Storm Australian Severe Weather Forum
Severe Weather Discussion => Australian Severe Storms, Weather Events and Storm Chasing => Topic started by: Antonio (stormboy) on 03 September 2009, 11:17:11 AM
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Hello everyone and how are you enjoying spring so far? I certainly am with these warm temperatures. Well it looks like Friday 4/9 has been forecast for patchy rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon, for the Northern NSW and Southeast QLD areas as well as the northern tablelands. Also Tuesday 8/9 is forecast for thunderstorms too. So let’s see how things go.
Storm boy – preparing the camera for the season ahead ;-)
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I know Storm Boy you are working off the forecast but I keep running through the data, and tomorrow, Friday the 4/09/09, looks more like thundery rain with maybe!!!( it would be nice, but looking grim,) the odd isolated storm. A few showers in the early part of Friday morning, and then some time between 10 am- 1 pm west of Moree, NSW and west of Warrego, QLD, the thundery rain should start firing up and head East towards the coast.
Monday appears to be more capable of producing a possible storm than for Tuesday, although once again, probably more like thundery rain, then Tuesday should see the rain band clear out to sea, and I wouldn't expect anything great at this stage, but it is that time of year again and strange things do happen.
Cheers
Col
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There is a severe thunderstorm warning currently out for widespread areas of Victoria.
Storms are now coming across from the west, CG's pumping down and flashing up to three of four times. Very strong gusty wind blowing from the north east.
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Warning from BOM for VIC
For people in the Northeast, North Central, Central and parts of the Northern Country, West and South Gippsland and Alpine Forecast Districts.
Issued at 3:14 pm Thursday, 3 September 2009.
Severe thunderstorms have the potential to produce damaging winds in the warning area over the next several hours. Locations which may be affected include Bendigo, Shepparton, Seymour, Melbourne, Wodonga and Wangaratta.
Radar and Doppler of the storms as at 3: 40PM
New storm warning for the alpine areas
For people in the
Outer East and parts of the
Western Port Local Warning Areas.
Issued at 3:47 pm Thursday, 3 September 2009.
The Bureau of Meteorology warns that, at 3:45 pm, severe thunderstorms were detected on weather radar near Bass, KooWeeRup, Lang Lang, Pakenham, San Remo and the area south of Healesville. These thunderstorms are moving towards the southeast. They are forecast to affect Bunyip, Yarra Junction, the area east of Pakenham and the area northeast of Pakenham by 4:15 pm.
It also looks like storms in NSW and maybe around Sydney this afternoon.
Lightning tracker has been picking up some storm activity southwest NSW
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Being that I am living in Melbourne's outer east, I was unimpressed by the recent storm (3.30pm) - It dumped a bit of rain, and some winds of about 40kph, but did little else around from Ringwood to the SE. But in saying that, Box Hill copped a nice downpour and some rumbles of thunder.
For most of the eastern side of Melbourne, the warning from EWN and the stw from BoM might have been a little premature... but better to get the warning than not if it had of been worse...
Big Pete
(disillusioned)...
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All we got here was good lightning and strong wind, only 3mm rain.
The area form Yarrawonga to Benalla and aslo Wangaratta seem to be copping the worst of it on the radar.
Still pretty warm here and hoping for some more storms and rain tonight.
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Ok something just bothering me here. I’m just sitting on my notebook browsing the Radar and lightning tracker because for the past 20 to 30 minutes it has been thundering. Not loud but hear able. What is bothering me is that the radar shows nothing so why is it thundering for so long.
by the way this is reporting from Ballina Northern rivers.
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Looking at the radar just recently and it look like there is not going to be any thunderstorm activity today for the cloud band is making it really difficult. Light rain patches are around and coming from the north but I think it will only rain.
But just like Coltan stated earlier there is always a possibility because especially now how we are in spring we do get unusual and sometimes unpredictable weather.
Storm boy – preparing the camera for the season ahead ;-)
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Hi Guys,
I've just extended this thread topic to include storms that developed across Victoria and also NSW yesterday.
There was a severe storm warning issued yesterday afternoon for parts of Victoria as a squall line tracked across Melbourne metro and surrounds. Reports indicate that this line produced heavy rain and possibly small hail at some locations.
Another broken line of storms intensified yesterday, further north over the NSW south west slopes ~ sunset through early evening. Paul Graham chased these storms and reported some impressive anvil crawlers initially from ~ 20km south of Culcairn. He then said that the base structure became more interesting and as if someone 'flicked a switch' the lightning increased dramatically. As the storms moved through he experienced a dump of small hail mixed with heavy rain. As the storms tracked east there was 'incessant' intra-cloud lightning as one cell became quite highly electrified to the east of Albury.
Currently storms are ongoing over the north west slopes; with modest to decent moisture under this cooler upper air there should be some decent falls along with some flash-and-bang.
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Hi guys,
Well we had a late (or rather very early?) storm arrival this morning at 3:15am EST with that rather nice trough that is proceeding towards the Eastern NSW parts now.
I had absolutely no luck this morning after racing out of bed at the first signs of thunder, getting organized in the dark due to minor power loss and racing down town to one of the old opal fields ready to photograph. The cell was passing us by to the South (possibly around 30k's away) but there seemed to be some structure illuminated from time to time. The lightning was very intense and seemed to light up the entire area overhead even though it was fairly distant. I had just got set-up and started taking photos when I realised there was an ominous looking rain core coming straight for me! I think I took three blank shots before it really poured (not to mention I was having a bout of hayfever with watering eyes and I couldn't stop sneezing lol). This was quite funny at the time and I was laughing to myself as I sprinted home in the pouring rain while being soaked through. I did see a very nice crawler shoot overhead but I think it was the last one at that stage?
Another active cell came through around 4:30am EST but even though the lightning was frequent it was already raining pretty steadily by the time it arrived so I just did the smart thing and stayed in bed :)
There was a cell (can't hear any thunder from it now) just sitting out to our NW as of 10:15am EST. We are still under an anvil by the looks, though this seems to be a pretty weak cell.
See how we go for the rest of the day. I'll be ready for anything that comes our way.
Kindest regards,
Shauno
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the thundery rains west of Moree seem to be firing up to some possible storms BOM have issued 1st warning:
For people in the
NORTH WEST PLAINS and parts of the
CENTRAL WEST SLOPES,
CENTRAL WEST PLAINS and
UPPER WESTERN Forecast Districts.
Issued at 12:01 pm Friday, 4 September 2009.
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 Walgett, Coonabarabran and Coonamble.
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Just reset the weather monitor for Dubbo and rechecked the soundings: they state
Sounding Summary:
. Severe storms are a possibility and might be quite severe given the shear present, supporting hail Pea Size to 1cm in size
The 500mb level is showing moderate instability, enough for storms to kick up if conditions are right and possibly severe if other conditions are right
The 500 temps are relatively cold
The sounding is showing very nice moisture in the lower levels and moisture depth is good
Cloud base is at 920.73mb (816m)
There is very little change in the directional shear up to 700mb
SWEAT index reports a moderate chance of storms becoming severe
There is a nice dry slot in the mid levels which will help evaporative cooling, lightning and hail formation
Lower level winds are good
Mid level winds are good
Upper level winds (Jetstream) are good
There is no cap, storms will fire off early if other conditions are right
The overall CAP has a value of -1.28 °C
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Certainly still windy here in Melbourne, and there is some convection firing up to my south... but it might only be short lived. Have heard a rumble or two in the last 5 mins or so, and the wind gusts are a bit squally. looks like a little bit of hail falling to the SE of Mt Dandenong - went for a short drive 15-20 mins ago, and nice cell forming to E of here (prob close to Warburton area).
Parts of SE Melbourne copped a battering from a quick squall-line of storms yesterday about 3.15-3.30pm. But outer eastern suburbs didn't get anything much more than rain. Ringwood thru Lilydale and Montrose got a measly 2mm in 10 mins. at least it was something - but Box Hill and Clayton areas had some good storm activity - a few CGs mixed in with torrential rain.
Big Pete
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Upper Western/North West NSW Severe Storm Report. 4th September 2009
Hi guys,
Russ and I just went through a ridiculously severe and very large storm! This beast arrived around 5pm on that storm line approaching from the Bourke area and built about 40k's to our West. Lightning really began to pick up near on 5:30pm EST as the anvil started to spread out, it was very crisp too! There were some real nice inflow cloud bands on the lower levels before it really took off.
We ended up racing down town as multiple CG were firing down all around us! The rain was absolutely torrential and caused pretty bad localized flooding around town. Russ and I were stuck unable to move or get back to his car as the roads completely went under water! I will post some flooding photos and get a rainfall total asap. I didn't manage any lightning due to the rain fall being chaotic to say the least. I'd put in a rough guess of around 50-60mm of rain in 10mins.
There was also another cell sitting 40-50k's to our SW that looks amazing with a massive updraft. There is a great looking forward shearing anvil which is stretched out for quite a few K's and is backlit by the sunset. This had numerous CA's shooting out of the back of the anvil/updraft area! Just too distant to get a decent photo of unfortunately. Definitely a beautiful sight at this time of year! :)
These storms are definitely severe and I'm glad I got the warning on the EWN this morning.
I guess the Collarenerbri and Moree area's will be hit by this beast tonight.
Take care if chasing any of these up close or getting caught off guard as we just did!
Kindest regards,
Shauno
EDIT: The rainfall total for the storm was 36mm in 10mins. (I guess I need to go off and re-calibrate my internal rain gauge) lol ;)
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...and there's no photos of all this action fella! I was salivating on seeing some of your great work but sounds like you two were in the thick of things and sometimes it's nice just to watch the action unfold and not worry about taking photos - it's only disheartening when you see a really cool lightning strike and mutter...'Should have had the camera out for that one!'
Great post -
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Nice to get verification of what was happening out there Shauno. Moree radar did show some strong cells in your area. Very nice rainfalls too - could do with some of that here. Managed to get 6mm a couple of hours ago from the leftovers though it looks good for some mid afternoon storms here later, but rapidly clearing.
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We received 8.2mm but Gatton to the west of Brisbane had 41.2mm from the rain band.
They originally had storms predicted for Brisbane this afternoon but have down graded that to showers, but tweeking a few figures on the skewT with forecast max and probable dewpoint does show the conditions favorable for storms with a slight chance of being severe.
It is my daughters fete today, many months of preperation have gone into this day, they are having a classic car club exhibition, hot rods and monster trucks, seen some of the beast and they are prestige to say the least and worth a small fortune. Some pretty good rides and entertainment. Why am I telling you this: it is the mathematical equation and formular for the perfect storm to brew and throw everything into chaos. Fortunately I will have my camera. (lol)
Cheers and happy chasing
Col
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Hello guys I had a nice day today. Our family went down to Yamba today and what could have happened to make our day better happened. A storm, because I did not know it was going to storm I used my camera on the phone so the quality was not awesome but ok. And also this was only a minor cell but worth posting. Below is the radar image relevant to the 3rd picture I do not want the radar image to be changed into a loop so that people can see when the storm was taken.
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Upper Western, North West NSW Storm Photos. 4th September 2009
Hi everyone,
I will finally throw a few shots up now. There wasn't much in the way of decent lightning photos due to well.. absolutely torrential rainfall. Catching lightning at this time of the afternoon is hard at the best of times anyhow as we all know (think I was only managing marginal exposures at the best? Listed in the EXIF data below) I did catch a bolt and a weak remnant that you can see next to the UHF antenna on the BP servo in the top photo.
Let me just say that the sunset was the most beautiful I have seen in a while. It was unbelievable to look up at the mammatus and virga striations on the back end of the crisp anvil as the storm moved on passed us. I wish the lower level cloud was absent from our view once we set up to shoot it? Oh well, next time :)
I'll post the photos in sequence. The first couple we took in Opal St. in the middle of the mayhem. Yes the water is covering the road and footpaths. It was about ten inches deep and you could get a canoe going down there lol! We had to just sit it out until we could manage to jump across it and race back to Russ' car. (that we unfortunately left outside our gallery on the other side of the street?) Some low lying parts of town went about two feet under water! The other street flood photo -third one down- is in Pandora St. which has a steep runoff and still went about a foot deep over the road in places.
The sunset photos just speak for themselves, no colour alterations done either! :D
All in all a very good start to the season I'd say! Russ and I were saying only today that we have never seen a storm of this magnitude anytime before December in the last six years?
Take care guys,
Shauno
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Wow for an inland town that is a lot of rain. Is it from just 1 storm or is it from many? Keep these shots coming.
stormboy
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Wow for an inland town that is a lot of rain. Is it from just 1 storm or is it from many? Keep these shots coming.
stormboy
Hi stormboy,
All that water is from the one storm that arrived around 5pm-ish pictured in the photos. We had fairly widespread flooding across the opal fields also (as far out as 30K's away) We ended up getting a few readings of 36 and 37mm across town, all in a total of 10 minutes.
Cheers,
Shauno
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Hi stormboy,
All that water is from the one storm that arrived around 5pm-ish pictured in the photos. We had fairly widespread flooding across the opal fields also (as far out as 30K's away) We ended up getting a few readings of 36 and 37mm across town, all in a total of 10 minutes.
Cheers,
Shauno
Well you have hot to be happy about that. You got a nice storm and good rainfall because i have looked on Google maps it looks pretty dry where you live.
stormboy
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Nice one, Shauno. Finally you're getting some storms and may it last! You need to cut that tree down next time for landscape shots..unless the bolt takes it out for you on the next event! Lovely colors in those sunset shots and a very nice rainfall event for you out there.
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Good spot for a family outing yesterday Stormboy. The BoM issued a warning though it did not stay in place for long
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
for LARGE HAILSTONES and DAMAGING WIND
For people in parts of the
NORTHERN RIVERS,
MID NORTH COAST and
NORTHERN TABLELANDS Forecast Districts.
Issued at 1:34 pm Saturday, 5 September 2009.
Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce large hailstones and damaging winds in the warning area over the next several hours.
At 2:30pm a thunderstorm just west of Grafton, moving from south to north, had a radar signal suggesting it was currently severe. It was not headed towards any major centres.
I was in Ballina for a family outing too - but could only see the tops of the storm. It's more than I would have seen from home
1.37pm
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0905mb03.jpg)
2.33pm
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2009/0905mb04.jpg)
Could do with a big wet storm here too Shauno. Have had to buy some water as the household tanks are very low.
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Yes i do agree yesterday was a very nice day. We also have some water tanks and they are full now from an overnight downpour that lasted 20 minutes, but before that they were very dry. What will tomorrow bring? Thundery rain or storms who knows. Happy chasing
stormboy
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Hi stormboy,
All that water is from the one storm that arrived around 5pm-ish pictured in the photos. We had fairly widespread flooding across the opal fields also (as far out as 30K's away) We ended up getting a few readings of 36 and 37mm across town, all in a total of 10 minutes.
Cheers,
Shauno
Hi Shaun,
I bet since you're out far west, you have a relatively flat surface area? Flooding must be a big problem, even 15-20mm could cause the ground to get very soggy, due to poor drainage right?
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Hi guys,
It was definitely great to see that amount of rain out this way. It was very dry here and most of the dams were just puddles basically. Not so dry now however :)
MB: That low water issue sounds a little worrying? I hope those HP cells start to fire in your area pretty soon! I guess this town is lucky to have a basically endless supply of artesian bore water though it costs us around $670 a year via the council rates.
Hi Shaun,
I bet since you're out far west, you have a relatively flat surface area? Flooding must be a big problem, even 15-20mm could cause the ground to get very soggy, due to poor drainage right?
Hi Steven,
We sure do get soggy in parts! Though surprisingly, we are pretty high up in places here! We are located on a large formation of ironstone and sandstone ridges that are 20-30metres higher in places than the surrounding plains. The town is positioned sort of half on the higher ridges and half on the flatter areas. I pity the people that live on the low lying areas as they cop pretty severe flooding during decent storms and downpours, some of the businesses suffer badly also with water running completely through them once the drains are at capacity. (If you google earth us and put on the 3D terrain you will see it all nicely)
Many years ago they installed a large drain that we call the Dooly. It was named after a small boy who passed away long ago at an early age. He used to sit on the edge of it and play his trumpet each morning before school. This drain funnels much (but not all) of the storm water through town and off into several massive dams that supply water for all the parks, sports ovals and bowling greens in town. The drain is 3mtrs wide and ranges in depth from 1 to 2metres.
I have a quick shot of it in action soon after this storm had passed that I will post for you. Normally you can't see the drain during a storm of this capacity as it overflows dramatically due to the funnel-like nature of the ridges surrounding the town.
I live on a ridge that is about 6metres above the towns elevation and even we get a badly flooded yard at times.
Take care,
Shauno
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Hi Shaun,
That is quite fascinating, considering that the average height of Lightning Ridge is 150m, but I guess that doesn't matter much. The land is still flat in most places.
I've seen quite a few "doolys" around, but they are mostly in areas where there's flat bushland or small creeks and they sometimes run parallel to houses or businesses. Oh and also on motorways too.