Australia Experiencing Wildfires, Floods, Dust and Snow (IMAGE)
Caption
Australia is another country that is experiencing its share of weird weather patterns in February 2019. At present the country is experiencing fires, floods, dust storms and even snow in Tasmania which in summer is quite unusual. In both the southeast and southwest parts of Australia wildfires are wreaking havoc. Hot, dry, and windy conditions (January was the hottest month on record) which were caused by a strong front that has swept through the area, have sparked wildfires and caused those fires to spread rapidly. Temperatures are in the 30s and 40s (C) (86 to 104F) across most of New South Wales. The front with heavy winds picked up dust and spread it across much of South Australia and the western parts of New South Wales causing wind damage across the region. As the front moved through the region, the cooler air behind it caused the strange weather in Tasmania--snow. The strong cold front originating almost from the South Pole introduced a much colder air mass to parts of Tasmania and Victoria. The result? It was snowing on the fires that were still blazing in Tasmania. The extreme cold is helping to dampen the ongoing fires in that region.
Floods are found in northern Australia due to the monsoons that come during the summer months. But it is these same storms that cause the fire outbreaks in the south. It's all about the air masses. The rising air across the northern parts of the country moves and sinks over the southern part drying out that region. These high pressure systems bringing in the dry air sit further north in winter, but farther south in the the summer. High pressure systems prevent rain and draw warmer air from over the continent down to the south and fuel heatwaves which spark fires.
Lastly, a category-two cyclone, Oma, is hovering in the South Pacific. Its current location is near Vanuatu but there is a chance it could head towards Australia. Creating yet another weather pattern in a country that has already had its share and then some.
In this image captured by the MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite on Feb. 13, 2019, fires are burning in New South Wales, Australia. Each hot spot, which appears as a red mark, is an area where the thermal detectors on the MODIS instrument recognized temperatures higher than background. When accompanied by plumes of smoke, as in this image, such hot spots are diagnostic for fire. The smoke released by any type of fire (forest, brush, crop, structure, tires, waste or wood burning) is a mixture of particles and chemicals produced by incomplete burning of carbon-containing materials. All smoke contains carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and particulate matter or soot.
Credit
Image Courtesy: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Caption: Lynn Jenner with information from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology
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