Storm Australian Severe Weather Forum
Severe Weather Discussion => General Weather - all topics not current severe weather. => Topic started by: Dave Nelson on 26 July 2006, 04:38:01 PM
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wow
got home from the movies tonite and went to weatherzone www.weatherzone.com.au
they have done a serious upgrade to their radar, which can now provide up to a 12 hour loop
of satellite imaging and rainfall radar
this would be the most significant upgrade in the 5 years that I have been registered with them
cheers
Dave N
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Excellent ! Let's see how it helps our storm chasing:)
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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Very nice indeed. The BoM really do need to get some coverage across the central- and southern extent of northwest- slopes & plains -- encompasses some large inland cities, plenty of agriculture and some rather mean weather at times.
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A radar has been earmarked for between Tamworth and Gunnedah but not sure of the time frame. The Brisbane doppler (near Logan) will be available next month, though of course no actual doppler images on the web. It covers down to where I live on the 128km scale which is nice ! Detail is heaps better than the Marburg radar.
MB
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A radar has been earmarked for between Tamworth and Gunnedah but not sure of the time frame. The Brisbane doppler (near Logan) will be available next month, though of course no actual doppler images on the web. It covers down to where I live on the 128km scale which is nice ! Detail is heaps better than the Marburg radar.
MB
Hi Michael,
I guess it is a matter of being patient - the nw slopes was suggested as a potential site although I guess this roll out will take several years. I'm sure the Adelaide radar has been put to good use (by the university that is) ::). Well, at least Sydney will have two Dopplers and the to-be-installed S-band should provide good coverage of the lower Hunter given the proposed location at Terrey Hills.
It will be interesting to see whether these velocity data, once available, will be used to further refine warnings on storms which (would) trigger a TVS - will the BoM pull out tornado warnings in the near future? I would like to think so when the situation warrants it.
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February 2nd 2005 comes to mind straight away as a day in which the BoM should have issued more serious warnings but they didn't then so I don't think an extra doppler in sydney will improve that situation. You can definately see why they have chosen Terry Hills as you suggested Dave, they can now cover the lower hunter and the central coast which recieves it's fair share of large hail events.
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February 2nd 2005 comes to mind straight away as a day in which the BoM should have issued more serious warnings but they didn't then so I don't think an extra doppler in sydney will improve that situation. You can definately see why they have chosen Terry Hills as you suggested Dave, they can now cover the lower hunter and the central coast which recieves it's fair share of large hail events.
It's an interesting thought isn't it Jeff, the BoM are clearly scared to pull the trigger. I remember that the storm you mentioned was in the middle range of the mesocyclone strength criteria - that is to say there was certainly an intense mesocyclone that could have produced a very damaging tornado, and perhaps did produce a tornado. Let's imagine when a storm say of the intensity (well, mesocyclone rotational velocity to be more specific) of the Bulahdelah tornado -- I'm making an assumption here -- but something on the upper end of that scale. What will the Bureau do? It is one thing when you dont have the tools to be able to determine how strong the rotation is, but when you do, and you decide not to use it, then you can bet a minister will request a review down the chain as per the Sydney hailstorm.
I have started a new thread where we can post all reference guides that might be handy for discussion - I have pasted the Mesocyclone strength Nomogram HERE (http://www.australiasevereweather.com/forum/index.php?topic=150.0) in relation to my comments on the Feb 2, 2005 storm.
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What was the rotational velocity of the february 2nd mesocyclone Dave?
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Hi Jeff,
I cannot recall gate-to gate-values, I'm not even sure these were given.
However read the following snippet that I had on my austpac weather list archive - could always e-mail Harald and see if he has saved any data he obtained:
-->>
I played with the radar at Sydney office at the time. What made life
harder in this situation was the supercell south of the Ryde storm,
attenuating
the signal from the Kurnell Doppler radar. Around the time of the Ryde
tornado
(4:10 - 4:15 LT ??) a strong (yes, strong) mesocyclone was associated with
that
southern cell ~15 km W of the Sydney Metro area. I am about certain that
this meso
should have had a ground circulation as well, but I haven't heard a tornado
report from the S cell yet.
Here is a thought. The situation on 2 Feb 05 was potent enough
to consider some rather special warnings. If you would see a warning
issued that reads "Tornado Warning for Sydney Metropolitan", how do
you think that would be received?
BTW, if you'd like to make it into the NSW Spotter Hall of Fame (yet to be
build)
you could try and report a tornado in real time. I know from experience
that as
a chaser you are doing rather well if you manage to get half-decent video of
a tornado given
the adrenaline problems, but a real-time call to give a spotter report could
have
a huge positive impact on the warning services. An accurate spotter +
Doppler radar
package is a powerful warning "tool."
Harald
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Harald Richter
Bureau of Meteorology Training Centre
GPO Box 1289K, Melbourne VIC 3001, Australia
[street address: 700 Collins St., Docklands VIC 3008, Australia]
phone: +61 3 9669 4538
fax: +61 3 9669 4366
e-mail: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
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