Maleny Weather

Environmental Health Risk of Shipping

With ocean oil pollution very much in the news there are now reports of confidential data from maritime industry insiders.  Based on engine size and the quality of fuel typically used by ships and cars the report shows that just 15 of the world’s biggest ships may now emit as much pollution as the entire world’s 760m cars. Low grade ship bunker fuel has up to 2,000 times the sulphur content of diesel fuel used in US and European automobiles

An atmospheric research team from Gloucestershire has been monitoring the volcanic ash cloud which has grounded UK flights for a second day.

The team, part of the Swindon-based National Environment Research Council (NERC), took off from Gloucestershire Airport at Staverton on Thursday.

Accompanied by scientists from Oxford, it flew north to the edge of the plume, to collect speed and direction data.

A Dornier 288 plane was adapted to enable the team to take readings.

It was modified with small holes which suck in air, enabling experts to analyse its gas content.

The modifications also mean the team can closely monitor how close to the plume they are, enabling the plane to fly safely near to it.

They looked for evidence of sulphur dioxide – a characteristic gas exhaled by volcanoes which forms sulphuric acid, said Peter Purcell, head of NERC’s airborne research facilities.

“I don’t believe that anybody has really used an aircraft to sample the edge of these plumes before – it is actually very dangerous,” he said.

“If you fly into the ash and your engines stop, you crash.”

A series of canisters positioned under the plane’s wings measure particulates – shards of volcanic ash – in the atmosphere, he added.

Information gathered is expected to aid advice to the airports, as well as improving future forecasts.

The team was standing by on Friday for a second mission.

The grounding of all non-emergency flights from England’s airports – which began on Thursday morning – will remain in place until at least 0100 BST on Saturday, as the plume continues to drift across Britain.

The ash cloud resulted from an eruption in the Eyjafjallajoekull area of Iceland.

Flash floods happen suddenly (hence the name), forming in less than six hours. This sets them apart from “regular” floods, such as river floods, which can often be predicted days in advance. They are caused when a heavy rain falls over low-lying areas, especially when the soil is already saturated. They happen when rainfall intensity and duration match up, in a very bad way. More than half the fatalities happen when people try to cross flooded intersections in their cars. This is because people are generally not very good at judging the depth and danger of flooded streets. (They can’t actually see the roadway surface, which might be a big deep hole.) While two feet of water doesn’t seem like much at all, especially if you are safely inside a big, heavy car, it is enough to carry you and the car away. (Another fact we tend to forget: cars are buoyant.)  According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of USA: –  ”Water weighs 1,010 kg per cubic metre and typically flows downstream at 10 to 20 kph. When a vehicle stalls in the water, the water’s momentum is transferred to the car. For each foot the water rises 226 kg of lateral force are applied to the car. But the biggest factor is buoyancy. For each foot the water rises up the side of the car, the car displaces 2,040 kg of water. In effect, the car weighs 2,040 kg less for each foot the water rises.”

Do not be tempted to drive across a flooded roadway.(”Don’t drown; turn around.”) If you find your vehicle stalled in a flooded road way, leave it and seek higher ground. (”Better wet than dead.”)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Kay and Patrick would like to express their thanks to all our sponsors and visitors to the site during 2009, and especially those who have made known to us their interest and encouragement.

More than 2,000 passengers have been rescued after spending hours trapped in the undersea Channel Tunnel linking France and Britain after four trains broke down due to poor weather conditions.

Angry travellers said they had been left with no power, air conditioning, food or water.

Rail operator Eurostar said the breakdowns had resulted from technical problems caused by the temperature difference inside the tunnel and freezing conditions outside.

“It is snowing in northern France, it’s very cold, conditions are very bad,” a spokesman for Eurostar, operated by French rail operator SNCF, its Belgian counterpart SNCB and British government-owned LCR, said.

Remember the time we could go and buy a penny banger from the corner store or try to light a damp squib – or watched in awe as our dad lit a Roman Candle, spun the Catherine Reel on the garden fence before using a milk bottle to launch a Snowflake rocket aloft to much oo’s and ahhh’s’

The occasion is celebrated (or rather remembered) on the 5th November. On this date, in 1605, a group of Roman Catholics tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament, with the government, King James I, his Queen and their son.

On the 18th November 1998 we spent a night expecting a ‘free’ firework display of a meteor shower in the wake of comet Tempel-Tuttle. This event happens only once in every 33 years. To many the event turned out to be very much a ‘damp squib’, especially after all the publicity and sky watching.

A computer glitch has resulted in a loss of email addresses. Will all weatherwatchers who have sent emails to malenyweather@ozemail.com.au in the past few weeks and received no acknowledgement todate please re-transmit their messages.

Week’s Weather

An extensive high over the Bight covering the whole of Australia was mainly responsible for our weather on the Range. On Wednesday, moist maritime south-easterly winds brought in a little more than the isolated showers forecast and it rained more or less continuously from 3.30am until midnight. Overnight temperatures were above average until Saturday morning when the mercury fell to ten degrees.

Devastating storms in Asia
Over the past few days devastating tropical storms have struck Nepal, India and the Philippines. In southern and western Nepal 15 people were reported killed and more than 170 injured.  In West Bengal, India 11 people were killed and 25 injured Flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rains left 20 people dead in the eastern Philippines and nearly 50,000 displaced.

Four hurricane names retired
Three hurricane names in the Atlantic—Gustav, Ike and Paloma—and one in the eastern North Pacific—Alma—have been retired from the official name rotation by the WMO Hurricane Committee because of the deaths and damage they caused in 2008. The Committee issues the list of potential names for tropical cyclones to be used every six years for both ocean basins. These names would have been used again in 2014 and will be replaced by Gonzalo, Isaias, Paulette and Amanda, respectively.