The hottest day ever and a koala story

from w
About 5.15 p.m. It is sweltering today, the hottest day on record for Melbourne and this part of the world. For Fijians it is even hot! Over 45 degrees centigrade. At nearby Avalon airport it hit a staggering 47.9 degrees - the hottest day on record in Victoria. And that's in the shade. Central Melbourne is also sweltering through its hottest day since records started in 1855, hitting 46.4 degrees. But the cool change is on the way. Temperatures in Western Victoria have dropped as much as 20 degrees in the past two hours, going as low as 19 degrees at Point Nelson. The current CBD temperature has dropped to 45.7 degrees.

The Hopetoun Airport in the Mallee hit a staggering 47.6 degrees at 2.30pm, but 20 minutes later Avalon broke the record again with 47.9. Melbourne hit 46 degrees at 2.27pm, breaking the record for the all-time hottest day of 45.6 degrees in 1939, which was Black Friday.

A cool change is expected to reach here about 6pm. This morning had been okay early on as I went to a car boot sale in the East Geelong church grounds and we sat in the shade yarning. Lucky I came home before 11 though as it was intensely hot by midday with a wild wind as well. Now it is starting to cool-off a little bit.

How much heat does a koala bear?

Last week there was a cute story about a rescued koala in the Anakie ranges - about 28 koalas were rescued during the heat wave. This little one - about nine months old, jumped into a bucket of water to beat the heat! Now that koala is a star on the internet apparently.
from Kerri-Ann Hobbs
February 7th, 2009

A TINY koala rescued from a Maude property in last week's record heatwave will remain in care until the end of the year.
"Star", as she has been dubbed by Anakie wildlife carer Sandi Murdoch, is lucky to be alive after being abandoned by her mother at just nine months of age.
Since appearing in the Geelong Advertiser on January 31, Star has become an international sensation.
Viral emails of her plight has swept the globe and dozens of websites show her standing in a bucket of cool water in a bid to escape the heat.
"She was dehydrated and obviously heat-stressed," Ms Murdoch said.
"She is doing brilliantly.
"The heat is really hard on koalas and ring-tail possums."
The searing heat saw a record 28 koalas need help from Ms Murdoch.
Two failed to survive the extreme stress and dehydration following four days of temperatures above 40C.Ms Murdoch still has 17 koalas at her Anakie home, including two youngsters keeping Star company inside the house. Ms Murdoch said most koalas stayed with their mothers until at least a year old, with many in the wild still being babied at 15 months of age. Star would be released in early spring into bushland bordering Ms Murdoch's property.