Storm Australian Severe Weather Forum
Severe Weather Discussion => Australian Severe Storms, Weather Events and Storm Chasing => Topic started by: David C on 16 November 2007, 06:40:01 AM
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Thought I would kick-off a thread, although I am off to experience some boring 'fall' LA weather for a week from tomorrow.
The moisture invasion has begun and it is the kind of pattern where we should see some nice briefly severe storms fire along the ranges through most of the period - including a weekend at last !!! Indeed the latest GFS is progging some very strong instability on some days.
Anyway, have fun if you can get out, and hopefully elevated heating over ranges will be sufficient for some severe pulse storms.
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David,
15th November 2007
Not so unstable today I guess but at least there are storms to the west. Some nice fresh pulse going up I guess near Katoomba as I type.
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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14th November 2007
turned out to be a good storm, yesterday
~ 1300 hrs on way down to Caringbah I stopped before crossing the bridge to Taren Pnt and took some
pix of the developing cells in the west. 45 mins later on the way back nth I stopped again and photo'ed
the one that was anvilling well.
It came off the mountains in a NE'erly direction and after finishing a job in Lindfield nthrn Sydney I went on
up the F3 to the first turnoff and found a good spot to take pics and video of the cell and lightning
It was quite active with a good amount of CC and CG activity. It was around 1630 hrs when I left there
with the rain coming in making it too difficult to take pix.
all in all a good storm
Cheers
Dave N
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Dave,
14th November 2007
Jeff and I chased yesterday as well from the time of initiation until an intense cell exploded northwest of Penrith. Phone calls from both David Croan and Nick Moir confirmed the development along the flanking line to the north - obviously a multicell. Given the shear on the day, the storms were never going to persist.
Obviously what you intercepted was the development along the 'fanning' outflow from previous storms. Not bad considering that apparently storms were not on the forecast.
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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Yes, I was driving from Rydalmere towards Parramatta about 3 yesterday afternoon, had noticed it building up a bit and saw one CG strike. Thought we might have got something but not to be. Unluckily the thing headed north from me, and all we got was some light rain. The top of the cloud had moved a fair way in advance of the main storm so there must have been some wind shear up there.
I had been working on a 10 story high rooftop in Parra up until about 1:30, this could well have been an excuse to get down early job hadn't finished already!
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I just got back from NZ yesterday. Was advised by my wife that Tuesdays storm wiped out our power at home for a good few hours. Im guessing a strike may have hit the big substation over the hill. Not sure if other suburbs around Galston were affected. Tracker seemed to show quite a few strikes over here.
It's looking like Pulse storm heaven over the ranges for a few days! Pick the meanest looking base and place yourself near it .... or under it ;) Sunday is my only chase day for the next few days and going by GFS, it's slowly shaping up to be a good one (if 10 knots of shear is your thing) although later in the evening looks a little better further west.
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for 14th Nov. 2007
finally got a www page done for the event
http://www.sydneystormcity.com/A071114.htm
cheers
Dave N
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Sunday is my only chase day for the next few days and going by GFS, it's slowly shaping up to be a good one (if 10 knots of shear is your thing) although later in the evening looks a little better further west.
It will be my first chase day of the season, that is how poor things have been south of the Hunter, as you already mentioned it will be 'pulsemaster.com'. As per usual with these type of events there is a general propagation of storms westwards/nothwestwards as the day goes on. I don't expect much in the way of severe weather, but will be happy if I get just a nice lightning barrage. The thing I like about Sunday over Saturday is a very weak SE along the southern NSW coast overnight Sat/Sun. This may help push just a little bit extra surface moisture onto the plains east of Canberra, such as Bungundore, Tarago.
I think however it may be the Victorians may walk away with the better storms this weekend.
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Hi guys,
More just as a reminder, can we try remind each other to specify dates in our posts ie when you plan to chase and chase reports. Otherwise we will have confusion - just place it in bold at the beginning of your posts.
16th November 2007 Chase Report
My sister and I headed out as soon as I saw satpic indicate a large thunderstorm develop rapidly. Headed out but saw anvils and updrafts by the time we got to them very fuzzy. Had to take a detour near Kurrajong and almost headed back home. But we persisted out to Lithgow. Did not remain at Scenic Hill for long and ventured to the Hampton area where I saw some organisation of cumulus. One cell had developed but then exploded just as we arrived in the area. (http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1116jd02.jpg)
A nice base developed and sporadic hail began to fall. There was a torrent in the valley just 2 km distant at the most and it got rather close (verified by leaf litter later when I discovered the road into the Cox's River region later).(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1116jd08.jpg)
The storm continued for over an hour to send down some impressive staccato cloud to ground bolts none caught on film - didn't bother really. The fact the storm continued and with a nice crisp anvil, I decided to head to Mt Victoria. I was naughty and running low on fuel. A few Cg's disturbed the Victoria Pass and affected our heart beats! I closed the window at this point in case one hit nearby and deafened me. They were damn loud obviously due to the surrounding topography. A towering updraft could be seen looming on overhead - quite strong in fact.
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1116jd09.jpg)(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1116jd10.jpg)(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1116jd12.jpg)
Well would you know it. The lightning had put out the power - no fuel! I ventured on with the fuel light on and only had to travel about 12 km just past Bell and hail! It came down in torrents and before you knew it it was virtually covering the road. Obviously the small size indicated that melt would occur. It was a nice deluge that lasted at least 7 minutes and perhaps longer most captured on video. The storm sent the odd sporadic light hail after this. I fueled in Lithgow and with the storm weakening over the Wollemi, we headed home.
A little fun chase.
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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Jimmy, Good pics there.. I watched this storm (16th Nov) build up outside my window at work.. I was rather suprised when this storm headed west, which then gave Bathusrt 6 mm in a very short time. Lightning caused many problems around Bathurst, Oberon, Orange with damage to power lines, trees down etc. The usual.
IM at work again and looking to the South towards, Perthville way, very nice towers starting to build up.. Its an early start to what could be a busy afternoon, evening.
Anyone heading out towards Bathurst, Oberon way.
Dave
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hi Dave yes my wife, Cindy, and I plan to head out to bathurst region today saturday 16th
hoping for some activity to chase in that region
Dave N
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Looking quite nice for pulse storms again on the ranges. Today there is more moisture than yesterday with dp's in the high teens and even breaking the 20 mark in some places along the coast. Also this morning there was a thick layer of fog sitting on the escarpment west of Wollongong which is nice to see. With the steep lapse rates in place we should see some quite strong instabity. My pick would be anywhere along the convergence line on the ranges sitting roughly 50-100 km from the coast. Unfortunately, I have to do weather observations at 3pm.
Michael
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Its looking better and better by the minute here in Bathurst. Even Orange has a small cell started. Plenty or lighting now around Goulburn, Taralga area. Had CE staff looking at jobs down there, they advise some good storms ready to let loose.
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17th November obs:
Must be some vigorous mixing now, but still NE injector going strong, so that should be it for the drying: dewpoints:
Richmond:
time temp dp wind dir.
17/01:30pm 29.9 11.4 NE
17/01:00pm 29.2 14.2 NE
Penrith also down 3C between 1:00 and 2:00pm.
Bankstown:
17/02:00pm 29.7 15.5 ENE
17/01:30pm 29.9 8.9 NNE
Sydney sounding shows some steep lapse rates up to 300 so; updrafts might be quite explosive at first! If not already there, I'd be steering clear of the area where storms are already firing though as those anvils are not going anywhere fast and daytime heating is very important in these situations. I would like to see those high DPs invade the southern tablelands and then see what happens.
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17th November obs:
Did not check Canberra radar till now (doh), but there appears to be a left moving ''severe storm' some 30km west of Bodalla moving north....very impressive storm at this point!! Check 3:40UTC scan in the archive.
Warning out (posted for posterity!):
For people in parts of the
SOUTHWEST of the ILLAWARRA,
SOUTHERN TABLELANDS east of the ACT,
and SOUTH COAST Forecast Districts.
Issued at 2:40 pm Saturday, 17 November 2007.
Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce large hailstones and damaging winds in the warning area over the next several hours. Locations which may be affected include Braidwood.
Edir: the storm mentioned above is rapidly weakening but, boy, very impressive radar structure for a few frames.
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Bathurst just had a good 10 - 15 min hail storm. Hail stones nothing bigger than 1.5 cm. Enough to cover lawn though. PLenty of lightning and heavy rain , high winds with this storm. Seems to be heading N now.. followed by another storm from the South near Oberon now. Spoke to Jimmy, he is near Mittagong now, gave him an update of the storms near him. If he is lucky should see a storm from the south if it doesnt die off.
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So why do the coastal areas seem to be showing such an aversion to the weather affecting the inland areas? Is it that the atmosphere is so neutrally stable that the elevated surface heating is the main driving factor in this system?
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Hi,
17th November 2007 chase report
I targeted and chased the Marulan area. Initially, the activity was centered near Berrima. A nice little storm developed and back built northwest out of my reach to confirm precipitation type. So I backtracked from near the Hilltop 'jungle' to Mittagong. I noted towers were developing along the southern flank of the storm. Half decent updrafts developed in the region. This activity had developed with slightly lower bases in response to the moisture boundary.
I headed down towards Marulan in response to the retreating activity. Unfortunately the storm and corresponding updraft became undercut by outflow. I noted fresh outflow at Marulan from the north. Slowly the build up occurred and the storm west of Nowra began to backbuild. This was the most exciting part of the day watching a boundary produce magic! A line of lowered base began to consolidate just to my south. This was to become the severe storm with the warning David posted. I did intercept hail to pea size and torrential rain - in some cases blinding rain - driving almost impossible. This all happened just to the north of Marulan. The system headed north into no-man's land so I headed to Goulburn for the night in readiness for tomorrow's activity.
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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17th Nov. Chase report
Cindy and I headed up into the mountains. Our first stop was Medlow Bath, 5-10k past Katoomba.
Although we could see a large cell far to the west, Oberon - Bathurst reg., dropping lots of rain and
some lightning, we decided it was too far out of the way. Instead we watched a couple of nice based
cells in our area. they looked good for 30 mins then the bases broke up with a lack of moisture to
feed them.
Had a quick phone call to find out where Jimmy was. Then headed back to Echo Pnt, Katoomba and
photoed a large cell to the far south, maybe the one Jimmy was near.
A new cell formed on the nth side of Kaoomba and we chased that through to Hartley to my fav stop
on the flat jst before the decent down to the speed camera and the Janolan turnoff.
Its a great spot with almost 360 deg of unimpeeded view. Staying there almost an hour ~1500 - 1550hrs
we did some cell and lightning pix before heading home
will post pic links soon :)
cheers
Dave and Cindy N
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his was to become the severe storm with the warning David posted. I did intercept hail to pea size and torrential rain - in some cases blinding rain - driving almost impossible. This all happened just to the north of Marulan. The system headed north into no-man's land so I headed to Goulburn for the night in readiness for tomorrow's activity.
17th Nov. Chase report
I obviously was on the same storm, must have passed each other at some stage.
I waited around the Bowral area most of the early afternoon, was getting frustrated watching weak pulses go up just west then drift further NW.
Noticed some uniform darkening to the south and headed to Tallong, just south of Bundanoon, to a favourite position that affords good views without trees.
Slightly lowering bases took my interest and over about 45mins a half decent storm developed along the the front of the northwards moving line.
The storm whilst largely non severe had some nice green tinges at times.
I headed west and struck some small hail and torrential rain near Marulan, but this was the storms swan song.
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/171107d_t.jpg) (http://ozthunder.com/chase/171107d.jpg)
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/171107c_t.jpg) (http://ozthunder.com/chase/171107c.jpg)
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/171107a_t.jpg) (http://ozthunder.com/chase/171107a.jpg)
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/171107b_t.jpg) (http://ozthunder.com/chase/171107b.jpg)
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/pan171107a.jpg)
Tomorrow is looking slightly better, a bit more moisture around, still poor shear. I will head off around 10am towards Tarago , Bungandore but as usual will change my plans based on what happens.
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November 17, Southern Tablelands: Photos
Michael,
Definitely the same storm. I am glad you went ahead. I wanted to sample what was in it. You obviously remained ahead, got some nice images of the structure and then went in.
I have a few shots from under - we were not far away from each other:
Earlier storm
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1117jd08.jpg)
The main second storm. I can assure you it was severe based on the heavy rainfall alone. Not sure if there was any potential for slightly severe hail earlier in its life but I suspect mostly heavy rainfall.
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1117jd16.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1117jd20.jpg)
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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For 18th November
Good morn all,
Cindy and I are heading for Gouldburn initially this morn. From there we can decide if we
need to be further south (Canberra or Wagga area). should make a reasonable vantage point.
If ur in the region again Michael look out for a light blue Toyota Echo. maybe see u or Jimmy
on the road :)
cheers
Dave
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Hi there,
I got some beauty's yesterday (17.11) and today( 18.11), I can watch them building up on the great Dividing range and know when they move on, today they just kept building, especially with the easterly flow kicking in later in the afternoon, it was incredible and then the concert started around 6.30pm, lsting on and off for a couple of hours, a little bit of hail, nothing to write home about, but plenty of the wet stuff and a couple of close hits with the house shaking. I am in the Shoalhaven valley south of Braidwood
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18th November, Southern Tablelands: Chase Report:
Hi,
It seems like a long day today. Took my time given I was in Goulburn overnight - excellent accomodation by the way!
Despite my favoured target being Marulan, I set off for Braidwood initially to try get the earlier activity. The activity was taking its time so I was able to intercept the activity 45km north of Cooma - well pathetic activity. And it showed in the updrafts. Well there really was little activity to go by anyway so I remained here and met up with Dave Nelson. When the outflow hit, it signalled the end of my interest in the complex of storms. Activity attempted to developed along the outflow but lacking intensity.
We set off north and basically parted company beyond this point. I aimed for home but monitoring anything that should catch my attention. A line of cumulus and developing cumulonimbus lined up east of Goulburn and Canberra. When I drew nearer Goulburn, I noted one cell that looked like it had really consolidated - and you guessed it - right over Marulan! I got there just in time for a stop and barrage of heavy rain and tiny isolated hailstones.
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1118jd20.jpg)
With the storm over and a corepunch attempt, I noted a hail fog in the fields to my left north of Marulan - the same fields that copped the pelting yesterday. Exploring one road option, I was able to confirm copious amounts of hail had fallen up to 1.5cm in diameter still laying in piles mainly along a narrow corridor.
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1118jd28.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1118jd26.jpg)
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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November 18, Southern Tablelands: Chase Report
Yesterday was an emotional rollercoaster in terms of chasing! There were times I was ready to throw in the towel, esp mid afternoon when things were looking terrible and the DP was down to 8. Perseverance and some great chase partners made the difference as the evening was an intense chase!
Watched the Bungadore cell from a distance up near Collecter before heading towards the Marulan cell. It collapsed so headed back west as base's were now looking a lot more organized/lower with the easterly increasing DP's rapidly. What a difference that made! Upper level wind speed seemed to be increasing as GFS had suggested near and north of Canberra. Towers that had been going straight up now had a lean to them. Winds above the surface were now screaming in from the East to North East providing plenty of inflow to the storm that became a monster over Collecter. Things got very interesting for a while there as others have mentioned with some brilliant structure and colouring in the storm.
2 to 3cm Hail fell over a wide area east of Collecter with drifts forming on the front of my windscreen. Haven't seen that happen before! The noise and rate at which the hail fell was quite astounding. And the lightning ... short powerful strokes struck all around occasionally lighting up the Hail covered road in front.
For 5 minutes at its most intense it felt like we were driving through a blizzard. Everything was white with the only guide that we were still on the road being the road poles on either side. Average Speed was 10km/h!
Will put some pictures/video up later after work.
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Hi Jimmy,
whereabouts where you yesterday, some of the pic's look familiar ?
Sorry if you where disappointed about the storm yesterday, it is a bit early in the season and it gets quiet cool of a night, so takes time to heat up over the ranges, it was enough for me, I still feel a bit deaf from a few close hits.
I don't think we will get much of it today, so far there is not much cloud around, like built up whatsoever.
Ursula
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Hi There,
the build up has begun all right, very heavy south of the Canberra's radar, further south from the ranges towards the coast, there could be a larger cell going towards Moruya a bit later, it is hot and yukky, the sun stings, so will have some storms not far away. I will go offline for about an hour and update then, for anybody interested
Ursula
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November 19, Central Tablelands: Observations
some very intense cells heading out towards mudgee and gulgong today, wouldnt have expected any different.
The weak change may have injected some moisture into the atosphere in that region as the storms seem to be following a very uniform line.
Any thoughts?
Cheers, Mark
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November 18, Southern Tablelands: Chase Report
Me and my brother chased the Goulburn/Canberra area yesterday,meeting up with a number of chasers at Goulburn Mcdonalds. After a while we went to spot with good views 15kms south of Goulburn and met up with Michael Thompson and Feral Wx. At this stage it was looking very poor with weak storms on the eastern ranges doing nothing apart from giving a distant rumble or two. These appeared moisture starved and very high based with surface dewpoints hovering in the single figures. We sat tight for an hour or so keeping a close eye on things
Around mid arvo we hit the road again after Michael Thompson saw a disant CG towards Canberra. We headed southwards,and finially encountered our first decent storm 10kms south of Tarago(see below).
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v168/pingtang100/_MG_9677edit.jpg)
This storm wasnt severe but it did contain some nice staccatos which we captured on video and it was quite photogenic.Some of the bolts strobed,allowing us to capture some daytime pics,but we didnt get anything amazing.This storm also contained some very heavy rainfall and small hail. This storm eventually weakened,but some decent outflow winds from it sparked new storms to our NW.We then went our separate ways
After this , me and my brother got onto a little storm which produced some lovely bolts but little else. This kept us interested for 20minutes,before a much more interesting storm 15-20kms to our NW caught our interest. This storm towards Collector became particualy severe displaying some rather interesting features including a lovely rain free base and nice wall cloud(see below,sorry about the quality) This reigon copped a CG barrage
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v168/pingtang100/PB190848edit.jpg)
After a while,the rain free reigon got rain/hailed in.We then decided to head north in the hope of getting onto the Collector storm. We core puched a decent storm(not the main black cored storm) near Tarago encountering very heavy rain and some flash flooding.Once on the other side of this storm,we got glimpses of the Collector storm again with a gustfront(see below)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v168/pingtang100/_MG_1403edit.jpg)
This storm slowly weakened but it produced some very nice lightning as it moved towards Goulburn
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v168/pingtang100/_MG_1532edit.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v168/pingtang100/_MG_1531edit.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v168/pingtang100/_MG_1447_edited.jpg)
All in all a great days chasing. Slow to start with,but worth the wait!!!!!
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Hello
On Saturday 17 November, I drove down to the south coast via Braidwood and then onto Batemans Bay. During the afternoon, several small high based pulse cells developed in the Braidwood area and more small storm cells propagated along the ranges to the west of Batemans Bay.
Initially each cell produced a good updraft tower but from 3 pm, the cells merged with one another to become one complex of cloud.
The Braidwood storm produced a sustained shower and occasional cloud to ground lighting strike but certainly not enough to warrant filming it.
I took numerous photos of cloud towers as they propagated along the ranges.
On Sunday 18 November, I drove back to Goulburn and during the afternoon, small storm cells propagated to the east of town and to the north west of town.
The storm to the north of town produced some good cloud structure but I decided not chase the core of this storm down because after I took some photos of it, the storm cell began to weaken.
The storm to the east of town produced some good cloud structure albeit briefly before it too weakened.
Thunderstorms were propagating right along the ranges but most cells were short lived and did not travel far. I took numerous photos of cloud towers and cloud structure as the cells matured.
Harley Pearman
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November 18, Southern Highlands: Photos
Some photos to go with my report earlier. Will try and get a video clip up a little later.
The view from Taralga south to Goulburn early mid afternoon. Nice cumulus but high based. (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-02jh.preview.JPG) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-02jh.JPG)
View of the early Pulse storms north of Taralga
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-03jh.preview.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-03jh.jpg)
Looking south east towards the developing complex north of Tarago. Note the inflow bands on the left.
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-04jh.preview.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-04jh.jpg)
Further development on the western flank
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-06jh.preview.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-06jh.jpg)
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-07jh.preview.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-07jh.jpg)
Looking east towards Lake Bathurst. Main updraft region with cumulus inflow line feeding in from the North.
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-09jh.preview.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-09jh.jpg)
Lightning south of Goulburn
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-14jh.preview.JPG) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-14jh.JPG)
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November 18, Southern Tablelands: Chase Report, Photos, Video
Hey all! I went on a chase with with Shane, Steve and Jim and ended up in the Bungendore region in the afternoon then later on tracking north following cells as they developed back up to Goulburn.
Updrafts South of Bungendore/Captains flat area:
This storm exhibited some decent rotation in the updraft region as evident in the timelapse below.
This was over a brief 7min period:
timelapsesouthofbungendore_web.wmv (http://www.ecstormchasing.com/video/timelapsesouthofbungendore_web.wmv) (4mb)
Youtube version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwuIPpDajNU
Photographs:
(http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-updraft_01web_th.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-updraft_01web.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-updraft_02web_th.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-updraft_02web.jpg)
This is where the storm nearish to collector exploded with rapid upmotion visible in the wall cloud/lowering region:
(http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-lowering_01web_th.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-lowering_01web.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-lowering_02web_th.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-lowering_02web.jpg)
The Storm begins to take on a more outflow/gusterish appearance:
(http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-guster_01web_th.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-guster_01web.jpg)
Some of the lightning:
(http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-cgs_01web_th.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-cgs_01web.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-cgs_02web_th.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-cgs_02web.jpg)
(http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-cgs_03web_th.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/p/18-11-2007-cgs_03web.jpg)
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Hi,
November 19, Central Tablelands: Chase Report
Great to see people out and about - wow some nice storms around. Awesome! And they are very well structured - a nice surprise packet.
I initially targeted Oberon to Organge region but kept m options for Lithgow. I headed to Mt Victoria to asses the situation and watch development unfold. I noted that cumulus closer to the Oberon Plateau developing - well make that Jenolan Caves area.
This storm organised its base early and then dropped precipitation in the Cox's River valley. So I followed the storm to near Hampton and then towards the region overlooking Hartley. The storm had gained in lightning activity and also structure. A dense precipitation curtain including hail began to hug the Mt Victoria area. By the time I reached Hartley itself, I was virtually under the structure and wall cloud. The base was nice and circular - quite a surprise actually!
I made my way to Lithgow in readiness for this storm to create a barrage. I ended up having to get the storm near Scenic Hill lookout where I skirted just outside the main core but still was content with hail to 2cm or so.
Back in Lithgow, I had a couple of things to do regarding the internet and finally got them done in time for the next storm looming. This storm also skirted Lithgow so I headed up to the region near the Zig Zag railway and intercepted hailstones once again - it seems about 1cm in diameter.
Venturing towards Rhylstone just did not allow access to the storm in time so we headed for Bathurst. Yes there are some storms around as I type including those at sunset. I did not bother with lightning shots or chasing this - was too hungry and settled for a nice steak.
The first storm with interesting structure - looks to be a wall cloud
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1119jd09.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1119jd13.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1119jd14.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1119jd15.jpg)
Second storm followed the first
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1119jd21.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1119jd26.jpg)
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November 18, Southern Tablelands: Chase Report and Photos
Goulburn 12pm, my kestral told me something completely different to the models - a dewpoint in single figures. I started to worry. There
was some high based Cu around, but it was struggling.
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107b_t.jpg) (http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107b.jpg)
I was getting more and more sunburnt. I opted for some shade SE under the struggling Cu - myself and Steve Gabriel headed for Windellema, SE of Goulburn.
The local cells struggle - meanwhile I take interest in a general darkening to the far south. We head south to the Tarago - Braidwood road.
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107a_t.jpg) (http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107a.jpg)
We watch several CG's. Itchy feet get the better of me and as always I wanted to be closer, so I leave Steve and Pingtang behind. I found a nice hilltop and captured these video stills.
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107bs.jpg)
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107ks.jpg)
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107ls.jpg)
In hindsight it was probably foolhardy as these bolts were coming down less than 1km away and lower than me. It started to rain anyway, so I packed up and headed to the Kings Highway and turned west to Bungendore. Here I struck the first small hail and minor flash flooding for the day. From Bundendore I head north through another small cell and reunite with Steve and Pingtang.
After meeting Steve and Pingtang again I thought the show may be drawing to a close - so I said my farewells and headed north. Just north of Lake Bathurst I encountered another cell with a mix of torrential rain and hail. The picture belows shows some minor flash flooding both on the road and in the fields.
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107d_t.jpg) (http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107d.jpg)
I head just a little further north and as the rain cleared this is what revealed itself to the SW.
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107e_t.jpg) (http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107e.jpg)
Needless to say I scrapped plans for an early return home and turned south to Tarago once again. From Tarago I took the Collector road to get NW which is where the lightning was most active. It was near sunset but I was plunged into night as I core punched the storm. The next 30 mins were very exciting. It was too dark for photos so I can only offer grainy video stills.
In this still there is water across the road and hail drifts.
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107qs.jpg)
A farmers dam overflows
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107ss.jpg)
Look closer at this still, on one side of the road there is a road guide pole, there is also one one the other but a surge of water is over running it - this river continues down the road for at least 500m. I am thankful of my large 4WD
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107us.jpg)
Lightning during the core punch was every few seconds, but the hail/rain mix drowned all thunder.
I finally broke free of the rain and pulled over an took some lightning pics. James Harris and crew converge on the scene as well, they also encountered this storm from the inside.
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107f_t.jpg) (http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107f.jpg)
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107g_t.jpg) (http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107g.jpg)
(http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107h_t.jpg) (http://ozthunder.com/chase/181107h.jpg)
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Wow, some very interesting storm structure from various people in this thread! I'm liking the look of todays situation even though the winds aloft are pretty dull, there is plenty of dry air aloft and reasonable instability which should produce some hail again. The area south of Cooma is looking very interesting as the cap is strong, the instability is moderately strong and there is a hint of turning in the winds aloft so maybe a late severe storm for the southern coast and even into Victoria. As for west of Sydney i'm going to head out to see if there is going to be some hail about again which there should be.
Tomorrow though is another thing all together! Strong instability with high CAPE values should see some explosive CB's of gargantuan proportions!
Jeff.
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Awesome storms captured by everyone!!! Thanks Jimmy for getting that storm that went through Blackheath-Lithgow!! I missed it and was curious to see what was under it, you captured it pretty well!!!
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November 18, Southern Tablelands: Chase Report
Michael Thompson's photographs of lightning is awesome. The last one is incredible and very spectacular. I was in this region on the afternoon of Sunday between 12 noon and 4 pm. I left at 4 pm because all I was getting was the development of pulse type showers and small storm cells for a few hours and at the time of leaving, I did not see any further significant storm or cloud development and the storm I was photographing and the storm to the north were both weakening.
What a difference a couple of hours make.
I noted later on (Some 3 hours later) that the Bureau of Meteorology had issued a severe thunderstorm warning on the storm just to the south of Goulburn for heavy rain, large hail and strong winds. I had a look at the rainfall figures later on and a place near Lake Bathurst scored 66 mm of rain while 12 mm fell at Goulburn. Most other falls in that region were light. It indicates that the evening storm was highly localised (consistent with what I was watching earlier in the day).
Harley Pearman
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November 18, Southern Tablelands: Photos
A selection of my pics! More can be found starting here. (http://sydneystormchasers.com/image/tid/55?page=1)
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-03dw.preview.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-03dw.jpg)
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-02dw.preview.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-02dw.jpg)
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-06dw.preview.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-06dw.jpg)
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-07dw.preview.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-07dw.jpg)
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-12dw.preview.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-12dw.jpg)
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-13dw.preview.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-11-18-13dw.jpg)
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November 19, Central Tablelands: Photos
I was on that Marulan storm too Jimmy - but on the north side of it! It too was my target. I saw some pretty intense flooding from it.. it was quite a severe storm. No wonder I could not see many CG's but hear heaps of thunder, probably all on the S side cos I didnt realise it was moving S!! I saw that hail fog to the left, drove down into the valley and wondered where all the hail was?? Obviously you found it well done!! Fantastic storms by everyone. Anyway heres some lightning pics from Bathurst on the 19th
(http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/b/batcg1t.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/b/batcg1n.jpg)
(http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/b/batcg2t.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/b/batcg2n.jpg)
(http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/b/batcg3t.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/b/batcg3n.jpg)
(http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/b/batcg4t.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/19/b/batcg4n.jpg)
Will get my Goulburn/Marulan ones up in the next couple of days
Edited this statement Fantastic photos by everyone else. --> Although we know everyone means well, the focus on this forum are the storms and their descriptions - it certainly makes you think more about what you write and there is more substance to each post.
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November 18, Southern Tablelands: Video
Finally got some video up from the Collector-Tarago storm on Sunday. Head to SSC Video Log (http://www.sydneystormchasers.com/vlog) to watch the videos. Will add a few more shortly
James
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Hey everyone,
I know you all got some nice storms with nice photos but this system is still going and it's peaking today so can we have more conversation about yesterdays (November 20) event as well as todays (November 21) obvious severe storm threat? Maybe reports and photos should be seperated onto a post thread like stormtrack.
True to my forcast yesterday (November 20) a very large thunderstorm broke the stronger cap on the NSW/Vic border around 6pm and remained almost stationary (probably back building?) for nearly 3 hours! It had by far the largest anvil shield of any storm yesterday and would have been an awesome sight if someone was chasing down there. It looked like it was proabaly helped along by outflow boundarys from earlier storms nearby.
Anyway yesterday I ventured out to Mt Vic but it was a complete waste of time. Storms were weak and nothing like the forcast suggested. One notable exception to the weakness was a brief severe looking cell that developed west of Barrington Tops. It had a noticable overshoot from Faulconbrige on my way home around 330pm.
November 21:
Today is looking very interesting except for weak mid to anvil level winds. Still worth a chase though with cape values around 2500 and li approaching -8! lowerlevel winds aren't bad so i'm guessing the earlier development will be the best.
Jeff.
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November 21: Observations, Illawarra
Unbelievably electric storm here south of shellharbour!
Hailing up to 1 cm and some nice structure but guess what! Cannon have my camera. >:(
Whats the forecast for tomorrow and Friday?
cheers
Mark
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November 21, Central Tablelands: Chase Report and Photos
Headed into the mountains mid afternoon and managed to get a storm on the way up, one at Lithgow and another on my return home in Galston. If only that happened every other chase day.
Updrafts over the Blue Mountains as the early cells over Oberon propagate north towards Katoomba.
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-01jh.thumbnail.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-01jh.jpg)
Developing bases near Mt Lambie
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-03jh.thumbnail.JPG) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-03jh.JPG)
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-04jh.thumbnail.JPG) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-04jh.JPG)
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-06jh.thumbnail.JPG) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-06jh.JPG)
Interesting feature with the steam from the power station west of Lithgow producing extra moisture for one particular base. This continued for over 30 minutes with a continual base lowering down towards the power station exhaust.
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-05jh.thumbnail.JPG) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-05jh.JPG)
Lightning striking the valley below Kurrajong Heights
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-09jh.thumbnail.JPG) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-09jh.JPG)
Lightning around Galston later in the evening
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-10jh.thumbnail.JPG) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-10jh.JPG)
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-11jh.thumbnail.JPG) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/files/images/07-11-21-11jh.JPG)
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Hi all,
Central Tablelands chase - 21st November 2007
James, we must have been so close on that Lithgow storm!
Yesterday was one of those rushed chases and I felt it was ideal to have left earlier. As Jeff suggested, the storms did explode. With upper level dynamics very weak, it was important to be there quickly. I virtually left here, passed the cell north of Mt Tomah and arrived on the scene in Katoomba in the hail core. Very little time or opportunities to take spectacular photographs. Yes there were hailstones in the vicinity of 2cm or slightly larger definitely less than 3cm. Some very tall uprafts on this storm! I assume cloud tops were pretty high. The hail was worst around the Katoomba area but still persisted near Leura and perhaps beyond but by then the storm was entering the Gross River Valley. Eventually I turned around and the storm was definitely off to the east.
So I decided to be patient and wait near Mt Victoria and the cells seemed to indicate backbuilding behaviour which was not surprising given lack of upper level support. It was a waiting game so I eventually ventured in the Hartley valley area in anticipation of development in that area.
After about 30 minutes, the development of cumulus in coverage and intensity became rapid. Repositioning in the region around Lithgow basically put me into a few hailstones once again after a barrage of lightning. The barrage of lightning continued as the main cell to the south Lithgow dumped onto Lithgow. In fact, one bolt hit in South Lithgow and created sparks - it was only 5 metres away! There were a few other very close bolts with canon style thunder!
The storm dumped hail up to pea sized in and around town and copious amounts of precipitation. There was nothing unusual about the run-off given the intensity of the rainfall. After some time, I could see the whole region was wiped out besides lingering lightning so I simply headed back to Sydney. A few close cannon style bolts yet again. Our dog "Sally" was definitely frightened!
I did not bother with lightning pictures but it is great to see James and others did very well. Nice lightning bolts too!
Katoomba cell
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1121jd04.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1121jd17.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1121jd21.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1121jd23.jpg)
Lithgow cells
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1121jd34.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1121jd36.jpg)
(http://www.australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1121jd38.jpg)
Just for interests sake, I have now observed hail on 5 out of the past six days - three days having two storms with hail on the day intercepted. This for me is unprecedented.
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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Hi guys,
November 21: Upper Western Area Chase Report and Photos
Had a relatively small cell form 15klms to the SW of Lightning Ridge yesterday at 5pm. The temps were up at 38.6deg. and relatively high humidity so we were definitely ready for a storm! Russ and I were waiting to see if anything would come of this cell as it seemed to be buried under the anvils of two weak but quite large storm systems that split around us on the North and South sides. It was all high based with no real structure to be seen (unlike the amazing storms I have seen on the forum in the last few days!) but would quickly turn into an electrical monster! I headed back home to grab my camera and try for a few day shots of the fierce CG emitting from the confined rain shaft.
This 90deg Panoramic shot was taken not long after the cell formed, by this time the CG were at the usual 10-15sec intervals. I did notice that the wheat stubble was burning out on the (dry) lake to the west of town (right side of the shot), so with the build-up of smoke particles and heavy humidity, this was causing CG to fire through it as much as 15k's away from the rain core (left side of the shot). I knew this would be a problem.
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1570&g2_serialNumber=2)
The dry CG were approaching fast and seconds after the above shots were taken, I thought "I may be in danger here and should head for the ute asap!" then I saw a bright white flash and a resulting loud CRACK, only to turn around quickly and see the end of a staccato bolt hitting 20mtrs behind me! The surrounding ground was sandstone so I was very fortunate that it is non conductive, unlike the ironstone here! I legged it to the ute and got out of there! It's the closest I've been to a strike in a couple years now and I may head out today and see if I can locate the tree or object it hit, possibly try to dig for a fulgorite if it is possible?
I headed to the Northern end of town where the cell was growing in size dramatically and I would encounter an amazing display of CG that by this time were firing around 6sec intervals with the usual accompanying cracks of thunder. If this storm had of formed at night, the lightning shots would have been spectacular!
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1549&g2_serialNumber=1)
I switched to video mode to capture the CG as it was everywhere and I was having no luck with photos being confined to the car interior (it was the first time in 5yrs I've ever felt the need to sit inside the ute!) I got "core punched" at this point with heavy rain that seemed to be horizontal. No hail to report but the rain totals must have been up there?
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1558&g2_serialNumber=1)
I met up with Russ back in the main street around 6:30pm with the storm still highly active but heading East quickly. I grabbed a few shots of distant bolts and some base structure that formed ahead of an oncoming steady rain storm approaching from the West.
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1553&g2_serialNumber=1)
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1556&g2_serialNumber=2)
Not too bad an outcome (other than almost being struck?) for a weak looking "grey" confined core with no real structure lol?
Cheers guys and take care!
Shauno
Looking ok out here already so we'll see what today (22nd) brings in the way of weather? :)
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November 21: Central Tablelands Report, Photos and Video
Matt and I (and later on James) targeted the CT's on a chase after deciding that the area was quite nicely setup for strong convection. Good dewpoints with ample heating ensured that surface conditions were right for solid convection, however weak shear meant slow moving and more so pulsey type storms would be on the cards.
Photos as follows:
Updraft with pileous cap towards Lithgow:
(http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/21/p/21-11-2007-updraft_web_th.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/21/p/21-11-2007-updraft_web.jpg)
Base with downdraft at Shipley Lookout:
(http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/21/p/21-11-2007-bmdowndraftbase_web_th.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/21/p/21-11-2007-bmdowndraftbase_web.jpg)
(http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/21/p/21-11-2007-bmdowndraftbase2_web_th.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/21/p/21-11-2007-bmdowndraftbase2_web.jpg)
Base Timelapse (4mb WMV) http://www.ecstormchasing.com/video/Base_TL_BM_21Nov07.wmv
Base of a storm towards Lidsdale:
(http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/21/p/21-11-2007-lgbase01_web_th.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/21/p/21-11-2007-lgbase01_web.jpg)
Road between Mt Victoria and Bell:
(http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/21/p/21-11-2007-bmset_web_th.jpg) (http://ecstormchasing.com/images/chase/2007_11/21/p/21-11-2007-bmset_web.jpg)
It was an interesting chase at times, one thing I've never seen before is the interaction of a man made structure (in this case a power plant) directly having an effect on a storm! Basically we were watching the base near Lidsdale actually lower due to the steam being pumped out from the large power plants below! Quite amazing to watch! The photo James took shows this effect nicely.
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Top stuff everyone! Definitely a cacophony of convective cumulonimbus cloud to ground conductivity!!! (try saying that after 8 beers!)
Great reports and photos - the state must have had chasers running into each other from all areas over the last few days!
Mike
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Some very nice storms in all that lot. It has been a bit disappointing here in the suburbs of Sydney, all week I have been working around Parramatta (usually on buildings with a good view to the west). Every day I seen the clouds build up over the mountains, starting to form nice thunderheads then they looked like they blew through the top (inversion layer?) and the top off the cloud just blew away. Despite all the storm reports nothing happened in town.
Last night at least we did finally get some lightning around, with some nice strikes to the SW initially, then it seemed to miss us and the show went over the NE (this from Rydalmere). I was with the visiting country girlfriend so didn't try any shots, though the strikes were infrequent enough it would have been lucky to catch. Given the efforts of others here with shots I might have to look at digital video camera! I think a time exposure here with the normal digital camera would overexpose (too much light around).
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November 18, Southern Tablelands: Video
Hey Guys,
As Phil has said, Sunday 18-11-07 turned out to be a great day! Phil, Shane, Steve and myself all got some great pics and footage Certainly the best stuff I've seen in a long time, even ever.
Here's a Vid I took of that monster near Collector in it's early stages. You can clearly see the amount of inflow was quite awesome. Enjoy!
Jim.F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgx-r3clshI
Lots more vids of this storm plus some very interesting features from an earlier cell just south of Bungendore to download here:
http://www.thunderhed.org/stormpics/NSW/Southern%20Tablelands/181107/
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Wow, great bunch of reports, photos and videos from this system!
I've just gone through and put the standard bold heading summary on any chase-log related posts, or at least those which did not have any such label. Hopefully this will make it easier to track things for anyone who might read the thread in the future. We'll have to use this system to ensure each post is in its desired context, or else think about using a forum system similar to storm track; ie separating forecasts, nowcasts/obs from reports.
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November 21. Upper Western. Resulting storm damage.
Hi guys,
thought I'd just share a couple more shots from the electrical maelstrom that hit Lightning Ridge on Wednesday the 21st. (storm log above)
We all see the amazing display of lightning but rarely see some resulting damage, so on my travels around town I found one of the unfortunate trees that were in the path of one of those numerous dry CG.
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1576&g2_serialNumber=1)
This gum has, or had a diameter of 12inches. There is a nice radial formation of bark and timber, some of which are quite large, surrounding to a distance of 100feet in all directions (hence not being near trees in a storm!).
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1582&g2_serialNumber=2)
I looked closely for any signs of charring and found a small core of carbon 2cm in diameter traveling down the middle just off the centre core. There is also some burning and carbon present on the ends of the downed limbs.
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1573&g2_serialNumber=2)
This one for scale reference ;)
I've just gone through and put the standard bold heading summary on any chase-log related posts, or at least those which did not have any such label. Hopefully this will make it easier to track things for anyone who might read the thread in the future.
Thanks kindly David, much appreciated!
Top stuff everyone! Definitely a cacophony of convective cumulonimbus cloud to ground conductivity!!!
Good one Mike, bit of a tongue twister (about an F4) ;)
Cheers guys and take care.
Shauno
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Thanks for showing those tree damage pics Shauno - a dramatic reminder of what lightning is capable of !!!
MB
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Storm Report Sydney - Wednesday 21 November 2007
Hello
Wednesday evening, I took the opportunity to watch, photograph and take some film of storm cells moving across Sydney.
From early Wednesday afternoon, storm cells developed and built along the Blue Mountains and I am aware that one such storm caused a power failure to some 15,000 homes in the Blue Mountains area.
Towards evening, one large cell approached Sydney's western suburbs from the south west and I took a sequence of photos of it. This cell later weakened but during its weakening phase, I noted a weak outflow boundary pushing east and the development of new alto cumulus castellatus cloud formations further east and overhead where I was.
One such cloud cluster consolidated and developed into a new cloud tower and storm cell to my north east. I decided to drive underneath it and waited for the rain to drop. With the cloud base situated over Seven Hills, a heavy rainshaft fell that resulted in Seven Hills receiving 13 mm of rain and occasional lighting. This rainfall figure was the highest for anywhere in Sydney during this event. The storm weakened after 15 or so minutes however, the outflow from this storm caused new shower and storm cells to develop further east.
New thunderstorm cells developed over Sydney's east and north following this storm. This is something that I have never observed before in Sydney in such fine detail. Storms were propagating within a narrow band, dropping their rain loads in very small areas, then weakening with new cells developing further east. This phenomena resulted in a few suburbs receiving rainfall while other suburbs missed the rain altogether.
While filming the various storms including a lightning display over Hornsby, I observed this phenomena on the BOM and the Elders radar network.
Harley Pearman
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Very good post, Harley! Very informative and an interesting read. Look forward to your photos and/or footage.
Shaun - whopping photo! Would not mind pinching it for the website. I'd like to show it to a friend in the rural area who had the same experience from a strike on his neighbour's block which destroyed a huge gum tree and landed 100m onto his shed's roof! You should dig that stump up and make it a feature in your bar room!
Mike