Australia: From hot to stormy, again

More than 21,000 homes were without electricity in Mildura, Victoria on Friday after a lightning storm ripped through the area, tearing down trees and power lines. There were also reports of a mini-tornado damaging buildings.


The storm hit in the evening and continued throughout the night in Merbein, Mildura and Red Cliffs, all border towns on the Murray river.

Mildura received 29mm of rain in 15 minutes on Friday evening as winds gusted to 100 kilometres per hour at Mildura Airport. Locals took photos of the golf ball-sized hail that fell from the sky.

It has been hot in central Australia over the last few days, despite cooler air from the Great Australian Bight blowing in. The hottest place in Australia on Friday was Leigh Creek in South Australia at 42C. But on Saturday it was knocked back to 27C.

This big change in temperature as the wind swept through has created a cold front, generating thunderstorms across the heart of Australia, which have moved east. These joined an arcing trough line, stretching from the Spencer Gulf, west of Adelaide, up to Alice Springs.

The resultant line of major thunderstorms swept across South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, ACT and most recently Queensland.

Adelaide was smashed on Friday by hail the size of golf balls and felt a drop in temperature of at least 10 degrees Celsius.
 [aljazeera.com]
12/11/16
-