storms

We've had quite a storm in Brisbane. After years of drought and very uneventful summers, it seems that tempestuous weather is upon us again. I thought I'd find some of that marvellous 19th century journalism and compare it to today's reporting. Here is an account of a November storm in Brisbane, 1860:

The Moreton Bay Courier, Tuesday 20 November 1860, page 2
"The LATE THUNDERSTORMS. - The weather lately has been extremely unsettled, and the whole atmosphere has given unmistakeable indications of being overcharged with electricity. For several days past we have had slight visitations of thunder and lightning, apparently the throes of a tremendous tempest passing along the coast, and these in most instances have been accompanied by sudden, brief, but violent showers of rain. On Sunday afternoon, however, the "war of the elements" reached a crisis; the forked lightning gleamed in all directions, and " the artillery of heaven" seemed to threaten the entire city with indiscriminate destruction. The rain poured down in , torrents, and when in its greatest volume brought down a discharge of hail such as has not been witnessed in Brisbane for many months past. Fortunately, the storm did not last more than two or three hours, other wise, the results to young vegetation must have been very seriously felt. Some of the hailstones, we are informed, were an inch and a half in circumference, and fully equal in proportion. We find that the tempest has skirted the entire coast between this and Sydney. On Thursday morning last, the Telegraph, whilst at Newcastle, experienced a violent storm of hail, the particles being milk white, resembling balls of snow more than ice;-and on Saturday evening, when about seventy miles south of Cape Moreton, she encountered a storm of rain and hail which completely threw tho other into the shade. The hail, which descended with fearful rapidity, smashed the compass glass, and caused considerable abrasions of the skin and limbs of those who were exposed to it. At the same moment, a waterspout broke forth within 120 yards of the vessel, but, fortunately, it did not last long, owing, it is supposed, to the lightning having cut through it. It is said that during the crisis of the storm, it was almost impossible for anyone to stand uptight on the deck."

I feel a little 'overcharged' just reading about it. This is not strictly in my quite specific research area but I find it fascinating nonetheless.

Reference: http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/3721939?searchTerm=storm+Brisbane+November