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January 3rd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
Cool relief from Victoria’s heat wave is on the way but authorities fear lightning could spark more fires.
FIRES and blackouts have caused havoc in Australia’s sweltering southern states, as the heatwave heads north, bringing 45C temperatures to Queensland.
Blackouts and fires have marked South Australia’s first heatwave of the summer.
In Victoria, police fear at least two blazes yesterday may have been deliberately lit, and authorities say lightning storms tonight could spark bushfires. The warning comes as hundreds spent the day without power.
In South Australia, residents were sweating on a cool change, after power was cut to 3300 properties yesterday.
In Queensland, Birdsville residents were gearing up for 45C conditions today, with humidity preventing even higher temperatures.
And Tasmania has recorded a warmest-ever overnight temperature for January.
Power outages, fires hit Victoria
Hundreds of Victorian residents were left without power today as power was cut because of the heatwave.
An increase in consumption is believed to have caused the outage that left 450 Sunbury residents without power for up to 19 hours.
It comes after Victoria’s Country Fire Authority battled more than 100 small blazes across the state yesterday including three significant fires at Stonehaven, Koroit and Rosedale.
Fire commissioner Craig Lapsley said the cause of all fires would be investigated but police would focus on two which began on roadsides north of Warrnambool.
He said it was possible the fires were caused by a cigarette butt.
“We are very conscious of arson and we are working very closely with Victoria Police,” he said.
The CFA has also launched an investigation into how a tanker caught fire soon after getting bogged while battling a large blaze.
Although the temperature in Melbourne today failed to hit the predicted 35C high, Mr Lapsley said the cool change could bring a new fire threat.
“Today we’ve got another day of severe weather in the northern part of the state,” he said.
“But we will see a weather change move through today and that will bring dry lightening which has the potential to start other fires.
“The Bureau of Meteorology is currently watching the thunderstorm developments, there’s currently lightening approaching the Mallee from the north-west and we’re expecting further thunderstorm activity develop over Western Victoria this afternoon and also across Victoria’s eastern districts including the southern foothills of the Grampians,” he said.
“That thunderstorm risk will extend to Central districts including Melbourne this evening.”
45C forecast for Birdsville, Queensland
Meanwhile, sweltering conditions are also making their presence felt in Queensland.
Birdsville, in the state’s far southwest, is being saved from record temperatures by just one thing: the humidity.
“This morning they had a minimum of 31 and it will be getting up to about 45 today,” Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jonty Hall told The Courier-Mail.
“The overnight minimum is about five degrees above average, and its the same for the maximum,” Mr Hall said.
“There’s a high pressure system on the east coast of Australia and a low through the centre, so in between there’s a trough where these north winds are getting whipped up.
“It (the system) will gradually push east as far as the Darling Downs in the next few days.”
Birdsville’s record maximum for this time of year is 48.5 degrees, in January 2004.
The only saviour from especially high temperatures is an extra dose of humidity.
“It’s not completely dry as it generally is – that’s probably the reason that temperatures aren’t getting even higher. That makes a big difference,” Mr Hall said.
Tassie temp a record for January
Tasmania caught the edges of the heatwave, with the warmest-ever overnight temperature for January recorded at Hobart airport.
The low of 21.2C came before Hobart reached 33 today, with Fingal in the northeast top-scoring when it hit 35C.
The conditions had Forestry Tasmania and the Tasmania Fire Service attending to about 10 bushfires.
One, at Russell south-west of Hobart, was 15km from the nearest property but Forestry fire manager Tony Blanks said it was likely to be contained this evening.
Mr Blanks said another fire, near Mt Roland in the state’s north-west, appeared to have been deliberately lit but there was not enough evidence to refer the incident to police.
Weather conditions were expected to ease tonight with showers and a top temperature of just 20 predicted for Hobart.
South Australia sweats on cool change
In South Australia, blackouts and fires have marked the state’s first heatwave of the summer with Adelaide sweltering through its hottest New Year for more than a century.
Adelaide was sweating on a forecast cool change today after four days with the temperatures in the high-30s or hotter, including two days above 40C.
On Saturday, the mercury hit 38C and then on New Year’s Day it reached 41.6C, giving Adelaide its hottest start to a new year since 1900 when the high was 43.1C.
Yesterday was not much better with Adelaide reaching 40.6C.
The weather bureau says a cool change is expected to sweep across the state this evening, dropping the city’s forecast temperature for tomorrow to a more manageable 25C.
The heatwave conditions prompted power company ETSA Utilities to cut electricity supplies to about 3300 properties on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula yesterday, as the extreme heat and high winds raised concerns of bushfires.
The decision left many tourist-related businesses, including hotels, restaurants and cafes, without power for several hours, prompting criticism over the lack of notice.
But ETSA defended the decision, given the dangers presented by the weather conditions, and said a statement warning of the potential for blackouts had been issued early yesterday morning.
In the southeast, the Country Fire Service was called to deal with a scrub fire, which threatened the seaside town of Robe on New Year’s Day.
The blaze burned uncontrolled for more than an hour, but did not cause any major damage.
In Adelaide, firefighters battled two serious fires in the searing heat.
Yesterday, a blaze at an alternative fuels depot at suburban Wingfield was brought under control by 55 firefighters.
That blaze was just 200m away from another major fire on Sunday at the waste facility, which took about 80 firefighters more than two hours to contain.
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