stargazer wrote:[I just noticed the picture in that wiki article I linked comes from Wagga Wagga, Australia]..
Yes that would be right. The last time we had dry thunderstorms here - and thanks for the explanation, because I did not remember what they were until you explained - was some time ago, back in 2006, I think it was. Wagga Wagga is inland and therefore would be harder hit by the current drought than here. We are having drought appeals everywhere. People donating their spare change etc to pay for fodder to be transported from Western Australia and Tasmania to help farmers, especially west of the Great Dividing Range. (That long mountain range like a continental spine, snaking south from Cape York Peninsula, the pointy bit on a map of North Queensland, right along the Eastern Australian coastline and then curls around along Victoria's southern coastline, west to South Australia.) I don't know why the powers that be haven't already imposed water restrictions.
We've had some skittery rain patches over the last week or so, especially overnight. Today we actually had some real thunderstorms, for the first time since goodness knows when. We aren't expecting an easing of the drought just yet because El Nino is on the way.
aileth wrote:Absolutely! Campfire bans are very strict right now, too. Our fire, though, was from lightning, starting July 17. Because it has been a high altitude fire, and burning through inaccessible terrain, they have mainly just let it burn. On several occasions it has burnt down the mountain (making for some really spectacular fire shows) and then Forestry has lit back fires down in the valley.
It all sounds just about right. Our eucalyptus trees though are very combustible, and use bushfires to regerminate themselves. The trouble is that Sydney has expanded along train lines and road links, deep into the Blue Mountains, and then homes get affected. We had bad bushfires in October 2013. I hope everyone is enjoying what rain they have been getting. In which season do you normally get most of your rainfall?