Rain fell across parts of bushfire-ravaged eastern Australia on Thursday and Friday (Jan 16-17) and more wet weather was forecast, giving some relief following months of catastrophic blazes fuelled by climate change.
The fires, unprecedented for Australia in terms of duration and intensity, have claimed 28 lives and killed an estimated one billion animals.
In the state of New South Wales, where many of the worst fires have burnt, there were “good falls” on some blazes early Thursday, the local meteorology bureau reported.
In the southern city of Melbourne, thunderstorms late on Wednesday helped to clear bushfire smoke that had choked the city since the start of the week and disrupted the build-up to next week’s Australian Open tennis tournament.
More rain was forecast until the weekend which, if it does occur, would be the most sustained period of wet weather since the crisis began in September last year.
Officials warned, however, that short, intense thunderstorms could lead to flash flooding, while lightning brought the risk of new fires being ignited.
“We’re expecting unsettled weather for the next four or five days or so at least,” Jake Phillips, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology told ABC radio.
“There are risks associated with it, so it’s not always necessarily a great thing, particularly if we get the rainfall really quickly. What we really need is soaking, steady rain.”
The fires have destroyed more than 2,000 homes and burnt 10 million hectares of land – an area larger than South Korea or Portugal.
In New South Wales alone, 30 blazes were still burning out of control on Thursday, according to the state’s rural fire service.
Australia experienced its driest and hottest year on record in 2019, with its highest average maximum temperature of 41.9 degrees Celsius recorded in mid-December.
Scientists say the bushfires are the type of extreme disasters the world can expect more of as global warming intensifies.
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