Storm Australian Severe Weather Forum
Severe Weather Discussion => Australian Severe Storms, Weather Events and Storm Chasing => Topic started by: Michael Thomas on 16 December 2008, 09:21:01 AM
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I think its probably safe to start a thread for the possibility of storms later this week. Currently the air mass over much of eastern Australia is surprisingly cold and dry for this time of year. 700 hPa temps today were into the negatives in parts of NSW and dew points are currently in single figures in most places. Thankfully, onshore flow will return and should start increasing low level moisture throughout the week. Of real interest for later this week are the cold mid-level temperature which should get as low as -15 C for Sydney and -11 C for SE Qld. This may lead to a few days of high CAPE in NE NSW and SE Qld in particular. Finer details really are not very clear at this stage, certainly looks interesting enough though.
Michael
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STW for a large part of South Australia atm - for damaging winds and large hail. Will be interesting to see any reports of large hail. The Adelaide sounding this morning is quite supportive.
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I have not seen any warnings out yet but large thunderstorm cells are evident over far SW New South Wales at 8 pm 17/12/2008. A thunderstorm cluster is also evident over western Victoria moving steadily east with some active regions embedded in it.
Places to watch for storms include Warracknabeal, Ouyen, Horsham and areas west of Bendigo.
Another isolated storm cell approaches Albury from the WNW.
Interestingly I have been spying some thunderstorm development along the NSW south coast throughout the day that seem to have formed on a southerly change that has moved up the south coast. Isolated storm cells passed through Moruya and Batemans Bay, Nowra up to about Kiama. I did not see any warnings out on these and rainfall totals were not particularly high in the affected regions.
Harley Pearman
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I have just looked again.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a 'Severe Thunderstorm Alert" for the storms mentioned in my previous post across a portion of Western Victoria mainly for wind damage and large hail.
Thunderstorms are moving east at 30 km/h in the affected areas including Ouyen, Murrayville, Walpeup, Warracknabeal and Nhill.
It is a general warning and no mention is made of anything significant occurring from this cluster of thunderstorms.
Harley Pearman
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As mentioned,a few non severe thunderstorms developed in the South Coast district extending into the southern Illawarra. These cells were quite small but produced brief periods of intense rainfall.I encountered some brief flash flooding in the town of Nowra. The storms as you can imagine were quite featureless and low leveled cloudcover didnt help things .There wasnt much lightning either,with a rumble perhaps every 30seconds and a bolt every few minutes. The bolts that I saw were quite nice at times but the contrast was horrendous.
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Storms have developed over many parts of NSW and VIC already with warnings in place. A cell rapidly developed east of Tenterfield but looks to have collapsed already. Looks like activity will persist into the evening with the upper trough approaching. Lapse rates on the Moree sounding are very nice.
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Nice storm passing Barrington Tops currently. Quite a nice cell split with the right mover looking to be weakening currently. Also a cell on the Dorrigo plateau that may well intensify, 34/19 in Grafton so plenty of CAPE provided there is decent moisture depth. Interesting to see what happens in the Northern Rivers and SE Qld later, 500 mbar temps are forecast to cool later in the evening which may keep things going after dark.
Michael
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Severe storm warning has just been cancelled for the Illawarra and surrounding areas. One caller to the ABC reported hail banking to about 30cm deep at Moss Vale.
Some nice storms on the north coast now I am back in Sydney as well looking at the radar.
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Richary, that's a lot of hail. I watched the storm move out to sea from Wollongong. The storm was very high based as expected given the poor low level moisture. It was, however, interesting to watch though. While watching the storm, a lowering developed which reached approx. 3/4's of the way to the ground. Outflow then pushed out from the back end of the storm which can be seen on the radar as the storm decayed.
Edit: typo
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I've seen it once, over 30 years ago as a kid in Canberra. Probably banking up against walls or whatever which is what it was doing then. Apparently enough for some kids to build a "snow" man.
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Anvil to ground flash as the early evening pulse storm came and went through Parramatta tonight at around 9.30pm, 18-12-08.Cheers, Con.
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w28/elenecon/Storm%20Season%2008-09/Sydpuls18-12-08.jpg)
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Had an afternoon chase 18th Dec which ended up being focused on the Kyogle area. The northern part of the Northern Rivers looked moisture starved until later in the chase.
Early development which crossed the Coffs Coast was impressive visually. Radar suggests this may have been a supercell
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2008121801.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2008121801.jpg) 3.35pm EDT
Two weakish cells slowly edged eastwards from the far northern parts of the Northern Tablelands. Anvils were certainly impressive! The cell to the right (north) was the one that dominated.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2008121802.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2008121802.jpg) 4.16pm
At this stage it started to look quite strong and was now heading more ENE from the earlier south of east direction. Lightning was quite active.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2008121803.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2008121803.jpg) 5.31pm
A long line of activity with a lot of lightning and shelf cloud structures was visible across the Northern Tablelands heading NE. But the cell heading for Kyogle was the target for now.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2008121804.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2008121804.jpg) 6.01pm
mmmmmmmmmmmmm, HAIL
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2008121805.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2008121805.jpg) 6.13pm
Stones got up to about 4cm diameter and were focused on the southern side of town. Radar suggests there could have been a lot more hail a few ks SW of town.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2008121806.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2008121806.jpg) 6.15pm
The hailstorm died very quickly after denting a stack of Kyogle cars. The squall line then came through. The lightning was impressive though I missed them all on camera. Just as well the video was running.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2008121807.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2008121807.jpg) 6.51pm
The northern end looked pretty evil leading into sunset so I headed into that - which just happened to be Kyogle again. Powerful branched CGs hit ahead of the squalls, then flangs and torrents of rain in town!
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2008121808.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/2008121808.jpg) 6.56pm
MB
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Hi guys,
Great storm flurry for the NE again Michael! I was "chair chasing" them on radar etc. yesterday afternoon while doing bits and pieces online. As you say, the anvils were certainly impressive. They did look pretty good on the VIS image. I didn't see any real interesting overshooting taking place on the cells while I kept an eye on them? No doubt the winds were pretty strong aloft keeping it to a minimum and forward shearing those anvils out nicely from the powerful updrafts. Still very impressive looking from the ground up, as most SC's are! ;)
I'll bet the DV lightning captures look amazing set against those background structure settings! Hope you get a chance to post a couple for us to see :D
Did anyone manage to see or photograph the nice cell that hit the Albury area yesterday? Looked fairly severe on the Yarrawonga radar.
Kindest regards,
Shauno
(We are still praying for another storm onset out here! It would definitely make a nice Christmas present!)
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I have been talking to my parents this morning who are north east of Yarrawonga. They said they copped hail up to 2cms with the odd larger piece and there were plenty of big limbs and braches down, although no trees that they know of. My Dad thought it was pretty lucky there were no fires as the lightning was crazy. The Yarrawonga radar looked very impressive yesterday afternoon. Wish I was there, it could have waited just another few weeks!!
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The cap did manage to break right on the coast between Evans Head and Byron Bay today (19th Dec), but there was just not enough moisture above the surface layer to sustain anything.
Some small cumulonimbus here - though not sure if there was any lightning.
The southerly change took 3.5 hours to travel the 30ks north from Evans Head to my place this afternoon. Needless to say it remained hot ! Temps were mid to high 30s.
Looking east from my place:
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2008121901.jpg) 4.15pm EDT
Next cell developed in the same area:
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2008121902.jpg) 5.14pm
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2008121903.jpg) 5.17pm
This one formed to my immediate north then tracked towards Byron Bay as the southerly change stratocumulus started to roll in:
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2008121904.jpg) 5.37pm
(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/thumbs/2008121905.jpg) 6.02pm
MB
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i took this photo of the same developing cell from Ballina not to far away from where the ones above were taken it did for a split second rain on us and when i drifted out to sea i saw a small funnel but when i got my camera it dissipated. i was a little bit dissapointed in the weather on 19/12/08 the clouds would develop anvils but dramatically dissipate
heres some pictures of the cells
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Albury Hailstorm 18/12/2008:
The thunderstorm that went through Albury 18/12/2008 at 1.30 pm did not cause damage but appears to have caused some chaos in suburbs of Glenroy, Eastern Hill, East Albury and at the airport.
A photogallery of the event can be found at:-
http://iframe.bordermail.com.au/yg_photogallery/photogallery.asp?ixGallery=3315
Reading the Border Mail on the event, the storm lasted about 15 minutes but in a narrow path stretching from Glenroy right through to the Airport plus East Albury and Eastern Hill, it produced prolific hail to about marble size and caused hail drifts to form.
It produced enough hail for people to make snowmen.
Suburbs outside this narrow band only received a heavy downpour. Checking the rain gauge at the airport, 10.6 mm of rain fell from this storm cell. It was part of a system that brough rain and thunderstorms to this area and welcome rainfalls topped 27 mm here.
Other strong thunderstorms occurred in his region during the afternoon but they passed over rural areas and appears that they were not reported too well.
Harley Pearman
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Hi Harley, I've tried to click on your link to see the Albury Hailstorm and it wouldn't work? They certainly did get some VERY welcome rain, that's for sure!
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Hi all,
I managed to squeeze in an hour of storm watching on THursday night and I picked the best hour of the day for SEQ. Fortunately (but definitely NOT a coincidence) my balcony faces SW and I had a perfect view of the storm which moved NE for a while as it developed some classic supercell structure (lit up by the nice CGs). Of note is the first picture in this series which is a clear air CG...what is interesting is where this comes from in relation to where the main updraft is....slightly odd.
http://macca.bsch.au.com/gallery2/v/Season+08/181208/
(Note there are 2 pages of images so you'll need to click on the "2" at the bottom to get to the 2nd page).
Macca
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Brisbane radar loops for the 18th December. The early evening supercell west of Brisbane can be tracked - interesting area for that clear air CG Macca.
The hailstorm I intercepted at Kyogle around 6pm also indicates supercellular structure before the squall line comes through an hour later - some wind maxes around Kyogle again.
---> Brisbane radar loop (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2008/radar/20081218/mt_stapylton128.htm)
---> Brisbane Doppler radar loop (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2008/radar/20081218/mt_stapylton_doppler128.htm)
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Macca, doesnt your apartment rotate to face the storms as necessary? ;D
It certainly doesnt get much better than shooting a storm which such structure and branched CG's from the comfort of home! I'm jealous as usual down here.
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Macca great shots!! I love the structure here --> http://macca.bsch.au.com/gallery2/v/Season+08/181208/181208am13.JPG.html Would be cool to see this storm structure in daylight. How far away was the storm from your position? Cause I noticed that some bolts are "weird", they have orange tint to it and they don't look sharp. This happens to me, if the storm is far away, like 20+ km. Btw. what was with the white balance, did you change or did you have it on auto?
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Macca,
That was a nice catch given the impressive bolts and structure. And all from a balcony. Wow!! Excellent - been an excellent year in Brisbane!
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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Why chase when you have these at your doorstep! Excellent display of power there and you would have been grinning from ear to ear!
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Kristy84
Thank you for pointing out a mistake in my thread. You are right. I inadvertently typed in one incorrect numeral.
The correct thread to the Border Mail photogallery showing the Albury Hailstorm for 18/12/2008 is here:-
http://iframe.bordermail.com.au/yg_photogallery/photogallery.asp?ixGallery=3315
Moderators, I have no problem in any correction being made to my previous post as Kristy has pointed out an error I made. Thank you.
I should also note that on the same day 18/12/2008 two brief thunderstorms passed over Blacktown where I live. The combined rainfall total was 1.5 mm. The first storm at around 9.15 pm produced one cloud to ground lightning strike that may have hit an electricity transformer out near Prospect to my south east given that I witnessed a rather large green flash and again my area suffered a brief electricity failure / fluctuation following the strike.
The second storm following it produced a few rumbles and a shower of rain.
Harley Pearman
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Thanks Andrej - storm was between 45km and 15km away from my place (depending on when the photo was taken - the earlier the photo the futher away). Most of those pics are about a 50% crop too. The white balance comment is interesting. As the last parts of daylight were fading and for the next 20 mins the lightning was very much orange in colour (hence why i set the WB as I did). Then after a while it seemed to change to the more bluey/purple colour as you can see in the later photos (hence why I changed the WB setting). I've seen plenty of different coloured lightning in my time but don't recall seeing it change colour over such a short timeframe.
Jimmy - thanks. Its been an excellent year for quantity of storms up here but in terms of quality, I'd personally say it has been somewhat lacking. Sure there have been plenty of awesome gust fronts and a few nice lightning shows but a lot of our storms have been totally outflow dominated (definitely not my cup of tea). Each to their own though. >:D Unfortunately, a lot of people have etched in their mind that we have had an horrific storm season (in terms of severity) simply due to that one storm which hit the north western suburbs back in mid-November. But really there haven't been that many really severe storms (no massive hail, no tornadoes, etc).
As for all the balcony comments - I love it. I'm very lucky to be able to have that view to the SW and have been waiting for days like this for a while (where I can't chase but am lucky enough to be home at the right time to see it unfold).
Macca
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All photos I took for Thursday 18 December 2008 (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2008/mb20081218.html)
and Friday 19 December 2008 (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2008/mb20081219.html)
Yeah, it's amzing how much hype can be generated from one major thunderstorm hitting the suburbs :)
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Visitor to the Gold Coast took these great shots whilst working there during your coastal lightning shows (early 19th Dec). Not a bad effort! . One of those shots is a little overexposed but in all fairness it was pretty close! Photo credits to Paul Head and Ajsa, his wife for supplying them.
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Hi everyone. I was just going through some photos on my mobile and thought i'd post this one. This was taken on the west side of town after the storm hit here on the 29/12/2008. Doesn't really show much but might be useful. I only had enough battery power to take this one unfortunately,i've learnt since then! There's also a link to the report in the local paper. http://www.goondiwindiargus.com.au/news/local/news/general/exhausting-week-for-ses-council-workers-firies-and-country-energy/1407052.aspx (http://www.goondiwindiargus.com.au/news/local/news/general/exhausting-week-for-ses-council-workers-firies-and-country-energy/1407052.aspx)