It's raining!

[canetoad]

Not a torrential downpour, but water is falling from the sky in West Gippsland, Australia.

A big band of rain is currently overhead and heading eastwards towards the fires in the east on the Vic. / NSW border. Here's hoping it gives some relief to the poor souls in the bushfire areas.

Victorian rain radar: http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR021.loop.shtml#skip

[trueblue2007]

1. i pray they get 5 inches of rain .... all over the country!!!! God Bless Austrailia.

[Wounded Bear]

5. Floods and mudslides...

maybe spread out over a few days or a week.

[malaise]

2. Lovely

Let it rain - all the best for 2020 canetoad.

[canetoad]

3. Thanks malaise

Along with El Nino/La Nina, there are two big weather patterns that affect our rainfall - the Indian Ocean dipole and the Southern Annular Mode. Both of these have been really unfavourable for rain this past year. The weather bureau predicts they are starting to ease.

Best wishes to you and yours in 2020.

[2naSalit]

28. OMGosh

are you over there? I didn't realize if so. I do hope the fires end soon. I live in wildfire country in the US and it's always a factor in non-winter months.

[canetoad]

30. Sure am 2naSalit

On the coast, about 150 - 200kms west of the fires. Been pretty smokey last couple of days. Ya know what's really scary? That the west coast US fire season is now starting to overlap ours.

Rake your forests and I'll rake ours.

[2naSalit]

32. Ha!

At least you, hopefully, aren't in danger of getting burned out! (said you're west of them)

I've had fires pretty close to where I am, in the Rockies, to where I became a heavy "smoker" for weeks on end. When fire seasons on opposite hemispheres overlap, it's cause for concern. It's like tornado and hurricane seasons are much longer than they used to be.

Here's to a long, cool drizzle over the whole continent to cool it all down.

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. I hope that it rains hard and does so for a long time.

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. Except that too much of a good thing is often a bad thing.

[Blue_true]

9. With bare ground, too much rain is bad.

Better to get a good drizzle that wets everything. No downpour.

[soldierant]

21. Living along the Front Range of the Rockies,

it's not difficult to remember that. In fact, it could be difficult to forget it.

[2naSalit]

29. +1

[msongs]

7. wet monsoon season is beginning in the northern part of AU nt

[cureautismnow]

8. Let it Rain

[babylonsister]

10. Fabulous news! I think of you

and your countrymen/women and what they're going through this winter, and my heart breaks. xoxox

[Kurt V.]

11. good news. Meanwhile 1600 miles away jakarta got 15 inches of rain in a single day.

(a record) yikes.

[Warpy]

12. I hope those southerly gales are bringing some moisture in

People who have posted from the fire areas have talked about a few drops of hot, dirty rain here and there as some of the steam condenses out of the thick smoke. They also said you can't trust the radar since the smoke is showing up as light showers, so I hope what you're seeing is real..

There have also been a few photos posted of New Zealand glaciers stained a dirty yellow from the smoke.

[canetoad]

13. Yep - about the smoke showing on the radars

But it generally looks different to real rain - scattered little white spots. But it's really raining here - I have buckets in the backyard to top up my tadpole pond.

I've been tracking the smoke plume towards NZ - ugly. You can see it here, turn on 'Coastal' in the bottom left Layers menu to see some definition. http://satview.bom.gov.au/

[Hekate]

14. I'm so happy to hear this. May it drizzle for days and days ...

Enough to put the big burn out very soon, and bring relief to man and beast.

This morning's Los Angeles Times has a letter from an Aussie, telling is this is the future of the world if we don't wake up our leaders now. True dat.

Stay safe, friend.

[SammyWinstonJack]

15. Good News!

😀

[marble falls]

16. I hope it cools and there's a bunch more rain!!!

[Violet_Crumble]

17. Raining in Canberra and at the coast too...

And pretty much what yr experiencing. Not sure how much effect it'll have on helping to control the fires at the coast, but with the much cooler temperatures today, hopefully it'll help...

Captain's Flat radar for Canberra and the South Coast -

http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR403.loop.shtml#skip

Canberra has the worst air quality in the world this morning. Not as bad as New Years Day when it went off the charts, but it's so dark and smoky I've got all windows closed and the lights on in the house...

https://www.airvisual.com/world-air-quality-ranking

[canetoad]

18. It's not a lot VC

But every little bit helps. The rain over Gippsland seems to be getting heavier as it moves east. Take it easy mate.

[Violet_Crumble]

36. Hope you got some decent rain...

It fizzled out here mid-morning, but the temperature stayed down at almost half of what it was yesterday....

Take care, and let's hope things start improving...

[HeiressofBickworth]

33. Hi Violet

I recall that you and I corresponded quite some time ago about my previous residence in Berrima. I just read in the Sydney Morning Herald that fires are now in the Berrima area. It breaks my heart to think that historic village is in danger.

[Violet_Crumble]

35. Hi! I remember you!

Hope you're doing well, and any family and friends of yrs here are safe...

Yes, the Southern Highlands has been badly hit. I hope Berrima is safe.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/05/we-realised-we-cant-stop-this-locals-flee-inferno-that-smashed-nsw-village-of-wingello

Meanwhile, here's Canberra today. I ventured outside briefly just after dinner and came back in with sore eyes and a sore throat

[catchnrelease]

19. Maybe this really helped!

[link:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-09/indigenous-australians-unite-in-historic-healing-ceremony/11781738?

[Mickju]

20. I'm relieved to hear this.

I have people I love in Sydney and Brisbane.

[HeiressofBickworth]

34. My sister lives

in Moss Vale and my brother is in Sydney. I can't imagine breathing all that smoke!

[UniteFightBack]

22. I heard this when I was driving around town today. They said that conditions are much better

and will remain so for the rest of the week.

[Aussie105]

23. Gentrle drizzle in Adelaide today.

Hopefully, a lot more falling on the hills areas where the fires are.

[Aussie105]

24. Meanwhile, Jeremy Clarkson said this:

Last edited Sun Jan 5, 2020, 12:02 AM - Edit history (1)

"As firefighters continue to battle the vast number of infernos, with high winds complicating matters in many areas of the country, Clarkson is putting the blame on God.

The television host - who infamously told climate activist Greta Thunberg to "shut up" and said she was a "spoilt brat" - says he has "suspected for some time" that the big man above "didn't want people to live in Australia".
"He created it as a continent far, far away where he could house all his experiments that had gone wrong," Clarkson wrote in a column for British tabloid The Sun."

Too sad how an over the hill, not-funny person has to make stupid comments just to try to prove he is still relevant and funny.

He is neither. The stupid hurts.

[canetoad]

25. He's a fucking dropkick

[mcar]

26. Oh I hope so, canetoad

Let it rain!

[canetoad]

27. Just heard an update

It's lightened off, but almost reached Mallacoota. Not expected to make much of a dent in the fires but gives the firefighters a slight break.

There are fewer fires because some have joined up.

[Bayard]

31. Really glad, Canetoad!

Hope it drizzles for weeks. Been seeing the horrific news and photos.....heartbreaking.

[democrank]

37. Absolutely wonderful news!

Sending my best~