S8 Ep188: Thunderstorms Extinguish Fires but Spark New Wildfire Risks: Colleague Jeremy Zakis describes spectacular thunderstorms moving from the Blue Mountains to the coast, characterized by intense lightning and heavy rain, noting that while recent downpours exti
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 14 December 2025
⏱️ 7 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | This is the Friends of History Debating Society. I'm John Batchel. Severe thunderstorms, |
| 0:09.2 | hail, wind, heavy rainfall, spectacular lightning flashes. I'm describing the southern hemisphere |
| 0:16.5 | in summertime in Australia. I go to Jeremy Zakis in New South Wales, in Sydney, |
| 0:24.5 | suburbs of Sydney, who tells me he can see those lightning strikes from his home. |
| 0:30.4 | He can hear the thunder. It's summertime in Australia. Jeremy, a very good day to you. |
| 0:36.2 | Severe thunderstorms. What does it sound like, Jeremy? |
| 0:39.3 | How do you know it's coming? |
| 0:41.3 | And what are those lightning bolts look like? |
| 0:43.3 | Are they really as good as these photographs make them? |
| 0:45.3 | Good evening to you, Jeremy. |
| 0:47.3 | Good day, John. |
| 0:49.3 | Yes, I can say that just as spectacular |
| 0:51.3 | impersonate. And the way that we really know |
| 0:53.3 | we're going to get a very, very severe storm and spectacular |
| 0:56.3 | storm at that is probably around about 15, 20 minutes ahead of the actual storm coming |
| 1:01.4 | down through here in southern Sydney. |
| 1:03.2 | You actually start to hear the rumbling across the blue mountains. |
| 1:06.2 | You kind of hear a bit of a low murmur, and you can feel the wind starting to pick up you can just feel that |
| 1:12.1 | bit of humidity coming in from the western part of the of the blue mountains and then if it's night |
| 1:17.9 | time especially you start to see the sheet lightning just across the top of the peaks there |
| 1:22.4 | across the top of the blue mountains followed very quickly by those lightning bolts you see so many |
| 1:27.2 | photos of in the news |
... |
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