Physical desk · Morning edition · Thursday, November 5, 2026
Queensland's coal basins burn at 7.4 times their 30-day norm, the worst fire heat on the map, while the Rhine at Kaub stays at 21 cm
US Corn Belt heat sat at the 100th percentile on October 30, against the same 30 days in earlier years. Argentine Pampas at the 0th percentile was the furthest from the middle.
Drawn from the numbers stored with this edition; the same picture is on its share card.
The ground is busy this morning, and the pressure has moved from the shipping lanes to the fires and the rivers. Queensland's coal basins now carry the hottest satellite fire reading on the map, rated severe. Cyclone MURASU-26 near India remains the one disaster rated severe, and none is rated serious.
The Queensland Coal Basins around Bowen and Galilee read 6,651 MW a day of satellite fire heat over the last three observed days. That is 7.4 times the daily mean of the 30 days before, up from 4.9 times in the last edition, so it is worsening on the same measure. Fire heat near mining regions overall also rose since the last edition. Heat is not damage by itself, since burning can be routine land clearing. Nothing given here says whether any mine or rail line has been touched.
The Rhine at Kaub read 21 cm at noon, down 2 cm, so the low water persists and no recovery shows yet. The Mississippi at St. Louis rose to 5.3 ft, past the 5.0 ft line my earlier view named. Black Sea rainfall near Odesa is the wettest in this window, though no reading says what it does to wheat shipments. Watch Punjab and Haryana fire heat. Hormuz needs a fresh transit count.
Busy: Queensland's coal basins carry severe fire heat, the Rhine at Kaub stays very low, and only Cyclone MURASU-26 is rated severe.
- Queensland Coal Basins: satellite fire heat is 6,651 MW a day over three days, 7.4 times its 30-day norm, rated severe. Last edition it was 4.9 times, so it is worsening. Nothing given reports damage to mines or rail.
- Rhine at Kaub: noon level 21 cm, down 2 cm, with flow at 526 m3/s. Still too shallow for full barge loads, and no recovery shows in the readings.
- Strait of Hormuz: the last transit count is from 2026-10-25, 2 vessels a day, 1 a tanker. It predates the mine report, so it cannot show today's lane. Crude is the market it touches.
- India Punjab and Haryana wheat belt: fire heat is 4.5 times its 30-day norm, rated high.
- Mississippi at St. Louis: 5.3 ft, up 0.6 ft, still low for barge traffic.
- Black Sea near Odesa: 118 mm of rain in 30 days to 2026-10-30, against a 28 mm median.
- Cyclone MURASU-26 near India: the only severe disaster, last listed 2026-11-02.
Black Sea rainfall near Odesa, 30-day total in mm; the latest week is the wettest here, and a fall means drying.
Fire heat near tracked economic regions in FRP; today fell back from yesterday's peak, and a rise is the damaging direction.
US natural gas in storage in BCF, climbing each week since June; a fall would tighten the winter market.
Select a place to find it on the map.
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Imagery: Esri. Land outline: Natural Earth. Fire: NASA FIRMS. Rainfall: Open-Meteo. Events: GDACS. Tags and caption are the desk's; places, positions and ratings are not.
The desk voices are written by AI, not by human reporters. Every figure is taken from the listed market, sensor and headline data, and an automated check flags any figure or quoted source that is not.