Video Shows Dramatic Lightning Storm Ravaging Brisbane, Australia
There was also hail the size of golf balls.
In Brisbane, Australia, clear skies are a fleeting occurrence. According to the Australian government’s Bureau of Meteorology, the city experiences just 124 clear days a year, the majority of which occur in August, while the mean daily sunshine stands at just under eight hours annually.
While November isn’t the rainiest month in the city — January and February claim that soaking honor — spring downpours and lightning storms can get torrential, which is exactly what video captured from the city shows happened on Sunday.
One Brisbane resident compiled a timelapse of the storm, and repeatedly caught the elusive flints of lightning on video:
It wasn’t all majestic beauty though: Australian media reported that across the southeastern region of the state of Queensland, 20,000 homes were left without power, and golf ball-sized hail careened from the sky.
While various emergency crews attended to over 128 calls for help over the weekend, different Brisbane residents contended with violent streaks of lightning raining down on the streets:
Brisbane in particular was plagued by drought at the beginning of the century, and it is no stranger to stormy weather. The city has a humid subtropical climate, which often lends itself to drought — given high temperatures in the winter — in addition to heavy rainfall and thunderstorms.
According to Climate Data, Brisbane receives an annual spritzing of 1168 mm of rain — or 45 inches — a year.
Brisbane is in Australia's southeast.
