Thunderstruck!!!

The day dawned with a promise of some storm activity. Yes, it was the annual ASWA BBQ - where storm enthusiasts from all over Victoria gather for a few snags and a chat... The forecast showed potential for storms, and as we ate lunch, towering Cumulus were drifting past our picnic location atop Mt Macedon. Many of us packed up and headed for the Memorial Cross on the southern end of the mountain around 1PM. After 10 minutes of watching the approaching storm, all hell broke loose, starting with the radar tower to our north, 500m away being struck by lightning. Within the next 10 minutes, there were 4 or 5 strikes within 300m, some within 150m, and later, the same repeated itself. Torrential rain trapped around a dozen of us under a small wooden shelter... we were in chaser heaven! ;) The photo above is a frame grab from video I took minutes betore the storm struck.

Well, December 2004, and now February 2006 are memorable ASWA BBQs, because of the storms that followed. We seem to be getting friendly with the storm gods... ;)