Sweltering in Sydney
SYDNEY Parts of New South Wales are expected to face an unprecedented catastrophic fire danger today, despite Sydney breathing a sigh of relief as temperatures cool.
The mercury surged past 40 degrees C in more than 50 of the state’s city’s and towns yesterday, but Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the real test lay ahead.
Citing Australia’s worst bushfire disaster, the Black Saturday blazes which claimed 173 lives in February 2009, Fitzsimmons said the forecast fire indices for today were greater than those faced by Victoria at that time.
However ‘‘at this stage no fires are posing a threat’’, he said. ‘‘They are all at advice level, and we are doing a lot of work.’’
The monster hot air mass hovering over NSW had had ‘‘a baking effect’’ on vegetation, he said, which meant extreme fire warnings.
Conditions were set to intensify in centres including Dubbo, Coonabarabran and Narrabri in the north through to the Hunter Valley and the coast at Port Stephens.
Fitzsimmons urged people to prepare early and stay out of danger by spending time at the the movies or shopping centres.
A total fire ban is in place across NSW. The Bureau of Meteorology said very hot conditions associated with the mass of air, combined with fresh westerly winds over the southern half of the state, meant a severe fire danger for the Central and Southern ranges, Lower Central West and Hunter districts.
The mercury had nudged 44C in parts of Sydney’s west by early yesterday afternoon, while the hottest place in the state during the morning hours was Ivanhoe, which recorded a pre-noon high of 45C.
The Australian Market Energy Operator said NSW faced a possible lack of power supply. AGL said it would cut back on electricity use at its Tomago Aluminium Smelter in Newcastle, which uses about 10 per cent of the state’s power.
On Friday, NSW avoided load shedding of households in part by asking Tomago, the country’s biggest aluminium smelter, to reduce use by about 300 megawatts. That was roughly the shortage that prompted blackouts to about 90,000 households in South Australia on Wednesday.
The extraordinary heatwave scorching much of NSW is set to bring yet more grief, with health authorities issuing an air pollution alert for increased levels of ozone in the atmosphere in Sydney, which is likely to affect residents with respiratory problems.
On Friday, Hay Airport reached 47.4C, the third-hottest temperature recorded in February for NSW – a high mark that might be bettered over the weekend.
Dr Ben Scalley, from NSW Health, urged people with respiratory conditions in Sydney to take precautions due to high ozone pollution, caused by car exhaust and industrial fumes. Ozone pollution was particularly bad on hot, still days, he said.
‘‘Parents are advised to limit outside play for children with asthma,’’ Scalley said.
‘‘Ozone levels reach their peak around 7pm . . . and tend to be lowest in the morning, so it’s best to plan outdoor play in the morning, when the day is cooler.’’
He urged asthma sufferers to follow their asthma action plans and take their relieving medication where necessary. If symptoms became worse, those affected should seek medical advice.
NSW could average 8C above average – recording about 43C – at the peak of the heat.
The current record for February is 41.99C. Reaching the alltime high would be a bit tougher – that figure stands at 44.06C, set on January 14, 1939.
‘‘For NSW, the area coverage of the heat is extremely rare, comparable with events such as the 1939 heatwave that were associated with the Black Friday bushfires in Victoria,’’ Karl Braganza, head of climate monitoring at the Bureau of Meteorology, said, adding that the current record February day for the state was set in 2004.
Rob Rogers, the Rural Fire Service (RFS) Deputy Commissioner, said ‘‘catastrophic’’ fire ratings had been issued only once before in NSW, in 2013, since national standardised ratings were introduced in 2009.
He offered a blunt message to those considering visiting fireprone areas: don’t go.
‘‘Go to the beach instead, do something else, particularly those people who may be thinking about camping. Plan it for another time,’’ he said.
He said firefighters were expecting a particularly tough five-hour period today, before a southerly change swept through in the evening and into tomorrow morning. AP, Fairfax