New forecasts for rainfall and temp for Sept to Nov

A new quarterly overview of weather for September to November indicates that South East Queensland is likely to have slightly above average rainfall and a 60-70% chance of above average temperatures during the period.

Have a look here for rainfall: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/outlooks/#/rainfall/summary
and here for temperature: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/outlooks/#/temperature/maximum/median/seasonal/0

You can click on each of the small maps at the above links for more detail, and follow various links  to other detailed information.   Maps below are from the above sources.  Note that the main maps at those links are zoomable down to quite local detail - as in the temperature forecast map excerpt below.

Chance of above average rainfall for September to November

Chance of above average temperature for September to November

Introducing fire-relevant websites: the Google Australia Crisis Map

During the recent NSW bushfires Google extended their Crisis Map coverage to Australia.  There is a site which provides an overview map of Australia, currently showing information for five states (including Queensland), and a NSW map showing fire and some emergency events for that state.  The NSW site appears to be a beta site at present.

Similar icons used for Qld and NSW.  Some 'other emergency' information for NSW (the white icon).  All icons are clickable to retrieve basic information about the event.

Both sites show fire data drawn from the relevant fire agencies, using the same icons for Queensland and NSW as the Queensland Rural Fire Service's Current Bushfire Incidents website (you can find my overview description of this site here). However the permitted burn data from Queensland is not linked to this map.

The NSW site currently has satellite images from a few of the January fires, available as layers that can be individually selected, as well as links in the sidebar that zoom directly to particular satellite image overlays.

The overview site opens with a map of Australia, with options in the sidebar to zoom to particular states.  The sidebar provides a legend for the symbols used in each state.

The Australian overview site shows traffic levels for the capital CBD and nearby freeways for several states.

 From a bushfire information point of view, in its current state of development the site provides less information than the RFS Bushfire Incident Map website (no permitted burn locations), but with Google's resources behind it is one well worth monitoring for future developments.

Fire in Bushland Conservation in Southeast Queensland

One of our Smokespotters has drawn my attention to a publication on the role and use of fire in biodiversity conservation in Southeast Queensland (thanks Geoff).

Fire in Bushland Conservation: the role of fire in the landscape and how we can manage it for biodiversity conservation presents a very good overview of both the role of fire in the ecology of SEQ habitats and the conservation implications of fire frequency and intensity.

The document is available as a pdf file at: http://www.fireandbiodiversity.org.au/_literature_48156/Fire_Ecology_Booklet or as a hard copy from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Regional Bushcare Facilitator (contact: 07 3202 0233).  (As the document is undated, I'm unsure whether this position still exists after the recent cuts to government services in SEQ, but it is definitely available on the Fire and Biodiversity Consortium web site).