Dramatic End

The end of 2007 brought interesting weather to Melbourne - first, three days of impressive rain which brought flooding to much of the state (including the streets of Melbourne and my own office building). This event suggested to me that rooves in Australia largely exist for decorative purposes, as they proved themselves to be rather incapable of keeping out rain. Actually, it seemed as if nothing in Melbourne works when it rains - the roads, the trains, the trams, the drainage systems, electricity. In short, semi-arid regions appear to cope with extreme rainfall about as well as Florida copes with a snow storm.

This drama was followed with miserably hot conditions between Christmas and the New Year. Temperatures reached 41C on the last day of the year (making it the hottest day of Victoria's hottest year on record), and temperatures are currently climbing back up toward 40C today.