I went gliding on the weekend at Lake Keepit Dam north of Tamworth. Thought I'd post pictures I took showing the extent of the sky transparency problem we are all experiencing.
Even in this region of NSW not affected by bushfires, you can see how poor the visibilty is : and how clear the sky is above the inversion layer ( in this case I was at thermal tops/inversion at 6000ft at 6 30 pm in the evening) . The sky would be most spectacular above that !
Also attached a photo of Keepit Dam which is at 9% capacity..the whole surrounds are tinder dry.
I can't see the back of my property! And the school across the road has vanished!!
And there isn't even a breath of wind to move the smoke. It is stinging my eyes when I go outside it is that bad. But I suppose because we are in a valley that it may have settled into the valley itself, just like the fog does.
Great pics! My wife used to work as an engineer for DPWS doing safety inspections of the dams in northern NSW. Keepit dam was 'one of hers'. I'll save a copy of the pic and be sure to show her.
When I was there for New Year 2000 the dam level was about 70 % (or was it 50 %, I forget). Anyway it has reminded me of a funny story ..... We spent New Year there for the new millenium and there was lots of talk in the media about the Y2K bug and the power grid would shut down and the sky would fall and all that stuff. Anyway, when we woke up on the morning of 1/1/2000 there was no power to the shack we were staying in. We weren't sure for a while if the predictions had come true. Of course it turned out to be a localised problem but it was funny at the time.
I think all the animals are suffering with breathing difficulties too! All the Cows, Sheep and Horses have been laying down all day and that's unusual.
My wife flew to Canberra from Brisbane for the day, yesterday, and said she was shocked to see Brisbane covered by a layer of brown grunge, both outbound and on the return journey. Hmm, it seems our energy hungry, pollute at will, don’t care, modern lifestyle is catching up with us?
I have find memories of Lake Keepit, too. I recall going on a week-long sport and recreation camp there when I was about 11 years of age (26 years ago). I recall the lake being full of dead trees, and the water level being very low.
Rock climbing, canoeing, orienteering, and the odd bit of kissing behind the toilet facility....ahhhhh....the good old days.
I have find memories of Lake Keepit, too. I recall going on a week-long sport and recreation camp there when I was about 11 years of age (26 years ago). I recall the lake being full of dead trees, and the water level being very low.
Rock climbing, canoeing, orienteering, and the odd bit of kissing behind the toilet facility....ahhhhh....the good old days.
hope you didnt camp with your undies on your head then
As long as these fires are put out by some rain before January 17 I will be happy but knowing our luck we are liable to get raging fires in the hunter. It has been a very early and loaded dry season, and I don't think there is a break to come. On Monday night we had around 1000 strikes in the hunter, and not much rain so the likely hood of more fires was increased. Not sure whether it occurred or not either
Modis is an excellent tool to see the skies, albeit a day late, but hey, beggars cannot be choosers
Mark you took excellent images while up there, could you smell it?
