A home has been struck by lightning during a heavy storm on Sunday afternoon.
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Emergency services were called to the Mount Clear property after lightning struck the roof of the home.
The incident destroyed the majority of appliances plugged in at the time but caused minimal structural damage.
During thunderstorms it is advised not to use appliances plugged into the wall as well as talk on a landline or take showers.
This incident comes as the Ballarat region saw some sporadic but powerful storms pass overhead at the weekend.
While storms bring heavy rain with them the majority of the time, they still possess the potential for bushfire ignition.
Emergency services were called out to a few small blazes around the region caused by lightning striking trees and scrub-land.
While crews were able to bring the small bushfires found under control, some lightning strikes can smolder for days before taking off when hot, windy conditions come through.
CFA District 15 operations manager Gavin Hope knows that storms like the ones seen on the weekend carry potential bushfire danger.
“A storm can obviously be a welcome sight during the hot seasons,” he said.
“They bring rain, but occasionally dry lightning can hit.”
Dry lightning occurs when a storm produces no rain but still lightning.
When we get dry lightning combined with the dry and windy conditions of summer it can be disastrous
- CFA District 15 operations manager Gavin Hope
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) is well aware of the dangers dry storms can bring.
“Lightning strikes can provide the initial spark that sets off a bushfire,” a DELWP spokeswoman said.
“Since 2000, Forest Fire Management Victoria records indicate that 26 per cent of all bush and grass fire ignitions across the Grampians Region have occurred due to lightning, but represent 78 per cent of the total area burnt.
“Unusually early bushfire activity has already occurred across the region in areas near Ballarat and into the State’s far west, highlighting the severe level of dryness in the state’s forests and grasslands.”
In the days following powerful storms like the ones at the weekend, the CFA will send out helicopters to search for smoldering fires started by lightning that may not have been reported.
The Grampians region is currently extremely dry with rainfall trends tracking at one of the lowest on record.
These conditions are very similar to the severe fire seasons of 1983, 2003, 2007 and 2009.
