In some parts of the world the thought of summer heat and thunderstorms may seem months away but in parts of the eastern Australia keep the umbrellas handy. The early summer heat has been building across parts of Australia over the past couple of weeks and now the summer storms have started to pop up across eastern Australia.
The past 24 hours have seen some strong to severe thunderstorms across Queensland to the southwest of Brisbane. Think of the atmosphere during summer months like a pressure cooker. The heat of the day builds and builds until finally the energy is released, with the help of a trigger like a weather front, in the form of thunderstorms. The afternoon highs have been well into the 30’s Celsius over the past few days across parts of eastern Australia. Some of these storms can be quite severe with heavy downpours, frequent lightning and hail. The threat of thunderstorms should continue for the next couple of days because of a weather front that will continue to linger across eastern Australia.
Speaking of heat, things have been warming up across South Africa as well. The afternoon high on Friday in Cape Town was 31Celsius. This is well above the December average of 24Celsius. There have also been some afternoon thunderstorms building up with the heat of the day dotted across the Eastern Cape over the past couple of days. Some cooler air will move in across parts of South Africa as a cold front moves through over the next couple of days.
In the northern hemisphere it’s time for the snow shovels and snow hats as the snow keeps falling. A winter storm is bringing heavy snow to the northern Rockies of the United States. Over a 30cm of snow could fall by late Sunday. This will be more great news for the skiers. Jackson Hole ski resort in Wyoming has had a few centimetres of new snow over the past couple of days to add to the current 8-79cm base.
