An Australian summer, from fires to snow
December 26, 2001 Posted: 12:48 AM EST (0548 GMT)
SYDNEY, Australia -- Heatwaves, snow, rainstorms and mini-cyclones battered, bruised and burnt Christmas celebrations in Australia -- all the hallmarks of a typical summer in the world's biggest island continent.
To the north, a heatwave put most of Queensland in a sweat and caused the death of five elderly people in its capital Brisbane, local media reports said.
Further south, more than 100 bush fires are raging across New South Wales, fanned by hot gusting winds destroying property with some encircling Sydney.
While even more south in the states of Victoria and Tasmania, rain, hail and snow added to Australia's erratic summer weather.
Meteorologically, the cause is generally due to troughs across the Australian mainland forcing hot air from the country's center to the north and east. Windy, wet storms and colder temperatures hit the nation's south from air blown from over Australia's Southern Ocean.
Heatwave
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Known as the sunshine state, Queensland has been hit by a fierce heatwave in the past week with the mercury rising to the searing mid-40s (degrees Celsius) in many parts of the state.
To escape, those that can flock to the state's popular beaches or add more ice to the portable drink cooler. But even that is not always enough.
Residents have been advised to stay out of the sun and increase their intake of water as precautions against the heat.
Relief was in sight with a cold change and thunderstorms forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.
Such heatwaves often hit the rest of the country, bar Tasmania, in the New Year, around February and early March.
Fires rage
But New South Wales has been suffering from a hot and windy start to summer.
A lack of rain in the cooler months has added to the seasonal fire hazard with dry timber, and hot and gusty winds creating the perfect fuel for bush fires.
Thousands of firefighters are struggling to contain more than 100 fires raging across the state, several of which are out of control, and most believed to have been deliberately lit.
No lives have been lost yet but the damage to property and the loss of cattle and livestock is already mounting dramatically.
South shivers
In Victoria, residents shivered as temperatures dropped to the mid to low teens and roofs were ripped off after a hailstorm hit part of the state on Christmas Day.
Millions of dollars worth of damage was also done to the state's vegetable farms.
In the island state of Tasmania, snow fell on the island's cross-country ski-fields.
Other Tasmanians were forced to endure a mini-cyclone that felled trees and damaged some buildings.
The bizarre conditions are set to continue for the rest of the week, leaving Australians wondering what to wear as forecasters seek to explain the erratic weather pattern.
