Storm Australian Severe Weather Forum
Severe Weather Discussion => Australian Severe Storms, Weather Events and Storm Chasing => Topic started by: Michael Bath on 21 January 2009, 06:43:47 AM
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Today and the next few days will deliver thunderstorms over many areas as a trough persists through NSW. Some severe weather is likely in NE VIC and the SE third of NSW today - with some lightning on tracker already west of the ACT.
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MB - Looking at current WZ radar, there is a mass of storms building thru the Southern Alpine region NSW - close to Albury.
BoM issued severe t-storm warning (damaging winds & large hail) - the radar at 2pm looks absolutely spectacular!
Big Pete
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Just checking latest obs:-
Falls Creek in Vic - had 36.2mm in 60 mins. (between 1pm and 2pm) from a ferocious storm.
Big Pete
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A few cells have passed through the Canberra area. The airport site measured a gust of 106km/h and 15mm of rain in under 10 mins. Temp dropped below 17 from an earlier afternoon high of 34. Some reports of hail in the ACT too.
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Quite an impressive line of storm activity through SE NSW - aiming for the ACT again.
Wagga Wagga recorded gusts to 115km/h 4.45 to 4.50pm with 16mm of rain.
Powerlines have been brought down in the Griffith and Wagga areas.
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We have gotten a few spits of rain here, and a VERY close lightning strike in the paddock near our house. Our lounge room flashed bright pink and the crack was so loud I nearly jumped through the roof! Also copped a pretty strong downburst with lots of dust and a few small branches down. Thankfully it has cooled down a bit but we are a bit worried about fires as there were a lot of CGs flying around and It's pretty dry and windy. Beautiful big anvils on these storms. Tomorrow and Thursday look promising for storms here again.
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Wagga Wagga Thunderstorm - 20/1/2009
The Wagga Wagga thunderstorm appears to be interesting as I have printed off some data that shows it from the Bureau of Meteorology radar observation (Wagga Wagga) site.
Time Temperature Peak Wind gust Rainfall
4.12 pm 32.3C 48 km/h Nil
4.19 pm 26.8C 63 km/h Nil
4.30 pm 25.9C 50 km/h Nil
4.39 pm 24.3C 50 km/h 0.6 mm
4.42 pm 16.8C 104 km/h 5.2 mm
4.45 pm 18.1C 115 km/h 9.4 mm
4.50 pm 19C 115 km/h 14.2 mm
4.52 pm 19C 52 km/h 14.8 mm
4.55 pm 19.1C 76 km/h 16 mm
5 pm 23.8C 76 km/h No further rain fell - 16 mm being the amount.
5.06 pm 29.2C 24 km/h
Data from the Bureau of Meteorology (Wagga Wagga radar site) 20/1/2009.
The thunderstorm hit at 4.39 pm and was over by 4.55 pm being 16 minutes. In that time top wind gusts for at least 5 minutes were 115 km/h and rainfall appears to be close to 16 mm in 16 minutes (give or take a couple of minutes). Temperature fell from 32.3C before the event to as low as 16.8C before climbing back to 32.7C at 5.30 pm. What makes this event unusual is that at 2.30 pm the top temperature for Wagga Wagga was 39.4C (103F) and was 38C (100F) even at 3.28 PM. A fall to 16.8C (62F) during this thunderstorm is amazing.
Top wind speeds (I assume average unless someone corrects me) was 72 km/h at 4.42 pm and 43 km/h at 4.45 pm but increased to 53 km/h at 4.50 pm before tapering away thereafter.
Relatively humidity went from 29% at 4.12 pm to a peak of 100% at 4.50 pm before settling back to 32% at 5.06 pm.
It was obviously a significant thunderstorm considering the peak wind gusts and wild temperature fluctuations.
There were other thunderstorms across the inland south west slopes and southern ranges but I have not seen these to be as dramatic. Then again, the storm at Wagga Wagga passed over a weather station that recorded it. Other storms passed over rural areas but hit and miss. Albury 130 km SW of Wagga Wagga scored less than 1 mm from a shower or storm cell while parts of Canberra scored 17 mm from another storm.
Harley Pearman
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A friend in Bombala said there was a nice buildup but then they only got a brief shower. Very hit and miss, like it looked on the radar. Small cells. Unluckily the ones developing west of Sydney hit the mountains and died from the sea breeze as usual.
Apart from wanting to see some, the lawn could do with a nice 20mm dump of rain! Tomorrow looking better though, fingers crossed.
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Report January 20 2009 Storm Chase
Headed south after 3:30pm more in readiness to be in position for any lightning show and also to make it easier to be in position for storms today 21st January down south. Of course the instability has shifted northwards!
Here are some pictures from January 20:
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0120jd04.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0120jd04.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0120jd09.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0120jd09.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0120jd14.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0120jd14.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0120jd23.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0120jd23.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0120jd32.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0120jd32.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0120jd33.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0120jd33.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0120jd36.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0120jd36.jpg)
All photos for 20 January 2009 (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/jd20090120.html)
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hi all,
a couple of small cells passed over the Sydney basin last nite between 0030 and 0100Hrs EDT. Went down to
the wharf at the end of the street and saw/photo'ed a number of good CG's and CC's many others hidden in the
clouds.
The one that passd over the Sutherland Shire area was the most active. Got a brief burst of rain at home ~
0100hrs
cheers
Dave N
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The one that passd over the Sutherland Shire area was the most active. Got a brief burst of rain at home ~
0100hrs
cheers
Dave N
We had a ~ 4mm and a fair amount of flash and bang just before midnight, Dave.
Just went outside for a look and from here at North Ryde, I can say that Sydney looks strongly capped at the moment. The morning's sounding shows a formidable inversion, so unless that is eroded, it is unlikely that it'll be overcome given we are already at 36-37C across the metro area. The mid-level flow, already poor up here compared with areas further south, gets worse through the evening. As I type, I see some weak echos are just showing up on Sydney radar out over the west suburbs. It might be now or never!
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I was feeding the animals and noticed the clouds and went back inside to take a few pic's, outside that is, but obliviously have a lot to learn about cloud pic's, it is very hot 34 at the moment, strong westerly winds, and the clouds are building rapidly, the moisture is high but not oppressive.
The storms yesterday where all around me but not to close, for which I am grateful, got about 5mm out of them.
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Ursula, not knowing if the mountains block your view there could be some pretty impressive cumulonimbus tops to your southeast. That area bounded by Cooma, Bombala, Bega, and Narooma has had over 2.5 hours under a severe thunderstorm warning. Certainly the area to be this arvo - though I have no idea of views and vantage points.
MB
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Hi MB,
I have a good look over the Shoalhaven valley, I am about 700m up, I would know of good vantage points, but I am a bit short of money for petrol and my big boy Marvin(dog ) is scared of storms, so comes inside under the bed, yah. I just took some more pic's, there are a bit better, it is just so hot out there. I can see the Canberra radar from the back, Ballalaba is about 23km from Braidwood, I am a further 3km from the Bridge as the crow flies. I can hear distant thunder as well now, I have to be careful and turn elec off at certain points, even if far away it goes through the system, I don't like another lot killing my new freezer.
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Hi,
I just took some more pic's towards the coastal rigde, Batemans Bay will get it for sure, it shouldn't be far from it and it is moving north along the coast, it is spectacular you are right there, I will have a go in the morning and send the pic's then.
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Just starting to get some heavy rain here in Blacktown and a couple pics...
First pic facing North and second pic facing West.
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hi all,
a couple of small cells passed over the Sydney basin last nite between 0030 and 0100Hrs EDT. Went down to
the wharf at the end of the street and saw/photo'ed a number of good CG's and CC's many others hidden in the
clouds.
The one that passd over the Sutherland Shire area was the most active. Got a brief burst of rain at home ~
0100hrs
cheers
Dave N
we got some lighting and a few large thunderclaps in Miranda, but only 1mm of rain at my place.
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Interesting the current Sydney storms as they seemed to form but remain fairly stationary before dissipating. The one west of Parramatta then did a sudden merge with the one west of Liverpool (the Parra one was inflow dominated from the light rain direction here). After a while it reintensified just west of Parra before heading north and we caught the eastern edge of it.
Lots of lightning (mainly IC and CC) for over the last hour here but not that spectacular. Have had a few mm out of it here at Rydalmere, and about 2mm from the ones last night.
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Thunderstorm report (Prospect - Western Sydney 21/1/2009)
Looking west from Auburn at 5.10 pm, the thunderstorm west of Parramatta did not look too significant. Driving west, the rain slowly intensified. Once west of Westmead on the M4, I drove into the core and the rain was quite substantial. Between the Ettalong Road underpass and the Prospect Highway (Blacktown Road) underpass, the rain peaked in intensity. In this area that encompasses the suburbs of Prospect and Pendle Hill, the rain was very heavy. As I reached the Prospect Highway road turnoff, I drove out the western side of the thunderstorm into reasonably clear but cloudy skies.
I did not come across any hail, just very heavy rain and some wind being downdrafts but the wind was not damaging. I did not see allot of lightning either. Most lighting that I did see was intracloud.
However, as I was driving west on the M4 through the core of the storm, a traffic jam ensured most likely following a vehicle accident ahead of me. I turned off at Prospect Highway and went to William Lawson Park at Prospect to take some photographs of the storm.
Rainfall figures from the storm includes:-
15 mm at Kings Langley.
14 mm at Seven Hills, Blacktown and Toongabbie.
18 mm at North Rocks and Baulkham Hills.
19 mm at Hornsby.
19 mm at Fairfield.
22 mm at St Clair.
The heaviest rain was strictly limited to an area west of Parramatta, then North East towards Hornsby and SW to Fairfield and Campbelltown but west of Campbelltown.
With Penrith and surrounds only getting 4 mm, the falls indicate that the storm rainfall peaked around Blacktown to Parramatta, Baulkham Hills, parts of Fairfield and SW towards Campbelltown. Areas east of Parramatta received very light falls of between Nil rainfall and 5 mm.
The photos below are from short video clips I took showing cloud structure. I could not get any lightning as lightning was too sporadic. I took these from William Lawson Park off Myrtle Street (Prospect) looking east towards the rear of the storm between 5.50 pm and 6.15 pm 21/1/2009.
Harley Pearman
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Report January 21 2009 Southern Tablelands and South Coast
I had planned to chase the region near Cooma from the previous day but decided the region around 36S along the coastal region may fire. It turned out that the region south of Cooma fired early in an explosive fashion - the road network and distance simply outdid the chase so I stuck to my target.
It turned out once again rather disappointing as anvil mania dominated. The cells that approached the Moruya region began to lose intensity and became rather cluttered. The storms overall seemed high based too.
My interest then concentrated on storms off the coast and I got some nice timelapse of this rapidly rising updraft.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0121jd03.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0121jd03.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0121jd20.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0121jd20.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0121jd26.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0121jd26.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0121jd40.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0121jd40.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0121jd42.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0121jd42.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0121jd54.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0121jd54.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0121jd56.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0121jd56.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0121jd57.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0121jd57.jpg)
All photos for 21 January 2009 (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/jd20090121.html)
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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Just in the last 1/2 or so (12.30pm Thursday 22/1), a few severe thunderstorms just blew up along a line from the north of my place to the se corner. Had a mm or rain here in a short sharp heavy downpour, but it only lasted 3 mins - quite a fair bit of lightning activity to my north (around Yarra Glen and Yea) and also to my SE (around Pakenham eastwards). SSW has been issued here, with possible hailstones to 3cm on the cards.
Because this area has been so dry this month, anything storm-wise could happen. The pattern of weather here is more like late spring than mid summer.
Also the wind has been very strong here. I'd love to get some shots of the clouds, but there's too much raised dust around, obscuring a good storm pic.
Big Pete
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Just need to add - that a supercell thunderstorm is moving through Marysville (NE VIC) - it has had reports of 3cm hail, and the winds are gusting over 85kph there at the moment. Also watching other cells to the E of my home area - got 4mm with a quick storm earlier, but nothing since and the weather is clearing from the W-NW - and temps have dropped from 32c to 25c and still dropping in the last hour.
If anyone is chasing in the mountain area to the E-SE of Marysville - worth getting some pics, and for those living near W&E Gippsland - be prepared!
Big Pete
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Good stuff down there big Pete. The storm given mentioned as a supercell in the warning developed behind the main line and has now weakened, but that is a long line of quite intense storms.
Issued at 1:24 pm Thursday, 22 January 2009.
The Bureau of Meteorology warns that, at 1:25 pm, severe thunderstorms were detected on weather radar near the area northeast of Neerim, the area southeast of Marysville, Yarra Junction and the area east of Marysville.
These thunderstorms are moving towards the southeast.
Damaging winds and large hailstones are likely.Damaging wind gusts associated with thunderstorms have been reported near Healesville. Some thunderstorms on radar have the characteristic structure of organisation (supercell thunderstorms) which can enhance severity. One in particular at 1:20pm near Marysville."
Here in Sydney, it could be a sleeper. The actual sounding is not too bad, we are on the edge of the muck blanketing the NE 1/3 of the state and we're in need of something to light the wick!
...........
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All happening there David :) Will have to get a copy
As an aside to the storms, there have been some impressive rainfalls in the North West Slopes with Mt Kaputar scoring 86mm to 9am and 63mm since. A few other sites around the Narrabri to Moree region have done very well.
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ROFL David, that's brilliant! (Where can I get a copy???)
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We're getting desperate down here James, MB :)
That's a decent line moving through the southwest slopes, southern tablelands inc. ACT atm, although lightning is dropping off.
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We managed to pretty much miss the storms this afternoon...how unlucky! They were all around us and full of thunder, but all we got was a few spots and a house full of dust! It has been very gusty and dusty since the line passed, and the sky is still a dirty brown. If you walk outside all you cop is a hot wind and a mouthful of dirt! Wish it would rain and settle it.
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Albury thunderstorm 22/1/2009
A review of the weather observation site for Albury has identified that a strong but shortlived thunderstorm hit the City Airport Weather Station from 4.12 pm to 4.30 pm. During this period wind gusts were sustained at 83 km/h but from 4.27 pm to 4.30 pm, peak wind gusts hit 98 km /h.
During this time 6.4 mm of rain fell and the temperature plunged from 31.4C at 4pm to as low as 21.3C at 4.27 pm but by 5 pm, the temperature had risen back to 27C and back to 30C by 6 pm.
During the period 4.12 to 4.30 pm, a strong but short lived thunderstorm passed over parts of the city, especially Lavington, Thurgoona and East Albury plus the airport. It passed over a weather station and hence gales to 98 km/h were recorded here.
(Data obtained from the BOM Albury Weather Station Airport site 22/1/2009).
A cluster of thunderstorms were evident in this region during this period and severe thunderstorm warnings were in force. Again many were hit and miss and mostly in rural areas but one passed over a weather station and thus there is data from it.
Furthermore, a narrow squall line continues to move through the Canberra - Queanbeyan region South East New South Wales between 8 pm and 9 pm moving steadily east.
Harley Pearman
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he he awesome mate , a beginners guide to sunburn , i want a copy too
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Looks like Sydney might get a bit of late night action with the north end of the Canberra squall line, unless it dies coming down the range. Temps are still 26-28 degrees as of 10pm.
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Love it David! :D
I feel like I must whinge at the season so far. After a pretty good one last season(passable) this season has been non existant. This week is a classic example of potential gone awry.
Ading to this is the shear freakish ability of the rain to steer around the lower mountains in the last 7 days. After the baking temps up here (the warmest since i moved into my place in 2002) we have seen countless storms form over the plentiful lower mountains and dump into the plains. Last night their was an invisable shield over the Blue Mountains and this line which has been cranking since Albury is going to zip past missing us by about 30km. THe local fireries were pretty content in December thinking that with the rains through Spring - 2008/09 fire season was going to be quiet, but in the last few weeks they are much more worried - many talking about the late season being more akin to what Victoria and South Australia experience (the prevailing view is that once mid jan gets here - the humidity increases and rain sets in) - and the late season for central NSW is a rare thing.
*sigh*
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Since I bought the DSLR a few months ago - nothing. Storms in Sydney when they have happened have been daytime. I drive to Coffs Harbour in December and stay a few days - nothing, but storms there the night I get back to Sydney. Flying to Brisbane tomorrow until Sunday - and no storms either forecast.
I will happily hire myself and the DSLR out to anywhere that wants to stop storms occurring.
Seriously, last summer at least saw a few good daytime CGs out western Sydney and also near home. This year has been very poor with lots of ICs during the day you can't see, and only a fwe CGs during the day. Probably go mad the next the 3 days while I am away.
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Hi guys,
I must say normally, I am not one to whinge let alone on a thread. Since I can recall, perhaps 1982 could even come close to this crappy season. Then you have 1996 but at least we got some storms to chase. I have taken Imelda and Kimberly on extensive trips - yes trips that were supposed to be storm chases haha.
I like Kimberly's comments: "We get rain in the Philippines - I want hail!" Or the latest quote "I can't believe your chasing this stuff!"
Imelda's comments are somewhat tame: "Maybe we are giving you bad luck."
I apologise to my pregnant wife and adventurous step daughter for subjecting them to thousands of kilometres of sunburnt torture, endless scenes of tree lined roads and parched countryside. I have learned my lesson and with their forgiveness I can retreat inside from the dog-house!
The maximum size of hail for me this season - golf ball sized! If the situation does not improve, this will be the smallest maximum sized hailstones I would have experienced since 2000 - 2001 summer season. This could result in my losing ownership of the nick "hail" :) I would have downgraded my stature to a rookie! And then Michael Bath's quote, "I must chase tomorrow, we haven't seen a storm for two weeks". I am pretty sure it was a harmless unintentional comment but we have not had a decent storm all season!
Now is this pathetic season the cause of global warming?
We'll see how the second season goes! Oh and how about my latest pictures! See below:
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0122jd03.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0122jd03.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0122jd04.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0122jd04.jpg)
All photos for 22 January 2009 (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/jd20090122.html)
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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Pregnant wife!! Congratulations Jimmy! That's the most exciting news this season lol!
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Jimmy! Congratulations on the news (about the pregnancy - not the lack of hail - if it makes you feel any better, my best (and only) hail this season was 4cm back in October...and it wasn't even in my car!).
I do feel for you southern guys as we have had nothing short of a very typical storm season up here in SEQ/NENSW (although my chases have been few and far between so I missed most of the better days).
It started with a few severe storms through September and October before the season really picked up (as it should) in November/December. Since then it has tapered off (to virtually nothing) through most/all of January but we have had very summery weather patterns (i think?) with moist, coolish air coming off the Tasman in the south easterlies. In the last few days this has been replaced by a more tropical burst with the surface winds swing to the N/NE and the DP's rising well into the low 20's. With the relatively warm upper levels, not much in the way of storms has really ocurred but there has been some good rainfall (especially over the last 24hrs). This looks to continue for another 48hrs before the wind swings back to the SE as the ridge strengthens back up along the coast.
With the warm upper temps in place at the moment and complete lack of shear, I have already started busting out the old weather DVD's (from the US) and have been watching and teasing myself.
Macca
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With the warm upper temps in place at the moment and complete lack of shear, I have already started busting out the old weather DVD's (from the US) and have been watching and teasing myself.
Macca
Hahaha I know that feeling some times Macca, and it really is such a tease !!
After looking at the charts for the day, I think I will go south and base myself in the Mossvale area and see what happens
not too bad a central area that I can go further south if necessary, or come back towards Sydney.
Cheers
Dave N
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Congrats JD! A flood of baby stormchasers looks the go!
Some nice contrast in those dust photos there too.
I sometimes wonder whether the information age makes us more antsy because we can see how close the rain is and how much we are missing. If I hadn't been lucky enough to see the storms in SEQLD (sample below) i think i would be pretty nuts about now. The 8 weeks from mid October to Mid December are so important for a successful NSW season. REcently a few of us have reflected on the glory days where we complained of the stratocu Sydney basin with supercells ripping along the hunter Valley. Ahh memories...
(http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v651/5/116/610510727/n610510727_1736359_3823.jpg)
31/21 here.
Dann
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Congratulations on the impending arrival Jimmy and sorry about the dismal sized hail. lol
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Some bits and pieces starting to show up on the Sydney radar. 34/21 here in the lower mountains, but that wind has really strengthened from the east - a consistent 10-15km/h. It looks much more unstable today - with the NE injecting some moisture a bit further down, the NW not drying things about the temps being a bit more subdued.
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I just had a good laugh at one of the headlines in The Border Mail today relating to the storm that ripped through Albury yesterday...." 'Cyclone' tears into township "!!!!! C'mon people....It's Albury, inland southern NSW!!!
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No whinges here! Just had a phenomenal downpour and some RIPPER lightning bolts briefly taking out the power. I didn't see that one coming but it failed to disappoint!
Steven
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kristy84,
Well if you think that one is bad - try "Mini-Tornado" rips through Marlo (near Orbost VIC) - they (the media) still have a "sit on the fence" approach to storms - it either is a tornado (weak) or not a tornado (wind gusts/gustnado/microburst etc)
Big Pete
PS Been watching a recent storm on radar around Woolongong - it is certainly lightning active - I predict a storm may halt the cricket tonight.
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Nice cell creeping into the greater Sydney region. Have not agreed with the trajectories indicated in the BoM STW products so far - certainly heading more NE than any SE or E heading
For people in parts of the
Sydney Metropolitan,
Greater Wollongong and
Wollondilly/Wingecarribee areas.
Issued at 5:17 pm Friday, 23 January 2009.
The Bureau of Meteorology warns that, at 5:10 pm, severe thunderstorms were detected on weather radar near Picton and the area south of Wilton.
These thunderstorms are moving towards the east.
They are forecast to affect Wollongong, Appin and Bulli by 5:40 pm and Waterfall, Helensburgh and Stanwell Park by 6:10 pm.
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MB
It looks like that cell had some horseshoe shape in it when it split in two just west of Helensburgh.
Big Pete
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Friday 23rd - 6:30 PM
Bass and flinders Point, got to the point and realised id left my camera at home -DOH
heres a few shots from my phone cam which came out half decent for once.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/troyrulz007/Photo_0037.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/troyrulz007/Photo_0036.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/troyrulz007/Photo_0035.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/troyrulz007/Photo_0034.jpg
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hey Gang,
i have just got home from an awesome storm chase to the sth of Sydney.
As commented in an earlier post it was the region I targeted and for once it paid off handsomely!! although for
a while I was getting a bit disappointed. I got down to the Mittagong area ~ 1400hrs EDT and kept an eye on a
few small dark cells trying to get their act together. They never really did.... produced a few flashes and rumbles
and some heavy bursts of rain.
I headed back towards Sydney mumbling to myself about the way they teased me :-\ . getting back towards
Campbelltown, I could see a large cell to the north over the Penrith area and went up onto Narellan Rd to park
and check it out. My interest in it died rapidly when I looked south from whence I had just come from and was greeted with a large cell and a wallcloud starting to form. Getting back in the car and headed south yet again and
found a clear place to stop and watch this awesome sight......
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Great catch there Dave! Some really nice structure in those photos. Was it in the Sydney basin or Southern Highlands?
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Hi James,
thanks, I was parked ~ 10k S of Campbelltown the cell core another maybe 5k south of me.
I guess it would be the nthrn edge of the Southern Highlands.
Ok.... to continue the story :) ... I had to head back north as this thing was getting too close to photo it easily
and was putting out large CG's. I retreated back to Narellan Rd for a few more pix. Then on to the Appin Rd to
clearly view a second decent cell forming behind the big one. Today was one of the few times where I have heard
a BOM severe thunderstorm warning being broadcast over the ABC AM radio station.
here's some pix of the second cell plus a funnel cloud.
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Sydney basin storms 23/1/2009
I have some photos of the southern Sydney storm I took from Auburn. The thunderstorm was actually just to the south of the city.
It was one of two thunderstorms that developed in the Sydney Basin late in the afternoon. A small northern storm moved through Baulkham Hills dropping 4 mm of rain maximum at Baulkham Hills but that storm had a fairly short life, quickly becoming outflow dominant then collapsing.
The southern storm was much stronger and lasted longer than the northern storm although after 6 pm that storm also started to weaken. I did notice further smaller storm cells over south west Sydney following the main storm cell.
The storm dropped 30 mm of rain at a place called Reverces and 26 mm at Appin. Mostly that storm stayed just outside the Sydney built up area.
The photos below have been obtained from my short video clips I took looking south. The time is from 5.20 pm to 6.20 pm at Mona Park - Off Mona Street Auburn 23/1/2009. The last photo was taken just as the cell started to weaken.
Further comment on the Albury Thunderstorm 22/1/2009:
Further to my previous post 22/1/2009, I found out in the Border Mail 23/1/2009 that the suburb of Lavington experienced 20 mm of rain in 12 minutes, trees were brought down in West Albury and winds of 100 km/h occurred in the city including some outlying rural towns as well. The SES were called out to a number of jobs relating to trees being brought down and power lines damaged.
Harley Pearman
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Sydney basin storms 23/1/2009
I have some photos of the southern Sydney storm I took from Auburn. The thunderstorm was actually just to the south of the city.
It was one of two thunderstorms that developed in the Sydney Basin late in the afternoon. A small northern storm moved through Baulkham Hills dropping 4 mm of rain maximum at Baulkham Hills but that storm had a fairly short life, quickly becoming outflow dominant then collapsing.
The southern storm was much stronger and lasted longer than the northern storm although after 6 pm that storm also started to weaken. I did notice further smaller storm cells over south west Sydney following the main storm cell.
Harley Pearman
The photo's and time you related in your post were for the second cell just on the south side of Campbelltown, as seen
closer up in my second set of pix. It was interesting watching the cell form- die off - reform cycling a number of times over
a period of an hour as it moved towards the coast. My last pic of that cell was a little further south than Auburn ... namely
the rooftop carpark of the centro shopping centre in Bankstown....
Its a pity you missed the BIG one it really was a monster.... it rates as one of my best cells ever seen/photo'ed if not 1st
then 1st = :)
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Dave,
What a beauty! Awesome structure and contrast. Is the inflow coming from two directions? You deserve the success of that storm chase as you were out there!
I was awaiting a developing storm that dumped heavy rain on Schofields when I photographed the developing storm down south near Camden area. It did not look that impressive at that point. The curtain of rain from the Schofields storm then hid it from view for a little while. Just prior to the commencement of the rain, I decided to have a look and my eyes popped out of my head! I had not expected updrafts so crisp. Not even 5 minutes passed after the rain and I was off! Oh and my wife Imelda reminder me of the low fuel level!
I know it was too late to be in position but I utilised whatever I could from the M7 to get down there as soon as I could. Then it suddenly occurred - double demerits! I needed spikes to lift my foot off the accelerator! Anyway, the updrafts were rather impressive and finally the structure began to come into view as I approached the M7 toll gates near Hoxton Park.
My mistake likely occurred when I took the Ingleburn exit and got entangled in regions I was simply not aware of and just to escape some of the evening M5 traffic. I got the only two decent pictures in this area and then had to fuel up and try looking for a vantage point. The other worry was the area was not likely to be inviting to a person with expensive looking camera equipment so I had to pick and choose. The storm by this time was weakening and I then positioned myself locally for the possibility of a second storm developing. It did develop but nowhere nearly as spectacular. After some timelapse I headed home.
Pictures below including the first storm encroaching Schofields.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0123jd04.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0123jd04.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0123jd06.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0123jd06.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0123jd14.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0123jd14.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0123jd20.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0123jd20.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0123jd25.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0123jd25.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0123jd28.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0123jd28.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0123jd29.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0123jd29.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0123jd30.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0123jd30.jpg)
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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The second storm in the line was not as spectacular but had a nice base.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0123jd34.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0123jd34.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0123jd41.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0123jd41.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0123jd42.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0123jd42.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0123jd48.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0123jd48.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0123jd51.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0123jd51.jpg)
All photos for 23 January 2009 (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/jd20090123.html)
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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Good one Jimmy !!,
its always great to see pix from others that give a different perspective of a storm
and yes you are right the 2nd cell... although not as intense ... did have a good base on it at times
as it cycled up and down in intensity
edit... I forgot to answer you Q about inflow .... dont know if it was coming in in multi directions ... probably...
But from where I was S of Campbelltown the inflow was quite strong and coming in from behind me, as I faced
the storm ie. from the NE towards the SW
cheers
Dave N
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Hello all I just couldn’t keep my camera hiding in this series of sunset pictures yesterday (23/1/09) the sky glowed red here in Lennox head nsw and also a distant storm up towards the far northwest was capturing the sun’s rays and also glowed red here are some of the pictures.
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Super Photos!
Looks like the band out West will produce today.
Anyone know why the Moree radar is down?
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I’ve been watching the radar for about 2 days now and some nice and heavy falls have been falling just off the north coast but nothing has been falling in the north coast. I think that the band of cloud in the west should bring some action today. Parts of Queensland have been getting some heavy rain and storms to.
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Yeah looks likely for the North Coast today into the Border Ranges. Again precipitation fell desperately short last night and was found wanting(just like Australia batting yesterday).
Perhaps the chance of something as the trough moves through -Sydney sounding showing -10 LI's and aviation forecasts mildly optimistic:
TAF YSRI 232246Z 2400/2412
31014KT 9999 SCT045
FM240700 17015G25KT 9999 SCT015 SCT025
PROB30 TEMPO 2400/2409 VRB20G35KT 3000 TSRA SCT015 SCT050CB
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Wow, thats a pretty unstable atmosphere for Sydney today. Dry slot at 900 is annoying and could prevent things from taking off.
It's hard to imagine something wont fire up during the afternoon near the ranges and move east with the good steering wind (30-40 knots). Energy wont be a problem with high CAPE.
Not sure why Aviation forecasts are going for tops to 35,000 feet. Potential for 40,000 to 45,000 tops today.
Surely this is Sydney's day.
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Hi James
hmmmmm ... dunno tho the early AM sounding you referred to looks great, do we believe it or the AVN which
shows the CAPE and LFTX peaking much further nth of Sydney :( and even more so as the day progresses
I also dont like this very hi cloud that is now blanketing the basin, have seen very few storms develop when
it is present.
If I was placing a bet for today, I would say be in the Hunter or further nth.
Frustrating huh, when 2 different sources of data give very different outlooks
I hope I'm proved wrong for the sake of a chase ;)
Dave N
As a side note .... Michael B. if you are reading this.... how much creedance can you place on a sounding that is
already more than 4 hours old at the time of writing this note (1115Hrs EDT)
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I think I'm going to head out chasing today (which will mean it will be crap...lol). It doesn't look too shabby for up here in SEQ/NENSW. With 500mb temps as warm as they are I don't think we'll see any massive hail but with clear skies and DP's well into the low 20's, I think we could see some nice storms. Shear is lacking but might be enough to get something organised for short periods. Steering winds will push storms N or even NW.
Agree that the aviation forecasts are a little off going for storm tops of 35,000ft. I think 45-50kft is more on the money.
Macca
(Heading for Warwick - Tenterfield).
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one storm cell already passing ~ easterly through the Mudgee area (1120hrs EDT)
and this high crap over the basin is starting to move off to the east :) and a few small fluffies are visible in the west
yaaaaa Good Hunting ... Macca
Dave N
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Norsty mixing with the NW'er in Sydney, DP has crumbled. Is it too late to add another chapter to your DVD David?
Some nice towers going up to my west, you can see the effect of the drier air up high compared to yesterday. Updrafts have a much nicer crisp look to them today.
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Some storm warnings for around granite belt at 2.12 pm 24/01/09
Not much has been happening in Brisbane. All has been quiet for the last few weeks.
Took a trip out near Dalby yesterday, 23/01/09.
About 1.30 pm a storm was trying to build East of Dalby, it threatened, rumbled, and turned into not much more than a heavy rain band. Toowoomba coped a good downpour as we got there, a slow trip back down the range and that was about it. It was all over for any storms or rain for Brisbane last night.
More chance today.
Looks like once again Brisbane storm band is building from Northern NSW and heading North East, although this particular cell from the granite belt seems to be heading NNW today. This has been a different direction for our storm season of 2008/09. Most storms build to the West and come in over the Lockyer/ Brisbane valley, build intensity, and then hit Brisbane, then moving out to sea.
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Nice shots there coltan today looks like another interesting day storms have developed all over the place on the Grafton radar.
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Hi all,
Cindy and I chased a set of major cells up through the Hawksbury and towards Newcastle this afternoon.
We didnt go all the way to Newcastle, had we started chasing an hour earlier we would have.
The chase actually had ulterior motives .... namely it was too flaming hot at home and was considerably more
comfortable in the car with the air con going ... so was more a fun chase than something serious.
The Newcastle area got hammered by this tight group of cells. By the time we got back to West Ryde the southerly
buster had well and truely done its deed by dropping temps some 15C + thankfully!!!
Dave N
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Upper Western NSW / Southern QLD Storm Report 24th Jan. 2009
Hi guys,
I was really going to jump on and have a good 'ol whinge just to be sociable tonight lol but as fortune would have it the storm gods smiled upon Russ and I again this evening!
We went out earlier on, around 6:30pm braving the hot temps which had fallen from 40ºc all the way down to 38ºc by 7pm (lol) to see what the two storms in our area that were visible on the NSW radar looked like (really missing the Moree radar right about now!) These were not really impressive to look at but showed decent flanking lines and good anvils along with the odd powerful updraft. Humidity was (and still is) REALLY up there so we returned home to see what would eventuate. By 8:30pm I thought I'd have a glance outside only to see an amazing looking sunset lit anvil attached to a large updraft tower! This was extremely active throwing out countless CG's and the odd CA's. We raced out to our Bald Hill vantage giving us several hundred kilometers of horizon view stretching from the SW - N - NW and back around to the West. There were seven active storms clearly visible, showing on radar to be just on the QLD border and stretching back to Moree at that time. I threw the trusty 10mm Sigma lens on and set to it capturing a few dozen CG firing from the rear of the updraft core. We continued photographing until 15mins ago (10:45pm EDST) and were still just getting CG and structure from the massive storm line along with crystal clear star lit skies! We got quite a shock when we saw the radar (on Russ' mobile) as the storm we were concentrating on and still getting good photos from was/is nearing St George QLD over 160klms away as the crow flies! (just about to hit there now on the radar 11pm EDST)
I will post the photos asap tomorrow :D
Take care and kindest regards,
Shauno
PS. Your all welcome to come and chase here if you're missing out! We have enough unobstructed photographic locations for everybody lol!
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Hi Dave,
The chase actually had ulterior motives .... namely it was too flaming hot at home and was considerably more
comfortable in the car with the air con going ... so was more a fun chase than something serious.
Sounds like the same motive we had.
Chase Report January 24 2009
Imelda, Kimberly and I decided to head north towards Taree in anticipation of action either to the north earlier and then back south later. I continued north to ensure that I was in sufficiently deep moisture. Cumulus were observed near Taree so we had a rest here.
After a small bite a McDonalds, the now glaciated cumulus and developing storm approached. This storm dominated and remained active until it hit the coast just south of Laurieton.
Our attention then turned back to the original target and back south. In fact, the storm was nearing Coolongolook where I timelapsed the developing shelf cloud structure. The slow moving storm complex had a massive anvil but not much substance to it. Nevertheless, it was photogenic.
Finally, we enjoyed some nice lightning at Forster as this storm passed over the area. This includes some nice stills of lightning with the glowing setting sun. Had little opportunity to set up the camera so I just videoed.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0124jd05.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0124jd05.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0124jd15.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0124jd15.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0124jd22.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0124jd22.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0124jd28.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0124jd28.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0124jd39.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0124jd39.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0124jd54.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0124jd54.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0124jd66.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0124jd66.jpg)
All photos for 24 January 2009 (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/jd20090124.html)
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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Strill up in Brisbane, and flying back to Sydney tomorrow. Some very distant flashes from the severe warned storm that was tracking north near Toowoomba about 6pm, still lighting up the sky a long way off about 8pm. Otherwise, it is just hot and humid here. Not used to getting out of the air conditiioned car and having the sunglasses fog up on me!
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Nice structure in those photos Jimmy/Dave. Is that a photo taken from North Brother lookout above? Great lookout there although a chainsaw could be handy to knock down a few more trees.
Last night would be one of the most warmest and moist nights I have slept through in a long time. Temp didnt get below 24 here and DP was sitting on 22 to 23. Thankfully the A/C was fixed on Friday and in full use throughout the night. Felt like Darwin walking outside this morning.
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James,
Is that a photo taken from North Brother lookout above? Great lookout there although a chainsaw could be handy to knock down a few more trees.
Correct and correct. The elevation of the hill/mountain is 490 metres.
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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Hi all,
Went for a bit of a drive yesterday. Its hard to not chase when instability was as nice as yesterday (-6 LI's and 3000j/kg CAPE) and whilst shear wasn't ideal, it was enough to allow for brief periods of storm organisation.
Managed to lob onto the initial storm as it came up from NSW. We positioned ourselves just west of Killarney and watched as the storm slowly moved up towards us (clearly moving N to NW). It was pushing out some CRAZY clear air CG's and the associated nice booming thunder. As it neared, it intensified nicely and even exhibited some half decent base rotation as a little clear slot kicked in.
Eventually it made it to our location so we moved about 3km up the road (towards Warwick) and we stopped after I saw a brief small funnel (lasted about 20 seconds). While we were stopped here, the barrage of CG's continued and as I was looking out the passenger window (wound down) a CG hit in the field 30 metres away...wow. Seriously WOW! The sound was incredible (but gone so fast). It seemed to hit an old rusted water tank (literally just 30 metres away) and a big puff of smoke rose up out of the field immediately after it occurred. After a barrage of profanities from me and the g/f and a checking of the cleanliness of our underwear, we continued another few km down the road (close CG's continuing to hit around us).
Eventually this cell weakened as the outflow took over and it came very close to dying all together so we headed back to Warwick to decide what to do next. There was a nice cell over to the west of Allora and we initially headed for it but the original storm had kicked up another massive updraft on the outflow of the earlier phase and it looked great so we headed for it. It moved into no-mans land a bit (east of Allora but west of Boonah area) but was moving north so we headed up to Clifton and then down to Gatton but by this stage it had kicked out a BIG outflow push and whilst it was photogenic, it wasn't going to survive much longer so we called it quits and headed back to Brisbane (but not before running in to AC, Dave and Phil in Gatton).
I was a little worried when after dark the next storm/s from NSW were starting to look good and the lightning looked quite frequent but I later found out that it was significantly CC lightning and not overly photogenic so good decision made ;).
Overall a pretty good day given the warm upper levels and not ideal shear. First chase of 2009 for me and the closest i've been to lightning ever.
Photos from the day here... http://macca.bsch.au.com/gallery2/v/Season+08/240109/
Macca
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Chased Sat 24th January 2009 with Rodney Wallbridge and Jason (Pato). We targeted the ranges due to the setup which was going to produce north or NW moving cells.
The first storm of the day developed near Tabulam though we proceeded further west to Tenterfield. The cumulonimbus development was impressive with very high tops often capped with pileus. The first big storm of the day developed just to our NE and tracked through Legume, Killarney.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2009012401.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2009012401.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2009012402.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2009012402.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2009012403.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2009012403.jpg)
We headed north to Warwick however the cell had weakened not long after crossing into Queensland. Fortunately it did manage to regroup for a while and produced a nice display of lightning to our east.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2009012404.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2009012404.jpg)
Other cells developed overhead from the outflow but our attentions returned to the south were the next line was approaching from.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2009012405.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2009012405.jpg)
We moved to near Killarney. The line produced a fairly long shelf cloud which didn't look all that strong. However it did intensify in one area producing quite a lot of lightning and eventually heavy rain. It was surprising how quickly some of the storms were moving today given what I thought was fairly light steering winds.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2009012406.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2009012406.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2009012407.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2009012407.jpg)
The sunset was very nice but we were too far away to get near the next cell (behind Jason and his new car) until it was dark.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2009012408.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2009012408.jpg)
The staccato show west of Warwick was very impressive, but finding clear areas along that Millmerran road was a PAIN!
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2009012409.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2009012409.jpg)
Very enjoyable chase, getting home at 2am. Lots more pics I could have shown as it was a very photogenic afternoon and evening. Thanks to Rodney for the driving.
---> all photos for 24 January 2009 (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/mb20090124.html)
Michael
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Wow - that IS close Macca ! During the drive west from Warwick in the evening, a branch of a staccato flashed right in front of the chase vehicles. It was very, very fast - and close. No thunder was heard.
Today we have had a thunderstorm already (just before 11am) - an onshore type though a couple of CGs were observed to the immediate north despite so much low cloud around.
MB
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Hi all,
Great storms there MB, awesome sunset too! That's some nice base structure there too Macca! Glad to hear there was a funnel out there. I understand well enough about the CG's! I was marveling at the constant lightning coming from the 7 storm cells that we could see from here! Any way I have a few photos to share from the main storm that went up towards St. George yesterday evening. There were 5 large cells to the right side, stretching out towards Mungindi and one, possibly two later-on to the left.
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2613&g2_serialNumber=1)
This is the "main" storm cell pushing up through Hebel and on to Dirranbandi at this time 8:45pm EDST. We've been extremely fortunate to have these storm on sunset lately! It's been a real treat for us :D
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2616&g2_serialNumber=1)
This storm had virtually come from nothing though conditions were really primed! (as they are today again) Great to see such a strong cap and the flanking line in tow.
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2619&g2_serialNumber=1)
8:52pm and my first CG capture. I was debating whether or not to put my 18-55mm lens back on but I decided the entire scene was just too good to pass up!
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2622&g2_serialNumber=1)
I think it was around this time that I noticed a rather large and very bright shooting star come right down on top of this cell! I wasn't exposing at that point so yelled out to Russ to see if he saw it but he wasn't exposing either lol? Oh well.
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2628&g2_serialNumber=1)
Getting distant now 9:13pm, pushing around 150k's from us and getting nearer to St. George, also the activity was going nuts! Here you can see one of the other cells that lined the horizon in front of us.
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2631&g2_serialNumber=1)
9:16pm and the stars were really dominating the sky now. This was my last CG/star photo for the evening. We stuck around until 10:40pm doing various star trail experiments etc. but soon called it a night. I think I was at ISO1600, f/4, 25seconds @ 10mm for this photo?
All in all a great way to cap off a disappointing, stinking hot afternoon watching the storms split around us in the distance. See what happens today. I've just had my storm warning via the EWN but there's nothing on the horizon as yet? I'll be waiting.. ;)
Regards and take care,
Shauno
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January 24th 2009
Gday All,
Just a few pics to add to Michaels from our chase to the Downs yesterday.
View of cell WNW of the Mallanganee lookout.
(http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff315/jaypat75/IMG_4979-1.jpg)
East of Warwick
(http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff315/jaypat75/IMG_5001.jpg)
Guster south of Warwick
(http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff315/jaypat75/IMG_5005.jpg)
Same cell as above dumping its contents
(http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff315/jaypat75/IMG_5013.jpg)
And a couple tasty clear air CGs to finish the night off
(http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff315/jaypat75/IMG_5048.jpg)
(http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff315/jaypat75/IMG_5067.jpg)
Another long but enjoyable chase meeting up with Roddy and MB in Tenterfield. Over 10hrs and around 600km covered. Was great to test out the new chase vehicle, a Subaru Forester GT a real step up in luxury from my old Subaru Brumby lol.
Hope you enjoy,
Cheers Jason
PS. Great stuff again Shauno some real great storms in there. Awesome lightning. Keep up the great work!
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Shaun, those storms are absolutly beautiful. The stars together with the storms...It looks amazing!
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Gyday all, went out for a chase with Michael Bath and Jason(Pato). Headed out to Tenterfeild and then on to Warwick which is in QLD :eek: The trip total time was 13hrs with 636kms travelled.Driving time was 8hrs. Some fantastic examples of Pileus caped updrafts and some on overshoots. Stacatto Cg's were lovely and scenery was quite nice too.
The setup clearly supports ranges storms which should have been alower moving then what they were?
Really enjoyed the company and the chase even if we did get home after 1am :cool: here are a few of my favorite pics. Great storms everyone who got amongst them!! Last picture shows Lightning Lady looking down on us
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/rodney/20090124rwa.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/rodney/20090124rwb.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/rodney/20090124rwc.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/rodney/20090124rwd.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/rodney/20090124rwe.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/rodney/20090124rwf.jpg)
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Wow! Nice storms intercepted with obvious outflow and shelf clouds. Active storms during the evening. I forgot to mention that last night, I saw a couple and filmed one bolt come right out of the storm and strike ground. Today, there were a few as well.
Chase report January 25 2009
Still with family and having stayed overnight at Forster, we headed up towards and beyond Dorrigo and Ebor. The cloud gave way to cumulonimbus to the west of Ebor. I targeted Guyra and basically when we got there, storm intensity increased and a couple of storms organised. The first to the south and southeast of Guyra put up a nice updraft and base with nice base organisation before it produced outflow and got undercut by the boundary it perhaps developed on.
Observing developing storms to the northwest, I decided to quickly re-position - this time over the Ben Lomond range. The rain free base of the storm looked to be getting inflow so I set up for timelapse and photographs. The storm produced some sporadic bolts and an arcus cloud developed the base. Some deep thunder could also be heard from within the core.
Repositioning near Glencoe, I observed some good organisation but the contrast was not ideal and the hills were in the way for observation of the base. I have timelapse from this vantage point and further down the road towards Glen Innes - though the storm was on a downward trend. We are staying the night in Glen Innes.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0125jd02.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0125jd02.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0125jd07.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0125jd07.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0125jd09.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0125jd09.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0125jd14.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0125jd14.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0125jd20.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0125jd20.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0125jd24.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0125jd24.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0125jd32.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0125jd32.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0125jd39.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0125jd39.jpg)
All photos for 25 January 2009 (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/jd20090125.html)
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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Back from Brisbane now. Saturday night I could see distant flashes in the sky from the severe cell that had moved over near Toowoomba and been already documented here - some great photos guys.
Today nothing in Brisbane though Coolangatta flights were on hold or diverted due to thunderstorm activity that way, and we took a more westward track than usual from Brisbane dodging them leaving at 4pm. I see Byron got a fair bit of rain and someone told me Coolangatta got a good dump as well. Nothing spotted from the plane though an aisle seat and cloud under us most of the way to Sydney.
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Singleton / Muswellbrook Storms 24 January 2009
Saturday 24/1/2009, I took a trip up to Singleton (Hunter Valley) to see what would happen and finished up staying the night there after photographing night time lightning.
I was concerned at first when reaching this area because of the heat (It reached 41C - 106F) Saturday and the high cirrus cloud cover at first. That cleared early afternoon. With no storms in sight and a late afternoon / evening cool change, I decided to stay in the area for 3 hours watching the sky. That paid off late afternoon especially as the cool change approached from the south.
After 3 pm, thunderstorms started to develop with the first storm developing almost over me. My first photo shows this small but quite pretty storm cell being the second one for the day and located about 2 km south east of me. The cloud tower shot out a cloud to ground lightning strike not too far away from me and the thunderclap permeated through the cloud. It shows that even such a tiny storm cell as this can produce cloud to ground strikes. The photo was taken at Rose Point Park off Ryan Avenue Singleton but I missed capturing the lightning strike.
Following the first two small storms at Singleton, I then headed north west towards Musselbrook. I was going to see if I could catch up with another storm as seen in the second photo. This put up a lovely anvil shield at first and I saw 2 cloud to ground lightning strikes however upon getting closer to it, I discovered that it was passing through inaccessible country to my north east. I then pulled off the New England Highway and took a series of short video film and photos of the rear portion including its base. I am located near Ravensworth.
Following this, I saw more intense thunderstorms develop to my SE so I then drove 30 km towards Whittingham and captured numerous shots of a more intense thunderstorm plus lightning strikes. I spent quite a while outdoors getting lightning photos at dusk and into the early evening. I post some of my favourite ones for the day.
This part of the Hunter Valley plus areas toward Newcastle did fire storms thanks to the cool change at the end of the day. I spent the night in Singleton before returning home Sunday morning.
Harley Pearman
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Hi all,
Went for a bit of a drive (550km) out to Inglewood and back. Although not as unstable as the two days prior due to lower moisture levels, the shear profile was interesting and I think I was more curious than anything to see what the storms would look like. 850mb winds were ESE'ly, 700mb winds were SE'ly and 500mb winds were S'ly. These were all sitting under a SW'ly jetstream. None of the levels were overly strong with 850 winds being 10-15knts, 700mb being 15-20knts, 500mb being 20-25knts and the jet being 35knts or so.
Anyway - so after driving through some moderate to heavy rain from the inner western suburbs of Brisbane all the way to Cunningham's Gap, I finally broke through into clearer, unstable skies. I continued to Warwick and then headed west to Inglewood to have a look at a storm coming up from near Stanthorpe. It was disorganised and messy and died not long after it went over Inglewood. I stayed around the area not really knowing what to do and it looked decidedly crappy but I stuck it out anyway as it was quite warm and humid.
TCu bubbled away to the SE and W of me and finally the TCu to the SE was of sufficient size that it broke through the warm(er) layer just above 500mb (which prevented storms from being better than they were). I gave chase (not far) to the east and drove through the featureless western side and broke through to see a nicely shaped base on the south eastern flank (almost overhead). I stopped the car at a convenient little clearing and there was constant rumbles above my head. The storm was being fed by cool but quite humid ESE'ly winds and whilst it looked nice and had some decent lightning, it was ingesting some pretty unhealthy air (for storms) and as it moved further NW, it weakened and didn't look too good so I left it be and headed back to Brisbane.
Overall an interesting drive and it was interesting seeing the storm/s with bases on the south eastern flank. It was like chasing US-style storms (in terms of looks and directional shear only) and was an interesting lesson in seeing what happens when storms ingest cool air.
Pics from today are here....http://macca.bsch.au.com/gallery2/v/Season+08/260109/
Macca
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No storms here in Outer-East Melbourne, and none forecast for VIC until Wed, when some storms may occur over the East Gippsland region.
Instead, like SA, we are about to embark on a solid heat wave, with temps exceeding 40C for the next 4 days - not the kind of weather one wants to have when the kids go back to school.
Big Pete
(hot enough to fry an egg on me scone)
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Hi Macca,
As discussed this morning during our brief chat, we were already in what seemed to be our target. However, it once again became somewhat frustrating at least for a little while trying to pick the weather conditions and to position yourself with the cumulus that may rapidly develop into storms.
Chase Report January 26 2009
The early storms glaciated but remained weak with a few rumbles of thunder. Eventually, I saw anvil to the south and so I gave chase just to see what was going on. With the storm near Black Mountain south west of Guyra, I could make out an interesting base briefly but never again did I get an opportunity. The feature most likely had to be scud rising to the base. After a little while, I noted that winds were cooler east to south easterly. So I headed on the road to Inverell. Convection was teasing to the north probably on the border. But after a little while, I noted the anvils were transparent indicating multiple updraft histories. The anvil to the northwest though was more substantial indicating some 'relatively' explosive activity. By the time I got to 10km south of Inverell, a nice structure of a right moving cell came into view. I am not sure whether it had split but it was in a weakening phase. I tried to chase the cell retreating to the west but after about 30km W of Inverell, I let it go. It seemed to weaken and I was not enthused by the south to southwest winds in the area even if it was from outflow.
It was near Inverell that another area of convection intensified. The two cells seem to merge and positioning on the road to Ashford, I watched as a nice base developed and precipitation curtains approached. Hail to pea sized or perhaps even 1cm was observed as I punched the core in Inverell. Gusty winds accompanied the hail.
By the time I headed on the road to Yetman, the storm was in decline with outflow undercutting the original storm and producing new updrafts. With limited heating and also disrupted moisture source, the cells were never impressive.
The return of moisture during the evening encouraged the development of weak cells. We called it a day and had dinner at Inverell. Whilst awaiting the dinner to be served, I took the opportunity to get a few more photographs.
As Macca said, I too was interested in the way the shear would react and which storms would dominate.
However, it seems that the anvils also cut off the heating on the eastern side and many cells competed for what energy was available. A stronger cap would have been ideal and more energy.
Following are some of the images for today:
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0126jd09.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0126jd09.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0126jd18.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0126jd18.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0126jd19.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0126jd19.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0126jd21.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0126jd21.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0126jd28.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0126jd28.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0126jd41.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0126jd41.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0126jd42.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0126jd42.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0126jd49.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0126jd49.jpg)
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After the chase ended, further pictures were taken from within or near Inverell.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0126jd65.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0126jd65.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0126jd73.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0126jd73.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0126jd80.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0126jd80.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2009/0126jd84.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0126jd84.jpg)
All photos for 26 January 2009 (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/jd20090126.html)
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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(http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v651/5/116/610510727/n610510727_1736359_3823.jpg)
31/21 here.
Dann
Dann, now that is what I call instability - what a top photo - when was that, has January 2004 crispness? (sorry for off-topic)
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That looks like the someone has been testing atomic bombs again in the Atolls.
Brilliant photo.
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David - that is the LP --> Classic supercell that developed just SW of Lismore on 30th December 2008. It powered on out to sea for several hours. Dann's photo is the nicest one I've seen of it offshore.
Check out this thread (http://www.australiasevereweather.com/forum/australian-severe-storms-significant-weather-events-and-storm-chasing/nsw-storms-27th-31st/)
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Some great photos. I chased just North of Tamworth on the evening of the 24th of January after a hot and steam afternoon. I would have preferred to have got more to west of the line rather than to the southern side of the storms but that proved difficult with the absence of a key bridge due to the floods late last year. The lightning activity was spectacular, refer to Gordon Garrard's time lapse if you can, although to much cloud to cloud activity from my viewpoint. The one that did leave the cloud, which was then quite some distance away, ended up being way too close when the "ting ting" noise I could hear from nearby fence posts resulted in a CG hitting said fence not that far from where I was parked in the car.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3256/3234057186_fdf477f357_m.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhett/3234057186/in/set-72157613082311124/)(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3303/3233209871_f23d838819_m.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhett/3233209871/in/set-72157613082311124/)(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3374/3233210111_9af21823eb_m.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhett/3233210111/in/set-72157613082311124/)(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3305/3234057946_bf03691104_m.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhett/3234057946/in/set-72157613082311124/)(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3300/3234058154_ac197d5ec8_m.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhett/3234058154/in/set-72157613082311124/)(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3454/3234058362_01c1b05f62_m.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhett/3234058362/in/set-72157613082311124/)(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3425/3234058600_2862710488_m.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhett/3234058600/in/set-72157613082311124/)
Cheers
Rhett
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Which bridge is out Rhett ?
The timelapse by Gordon is available here: http://members.ozemail.com.au/~loomberah/
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The Somerton Bridge across the Peel is closed as it was partially washed away. I had a choice of dirt road (not a good idea at night in the rain) or driving all the way back into Tamworth and then back out to get to the area around Somerton. Decided to stay put.
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Location: Warwick Queensland 24th January 2009.
Hi Everyone, chased a few storms on the 24th starting with this one that formed around 3pm over Killarney and very slowly moved North. It was followed up by another storm that was on the radar and within sight about 6.30pm and it rolled over town just on dark. The lightning in it was spectacular but I was safely home. Would love to have kept chasing it but my wife decided I had enough for the day, and I had, plus it rolled straight over us so catching the last minute was great with low ISO and shutter release cable.
When it's humid here in the morning, they start building early and you know you are going to get a good show. I have been chasing them round here for about 8 years and wish I had found this forum earlier for lots of reasons, one to share but another to learn the terms used to describe them so any help there would be greatly appreciated. In the meantime I will just call them all storms if that's ok.
So back to earlier in the day, this one in the set of photos didn't move that much, just kept building and when I thought it was over it seemed to form again. I guess it was pulling all the moisture around it, into it. The multiple formations formed a near perfect rim around us and by mid afternoon there seemed to be storms in all directions.
The last photo here was taken at 4.44pm and I am sure I recognize the same formation in this thread after reading other entries.
Thanks very much, I need to continue to resize images to put another set together to show the storm at 6.30pm.
Kind regards,
Chris.
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6302-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6314-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6325-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6329-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6341-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6353-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6385-240109-web.jpg)
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Some great storm structures there Chris - thanks for posting. I do recognise some of the cells from the chase with Rodney and Jason on the 24th Jan. Look forward to your other pics. Feel free to post other events in some of the older threads if you wish.
regards, Michael
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Location: Warwick Queensland 24th January 2009.
Thanks Very much, Jimmy for the help and Michael for the comments and encouragement. I would be happy to post a few images of storms from this area in older threads. I hope this amount of images is allowed, if not, I will remove some, but hard for me to explain the changing face of this storm other than pictures. We often see many like it and any terminology or descriptions you could share I would really appreciate as it will make it easier for me to describe them in older threads that I can post into of other storms.
I have pretty well negotiated the forum and the images are amazing and to you guys chasing around Warwick, I recognize all the locations. Reading about them is a bonus for me and I am starting to understand , for example, CG'S. Was not sure what they were yesterday, but worked it out.
This storm was on the radar by 6.30 when I looked and crossed my fingers we would see it before dark. I have close ups as well but thought I have posted enough for this one.
Kind regards,
Chris.
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6409-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6408-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6425-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6429-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6437-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6451-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6459-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6480-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6487-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6500-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6506-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6513-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6515-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6520-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6537-240109-web.jpg)
(http://app5.sellersourcebook.com/users/53446/img_6547-240109-web.jpg)
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Some great pics in this thread -love the colour in rhett's and the hazy pileus capped structure in Chris's pics are awesome. You can see the remains from the updrafts lingering in the upper atmosphere post pulse. Awesome
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Thanks Dann, I think I can see what you are referring to with the remains of updraughts and referring to the first storm and set of photos right? I am going to search post pulse now, that sounds interesting. The second set of photos, is that classed as a supercell? The first two photos show the main structure and it firing south west. Seemed to go forever with more storms in it, but is it considered one storm? Again, I must apologise, still not sure of the terms used to describe them.
Regards,
Chris.
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Hi Chris,
The cells that day were mostly multicells - propagating north or NNW. There was a lot of instability with CAPE around 3,500 (which is very high!) but windshear (changing wind speed and/or direction with height) was very light apart from at the anvil levels where there was a 50kt westerly later in the day. This allowed for very strong updraft pulses but the lack of decent windshear results in that collapsing on itself and a new cell going up on the N or NW flank, rather than a sustained updraft/downdraft separation in supercells. Supercells also require the winds to change direction (typically from N-NE at the surface, then N, NW, to W) with height.
The very high CAPE on the day which produced very strong updrafts does allow storms to become sustained for a while - as was observed on the day - but not supercellular.
You can still say it was the same storm - the outflow from one collapsing updraft kicks up the next updraft and so on. It also results in the shelf cloud structures seen in your photos.
Some radar loops so you can have a look at the various cells during the afternoon and evening.
---> Brisbane 128km scale radar loop (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2009/radar/20090124/mt_stapylton128.htm)
---> Brisbane 256km scale radar loop (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2009/radar/20090124/mt_stapylton256.htm)
Note how the evening cell was moving faster than the earlier ones. Windshear has picked up a little by evening.
Compare the Brisbane soundings between 10am and 10pm on the day. For help on reading these have a look at this thread (http://www.australiasevereweather.com/forum/general-weather-all-topics-that-are-not-current-severe-weather-should-be-posted-here/understanding-aerological-diagrams-soundings/). You can see the wind speed and direction with height on the right hand side of the diagrams. Ground is at the bottom and work your way up. Note how the winds have mainly changed from W / SW to SSE and increased in speed.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2009/thumbs/2009012400brisbane.png) (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2009/soundings/2009012400brisbane.png) Brisbane 00z
(http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2009/thumbs/2009012412brisbane.png) (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2009/soundings/2009012412brisbane.png) Brisbane 12z
Regards, Michael
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Thanks Michael, really appreciate the links to the radar showing the movement of the storm, have never seen that many frames in a loop before. Will also follow the links to the soundings to understand them.
Once again, thanks very much for the info and explanation,
Best regards,
Chris.
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Sorry this may be late but good to include regardless.
Whilst we were chasing down in Canberra on January 21 this year, storms had also occurred in Sydney. My sister Linda has taken the time to take photographs which turned out quite nice.