Australian weather bureau adds new colors to its map

Our CEO, Graham Duffy, is down in Australia visiting family and sent a recent article from one of the local papers talking about the heatwave gripping Australia.  "It has been so hot that it has caused a catastrophic fire danger for many parts of Australia" said Duffy.

Australia is expecting a record average maximum temperature this week, with at least six of the first seven days of 2013 among the top 20 hottest days in the past century.

According to the Fairfax media, a huge "dome of heat" is covering the continent, breaking temperature records and setting the scene for dangerous fire conditions across the country.

Temperatures reached almost 48 degrees Celsius (118.4 Fahrenheit) on Monday at the Oodnadatta airport in South Australia, and 43 degrees Celsius (109.4 Fahrenheit) on Tuesday in Sydney.

They were so hot in some parts, that according to Fairfax the Bureau of Meteorology's interactive weather forecasting chart added new colors — deep purple and pink — to its temperature range, which had been capped at 50 degrees Celsius. The scale now extends to 54 degrees.