Summer Storm

Yesterday the heat was oppressive, even though it was only 36 degrees C. Clouds rolled in about lunchtime and you could hear distant thunder all afternoon.
Then, at 1700, the wind and rain came with overhead thunder and lightning. The trees over the back fence were bent almost horizontal and the driving rain was the same - level with the ground. Winds reached 90 kph.

This is the normal, every day view towards the back fence.

These two were taken just after 1700 and only 2 minutes apart. The sky just blackened and the rain pelted down. You can see in the one on the right that the guttering has been lit by the camera flash. That's how dark it got. We received 51 ml of rain in 45 minutes.

After the storm I just had to check the damage in the garden!!! But, luckily, there was only minor damage and no plants were ripped out, blown over or anything, except one tapioca plant which was on its side.

When the storm had passed and the power restored around 1830, the sky turned this strange orange colour. It was surreal!!! Everything was totally bathed in this intense orange glow. I have never seen anything like this before, even when I was at sea. The effect was only short lived so I didn't have a chance to get a snap of it, unfortunately.