Weather wise

In our ‘old’ place of residence, in Victoria, we could look at the barometer during the day and see it rise or fall (and it often did so dramatically) and gauge what the weather had in store for us. We used this as an adjunct to the TV weather report, as our area was often not of particular
interest to the rest of the state.
 Now that we are living in the Gold Coast in Queensland our barometer hardly ever moves from one point. What scientific point is that? you may ask…I never note how many millibars or hectopascals it is registering, but the words say ‘fine’ and ‘dry’. Now, this is lovely, as the weather is mostly dry and sunny- and beautiful. However, every so often a part of the sky turns a navy
  blue-to-black colour and, as it nears, we are learning to duck for cover.
 BUT the other day we saw the looming dark blue/black sky, so checked the local meteorology site on the Internet. Nah, nothing there, so off we went for a walk; little dog in tow.
 Oh, oh. Halfway across the park, down came the rain, followed by hailstones. We were wearing very light summer gear which was soon drenched, as was the dog. When the hailstones began really hitting our heads  and even running down the backs of our necks, we decided to shelter under some  trees.
 Five minutes later, the sun began to shine once more and the final raindrops looked glorious, lit by the beams of the sun.
 We were cold and wet; my arms had red welts where they  had been pelted with (really) freezing water. But, by the time we were home again, all was well. A quick change of clothes, followed by a vow to take notice of a threatening sky was in order…even when the bureau of meteorology is a
little late in its warnings.
What a place Queenslandis! I think I’ll ‘moth-ball’ the old barometer.