The weather in southeast Australia refuses to cooperate with firefighters battling dozens of out-of-control bushfires in the Great Dividing Range Mountains in southeast New South Wales and northeast Victoria. Crews are preparing for another long weekend. Temperatures over the Jan. 25 weekend are expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), and gusty winds will continue to fan the flames.
This true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Terra satellite on January 24, 2003, shows the detection of active fires marked with red dots. The billowing smoke drapes the southern part of the continent. To south, a few fires were detected on Tasmania as well. West of Tasmania, the waters are swirling with color, which could indicate a bloom of marine plants called phytoplankton.
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Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
