Thunder Lightning

Back in the Northern Territory after an absolutely gorgeous week-end in New South Wales. And I am back in what Darwin is famous for: thunderstorms. After a beautiful day, the sky suddenly turned balck by 6pm tonight and the wind started to blow. It is very usual up here but not all the storms are spectacular and they more often than not disappear after a few minutes. I have never experienced such beautiful lightnings as what I was given to witness tonight. Spectacular! I parked the car on the Esplanade and joined the crowds trying to capture it on picture but it is far from being an easy task. At least 50 black or white pictures...

Rain Rain Rain

This week has been absolutely gorgeous. We did not have any rain and the skies have even been cloudless on many occasions. Unfortunately there is another Tropical Low coming from the East and it all suddenly changed a few minutes ago with the first heavy downpour of the week. Not a very good weather for barbecues this week-end. But it promises to clear up for a while before the Low passes overhead from Sunday night onwards. I really enjoy these heavy downpours. It is fascinating to watch the rain fall from the comfort of your home.

Territory Nature

Darwin is a small city. From my residence to my office there is hardly any building. I drive through these expanses of wetlands and Northern Territory grasslands. The picture above (taken midway in between my house and my office) is very representative of the environment, at this time of the year, which is called "The Wet" (November to April). Green and Blue are two of the most common colours. It also sometimes is Green and Grey (when the clouds are heavy) or Green and Orange / Pink / Red when the sun rises or comes down. There are only two seasons "The Wet" and "The Dry" and I really wonder how it looks and feels like during "The Dry".

Gecko on my window

Hello there! I am stuck in the office at the moment but I am expecting to go for a stroll in George Brown botanical gardens later in the day. The rain that has been pretty consistent over the past 6 days has finally nearly stopped. Nevertheless you can see that the window of my office still looks pretty wet and there is a lovely gecko enjoying the coolness of the glass right now.

Billy is on his way!

It has been raining nearly nonstop over the past 24 hours and the temperatures have fallen down to nearly 25 degrees! They decided to call Australia's first cyclone of the year Billy. It is currently building up in the Timor Sea about 400km north of Darwin and meteorologists are continuing to keep a close eye on the slow-moving low and say the chances are high of it forming Thursday or Friday. Workers have been evacuated from oil rigs after the bureau issued a warning notice. It is yet 50% uncertain it will hit our shores but the weather certainly has changed those passed days.

Northern Territory weather news

As per the local newspaper November broke several records, with hot temperatures and few rainy days in the Top End. Darwin experienced one of its hottest months on record. Mean temperatures soared to 30.2C last month - hotter than any month since December 1991 and the fourth hottest month on record.
The tropical capital also experienced more hot days than usual, with nine days recording a top temperature of 35C or more, more than any previous November. Non-monsoonal westerly winds blowing off the water kept up knots and kept storms away explained the Weather bureau climate services manager. Darwin also experienced below average rainfall.

Hell's Hail

Today has been a fine day again but the night has been a real nightmare. Ice balls as big as a golf balls have been falling from the sky by 3 am. This morning, my mum's beautiful garden was a mess and all the trees and flowers were slashed. But it was even worse at my sister's place a few kilometers away as it created a flood and their family house was inundated by a - difficult to get rid of - muddy slush. You really realise in these situations how impossible it is to fight against the elements. (The picture above was taken by 9 am while it was already nearly 30 degrees celcius outside but the ice was far from having already melted).

Singapore Weather

If it were Jakarta the whole city would have been flooded by now and it would be another emergency situation. This Saturday morning started all fine but the skies became darker and darker until it began to pour shortly before midday. It lasted for an hour or so. This is typical equatorial weather. Unpredictable. Flash floods. Thunderstorms. Fortunately, the drainage system is quite good in Singapore except in a few places like the road at the level of the bus stop just below my apartment (above picture). You know how exciting it always is to see Mother Nature going wild when you're watching from a distance. People crossing the flooded streets with water at high knee levels. Motorbikes getting stranded in the middle of that paddle. Buses dropping passengers at the center of this mess. Hardly 30 minutes after and everything is back to normal and the water already has receded.