Summer storm from City Beach, Perth, Australia (© JohnCrux/Getty Images)

Summer storm from City Beach, Perth, Australia (© JohnCrux/Getty Images)

Thunderbolt and lightning…

Ever endured a scorcher of a summer’s day only to be hit with a thunderstorm soon after? That’s especially common here at City Beach in Perth, where the two go together like Vegemite and toast. Moisture and warmth are both major factors in the creation of thunderstorms, meaning when humidity and heat ramp up during the hotter months, large amounts of warm, humid air gradually rise off the ground via surface winds into an unstable atmosphere. If this atmosphere is particularly unstable that can lead to severe conditions like large hail, wind gusts of 90 km/h and uncharacteristically heavy rainfall - leading to flash flooding.