45 minutes of progressively worsening visibility this morning. It started as that characteristic burnt tree smell in Glen Iris and a haze, and worsened as I headed north. In South Morang now the visibility is down to tens of metres as all the smoke has collected in the Plenty Valley. It was quite apocalyptic heading up Plenty Road - smoke, swirling hot wind and a few big drops of rain.

You wouldn't want to believe the news reports about this being the effects of the Wandong fire. A few people here were at the Wandong fire with their CFA units. In their words, "Two acres, two trees and over in two hours". The smoke is from the north-east, where things are pretty bad. To put this in context, the Alpine fires have consumed 65,000 hectares and are now in firestorm.