how that happened. Usually I would spot such an error and delete a repeat post, must be the cold getting into my bones and brain as well. :bonk:


----------



## CoffeeKing (9 February 2009)

wayneL said:


> More snow in Cheltenham this morning, so took some snaps:
> 
> 
> ♫♫Doo,Doo,Doo. lookin' out may back door♫♫




Yo Wayne, how do you stand it - Brrrrrrrrr - 
Any Brass monkeys running around looking for an oxy torch 
Can ya still get to the local ???


----------



## noirua (25 April 2022)

Riding in Cars with Dogs
					

Follow these rules and regulations for dogs riding in cars to keep your family safe on the road. Find out more about the laws for restraining your pets.




					www.shine.com.au
				



Riding in Cars with Dogs​
Australians love to travel with their furry friends. Many of us consider them key participants on our family adventures and whilst it is common knowledge that wearing a seatbelt is an essential requirement when getting in a car, many of us are unaware of what rules apply to our dogs when it comes to riding along with us.

Statistics tell us that 5,000 dogs are killed or injured in road accidents in Australia each year due to improper restraining. This is an alarming number, one that most of us don’t pay enough attention to. 1


----------

