Bushfires are still burning in eastern Victoria. Smoke drifted across Melbourne today. Here's a shot from one of the outer western suburbs at 4.30 pm. The forecast is for more of the same—hot and dry—for the rest of the week. And probably beyond.



The most recent shot from NASA's MODIS Terra satellite shows the plume drifting west across Port Phillip Bay (far left of picture). For those not familiar with this part of the world, Melbourne lies on the northern edge of the bay.



The Gippsland fires have burnt out almost 1,000,000 hectares of state forest.