Perth braces for four-day heatwave

A FOUR-DAY heatwave is forecast to hit the Perth metropolitan area in the coming days, with authorities warning of a high bushfire danger.

Today the mercury is set to rise to 38C, followed by 41C on Sunday and Monday, then dropping back to 38C on Tuesday.

Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Andrew Mostyn said the searing conditions could prompt extreme danger on Sunday and Monday.

“It doesn’t appear as though it will be catastrophic for the fires but with the hot dry weather, it will probably be extreme,” Mr Mostyn said.

“On Sunday and Monday northeasterly winds will drag hot air from the inland Pilbara region down towards Perth.                                                                                                

“However, along the coast, there will be an afternoon sea breeze but it won’t penetrate enough inland to really affect the Perth temperature in the afternoon.”

Local swimming pools and metropolitan beaches are expected to be packed on Sunday as people seek relief from the heat.

The hottest January day ever recorded in Perth was 45.8C on January 31, 1991.

Source  :  www.news.com.au

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WA leads rise in June building approvals

WA has led the charge with a rise in building approvals in June, fresh figures reveal today. 

There was a 21.1 per cent rise in building approvals in WA last month, compared to a national rise of 9.3 per cent.

But the recovery followed an 11 per cent decline in May, taking the latest tally of 11,086 new construction projects to a level lower than where it was in April.

Still, the latest monthly increase was stronger than a market forecast for an eight per cent rise.

Approvals in the volatile apartment-building sector surged 27.7 per cent while detached housing numbers increased by a much smaller 4.9 per cent.

On an annual basis, overall building approvals are down 14.3 per cent.

Apartment building approvals are also 45.7 per cent weaker compared with a year earlier.

Construction activity was also more robust in Victoria, where approvals rose by 17.4 per cent, followed by an 11.3 per cent increase in South Australia.

NSW had a more modest recovery of 3.4 per cent.

Building approvals went backwards in Tasmania, shrinking by 7.6 per cent, and Queensland, which suffered a 1.9 per cent decline.

Source  :  www.thewest.com.au

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Australia’s tsunami system performs well

Last night’s tsunami warning for south-eastern Australia, may have come to nothing, but it did demonstrate the worth of the monitoring system, says one expert.

The warning was announced soon after an earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, occurred off the south coast of New Zealand’s South Island.

Chief Meteorologist Dr Chris Ryan, of the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre, says the epicentre was located in the closest earthquake source zone to Australia, a region known as the Puysegur seduction zone.

He says, despite being close to Australia, the region is far enough away that a tsunami would take more two hours to reach the coast.

Ryan says the tsunami that followed only warranted a ‘marine threat’ warning with waves rising 30 centimetres at Port Kembla, near Wollongong and no significant damage has been reported.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Seismologist David Jepsen, of Geoscience Australia, says it took two hours for waves from New Zealand to get to Tasmania.

He says the Puysegur seduction zone is a region where Australia’s tectonic plate pushes underneath the Pacific plate.

Although the Australian tsunami warning system is one of the best in the world, the system is still pretty new.

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WA Chelsea fans bleed blue and white

BLUE and white blood runs in their veins. They eat, breathe and sleep blue and white, and bleed blue and white blood.            

Who are they?

They are the Perth Chelsea Football Club Supporters Group, and they might be coming to a pub near you.

About 70 people, some from the northern suburbs, make up the blue and white army, a small but dedicated band of followers whose mission it is to support and celebrate, lose and lament with the team from their Perth base.

Their fearless leader, president Steve Van Doorn, from Butler, co-ordinates the group’s activity, which mainly consist of late-nights and early mornings in various pubs or supporters’ houses to catch live telecasts of each game in the October to March season.

“The northern suburbs have a strong contingent of more than 35 members who have been meeting regularly in Butler, Quinns, Kinross, Banksia Grove or Landsdale for the last six years,” he said.

Mr Van Doorn said the group ranged in age, from the four- and five-year-old children of members, to men and women in their 60s, some London ex-pats whose passion for the round ball game followed them across the ocean.

FA Cup fever has gripped the group, with a Chelsea versus Everton final on Saturday, May 30.

“It’s a 10pm kick-off, which is really an early night for us considering the telecasts of most games start about 2.45am here,” he said.

“One of our members wore a ‘The Who’ T-shirt to a game we won so now he can’t take it off until we’ve won the final – it’s just a superstition but he wears that shirt like a badge of pride.”

Source   www.inmycommunity.com.au

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Perth has over 2000 homes without power

Over 2000 homes across the metropolitan area are without power today as Western Power crews continue to repair powerlines damaged by the recent storms.

In Leederville 131 homes are without power, in Shoalwater 133 homes have been affected, 193 homes in Tuart Hill are without power and 149 Rockingham homes are blacked out.

A spokeswoman said most of the 2173 homes would have power restored this afternoon.  

150 homes where power outages have been affected by damage to a single electricity line, were expected to remain without power tonight.

More than 50 homes in the Perth Hills suburb of Parkerville have now been without electricity for almost two days.

The forecast shows showers will ease this afternoon with possible early showers Sunday morning followed by fine weather conditions.

Rising tides have battered two Perth landmarks – the Cottesloe Pylon and blue Crawley boat house on the Swan River – as wild weather hit the city.

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