i see red, i see red, i see red.

When I woke up this morning, I could have sworn I was still dreaming. I opened my sleep-clouded eyes and out of my window, all I saw was a thick, eery red haze. At first I thought there was a fire, as off in the distance I could hear an alarm along with those repetitive instructions ingrained in my memory from my days at college: "evacuate as directed." But I took a deep breath in and smelled no smoke. I got on with my morning (as I was running late for work, having slept in initially thinking after seeing the haze that I had set my alarm early and it was, in fact, 5am. How wrong I was), and didn't find out until later that Sydney was shrouded in a blanket of dust. Yep, today, from Woolloongong to Newcastle we experienced the worst dust storm in the history of the state. Some combination of a low pressure system, high winds, and extreme drought conditions out west created this crazy weather.

In addition to this, NSW has been given an extreme wind warning, with winds reaching speeds of 100km/h in some areas! And all of this follows a massive thunderstorm that took place last night - just as I was about to leave work, of course. You would think that all this unusual and somewhat dangerous weather would have me worried. But it hasn't. Those who know me will remember that I am incredibly excited by storms and used to want to be a tornado-chaser like Helen Hunt in Twister. Although I may not be swept of to the land of Oz anytime soon, this weather is still making my days just that much more worthwhile.

source: the age.