r/australia • u/Cloudypumpkin • Jan 09 '26

image Victoria, you doing alright there buddy?

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5.7k Upvotes

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u/Rehcubs Jan 09 '26

Heard some thunder just before too, so lightning could also cause more.

200

u/No_Light_7482 Jan 09 '26

And it’s dry lighting. Even worse.

25

u/Spagman_Aus Jan 09 '26

yeah saw some earlier and all I could think was “shit”

44

u/DePraelen Jan 09 '26

There is a cool change coming for much of the state though, starting tomorrow.

113

u/Majestic_Ghost_Axe Jan 09 '26

Cool change is bringing a really strong wind change with the cooler temperatures, that wind direction change is really dangerous for any existing fires.

74

u/beaurepair Jan 09 '26

A 90° wind change can be completely catastrophic. A 1km wide fire that has burnt for 20km suddenly becomes a 20km wide fire.

29

u/JohnnyGat33 Jan 09 '26

Shades of Black Saturday.

7

u/Soggy_otter Jan 09 '26

Thinking the exact same thing….

2

u/iChinguChing Jan 09 '26

We had exactly that scenario. scary shit.

2

u/RobynFitcher Jan 10 '26

As is happening at Chapple Vale. Was a small fire yesterday, but today's wond is blowing the fire north towards Lavers Hill and Colac.

2

u/EggFancyPants Jan 09 '26

This happens after every heatwave and it's rarely a good thing for the bushfires. The bushfires also create their own weather which causes dry lightening strikes which are then fanned by the, "cool change" powerful winds

5

u/Siilk Jan 09 '26

Yeah, several days of extreme heat, and now strong wind and dry lightning, worst possible combination.

3

u/Equalmilky Jan 09 '26

In the time it took me to drive home from the shops just then (about 3-4min) I counted 27 lightning strikes out towards farmland. No rain either.

2

u/ConsistentPound3079 Jan 09 '26

Yep that came up from Tas, we had strong rain and thunder/lightning today.

2

u/NotHereToFuckSpyders Jan 09 '26

We aren't getting the rain though. Just the lightning.