Storm Australian Severe Weather Forum

Severe Weather Discussion => Australian Severe Storms, Weather Events and Storm Chasing => Topic started by: James on 24 October 2007, 10:16:08 AM

Title: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: James on 24 October 2007, 10:16:08 AM
Just a quick post as still at work.

Had a quick look at the 00z run of GFS. Seems there may be some alright storms behind the cloud band as it pushes through Central Northern NSW tomorrow afternoon. Wind Shear isn't exactly spectacular however there is some ok turn in the lower atmosphere that should support some organised convection. 850 winds 15 knots from NNE turning to WNW 20 knots at 700. 500 Winds are lacking but there is a little NW jet around 40 to 50 knots at 300. Nice Dry slot between 600 and 300mb, better the further north you go.

Tomorrow mornings sat pic, the Cobar sounding and surface obs should tell the story. The area around Nyngan could be a good start.

Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: dann weatherhead on 24 October 2007, 04:00:50 PM
Yeah - it actually looks like the first decent setup for awhile. Not too sure what its going to happen - but seems pretty certain that at least some areas will get some pretty useful rainfall (GFS going for around 100mm over my neck of the woods).

What has interested me is the way that the instability sticks around as the trough stalls over central NSW (yes - it does indeed happen here sometimes...). A stalling trough around these parts has been something of a myth of recent. This afternoon the easterly has really brought through some nice surface moisture. Sadly this hasn't penetrated very far inland, but hopefully that will increase and deepen (as forecast) through tomorrow. This coastal moisture can kick off the rainfall events prematurely as the rainfall forms ahead of the main area of activity.

I had pinned the tail on the donkey somewhere around Condobolin.

Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Michael Bath on 25 October 2007, 02:21:09 AM
A difficult day to pinpoint targets with so much cloud over the state. Only been able to view 06z GFS (nothing else available this morning) and not sure what it is telling me. Given the thunderstorm activity now - which I assume has been going all night - it would not surprise me to just see that advance eastwards over large parts of S QLD and Central NSW.

Does anyone know why so few evening soundings appear online these days ?  Very annoying.

MB
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: dann weatherhead on 25 October 2007, 03:11:24 AM
Probably the BoM hitting the pub a bit early. Its been a warm October....so perhaps fieldwork has been adjourned to the local...

Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: James on 25 October 2007, 04:01:37 AM
Agree with you MB, that cloud is certainly very extensive! It has been a rather frustrating morning of model checking. I've only been able to access the NOAA ARL GFS charts this morning - None of the other seemed to be updating. Always seems to happen on a storm day :)

I'm thinking if things do take off to the NW this afternoon I may head out to the CT's or surrounds for some lightning shots into the evening. Would need to go further west than east to get clear of the rainy mess.

My only other hope is a large clearing somewhere .... cant see that happening unless I was living in Bourke.
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Shaun Galman on 25 October 2007, 06:07:29 AM
Hi all,
No storms out this way to report on as yet? But we are receiving some nice steady, fairly heavy rain finally!

Its liquid gold to us at the moment as the dusty VERY corregated roads need and inch or two of the wet stuff to be gradeable so we can finally get out to work!

I was hoping for a clearing to trigger storms later this afternoon also, as James said. Here's hoping! :)

Nice to see some ground moisture laid down to help with any cells that may fire up!

Cheers guys.
Shauno
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: James on 25 October 2007, 10:20:59 AM
Headed out at 130pm and managed to get some storms moving through Mt Lambie/Lithgow. There were some great CG's out near Lake Lyell (WSW of Lithgow) over the past 30 minutes. Set myself up on the south eastern edge of the lake with great views all around. Managed to get around 4 or 5 CG's striking the hills around there on film. Will try and get a capture up later.
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: dann weatherhead on 25 October 2007, 10:33:22 AM
Well its heavy, and overcast here in Western Sydney.

However in the past 90 minutes we have been invaded by swarms of flies - and I mean that literally - clouds of flies keep drifting across my window. I have never seen anything like it!
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Mike on 25 October 2007, 02:34:14 PM
The WZ lightning tracker is chock full of strikes within the last 30mins (8pm NT time) - pretty sure everyone is out chasing and getting photos from this trough moving through NSW  - look forward to the reports!  The Vissat showing a huge line of storms and associated radar image provided.

Mike
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: James on 25 October 2007, 05:46:50 PM
Enjoyed a nice short chase up to the Central Tablelands this afternoon. Managed to intercept the initial line near Mt Lambie. I was greeted by a nice looking moist shelf cloud courtesy of the South Easterly pumping moisture inland. Once past the rain set in before a barrage of CG's struck in the middle of the downpour. Managed to capture one CG on video - capture below.

(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-10-24-01jh.thumbnail.JPG) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-10-24-01jh.JPG)

(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-10-24-02jh.thumbnail.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-10-24-02jh.jpg)

(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-10-24-03jh.thumbnail.JPG) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-10-24-03jh.JPG)

(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-10-24-01vcjh-sm.thumbnail.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-10-24-01vcjh.jpg)
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Jimmy Deguara on 26 October 2007, 12:57:42 AM
James,

That lightning bolt would have created a bit of an explosive thump like a shotgun - yes?

Shelf cloud and bases were pretty low given the high elevations and moist air as you suggested.

Regards,

Jimmy Deguara
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: James on 26 October 2007, 02:46:33 AM
James,

That lightning bolt would have created a bit of an explosive thump like a shotgun - yes?

Shelf cloud and bases were pretty low given the high elevations and moist air as you suggested.

Regards,

Jimmy Deguara

Hi Jimmy,

Yep your spot on with the shotgun thunder. There were a number of them striking the hills around my location, all of which had that loud boom sound rather than the cracking & deep rumble. I wonder if it is the nature of the strike itself that affects the sound - i.e a quick negative bolt with possibly less amps?

James
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Michael Bath on 26 October 2007, 03:15:53 AM
Hi Mike - Conditions were a bit too cloudy due to the high moisture levels and lack of dry air aloft. This did not favour severe thunderstorms - making it difficult for chasing. However, some heavy falls and small hail were likely. I noticed a number of cells passing over the same locations - they would have picked up some decent falls.

You certainly had to be west or on the divide as James was. The guys from Narrabri and Lightning Ridge may have got something good as well.

MB
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Shaun Galman on 26 October 2007, 04:29:28 AM
Hi guys,
You certainly had to be west or on the divide as James was. The guys from Narrabri and Lightning Ridge may have got something good as well.

MB
That we certainly did Michael! :) Storms triggered late in the afternoon as expected and I didn't stop chasing until 3:45am! (when my brain finally gave out lol) At 7:30pm the first highly active line came through, no real features as they were mostly HP until it settled down a little a we had what I suspect was a right mover traveling East then turning South and hitting town at 8:45pm. This storm was beautiful (even capturing my first roll cloud, as I was saying to Mike in another thread, we don't get those too often!) This cell carried the first staccato strikes I've seen in a while which made photography a joy. I shot three or four more messy cells that came through town at 2:45am which were active but the rain killed any chances of good shots so after an hour or so I headed home.
Nothing in the way of hail to report but the rain totals are beaut! The ground is completely saturated (so is the floor of my ute lol).

I'll throw a couple small shots on here and add the link to the days events and the other numerous shots sometime today.

The first shot is of a small LP cell that came by around 6:43pm and started the afternoon delight off!(couldn't take a trick with this little cell and didn't manage one CG from the 8 or so that it produced? lol) The second and third shots are from the beast that rolled in at 8:45. I have heaps of great shots from this storm to share with you all!
Cheers and take care.
Shauno
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: David Brodrick on 26 October 2007, 04:39:46 AM
Beautiful lightning photos Shaun and nice shelf cloud James. I didn't take the camera out here at Narrabri as the high cloud doesn't make for good daytime photos.

However we are all very happy with local falls between 15-25mm, possibly more on Kaputar. Some areas missed out on the rain a fortnight ago and so have had nothing since the middle of August so, like much of NSW, we were desperate for it.

Several active thunderstorms rolled over yesterday and again this morning with moderate lightning. No significant wind, and no hail to report. This morning's storm has caused blackouts in a few places.

It looks like we might get a little more action before the day is though.
Regards,
  Dave
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: David Brodrick on 26 October 2007, 07:04:48 AM
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
for DAMAGING WIND and LARGE HAILSTONES
For people in the NORTH WEST SLOPES, NORTH WEST PLAINS and parts of the HUNTER, NORTHERN TABLELANDS, CENTRAL WEST SLOPES and CENTRAL WEST PLAINS Forecast Districts.

Issued at 12:49 pm Thursday, 25 October 2007.

Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds and large hailstones in the warning area over the next several hours. Locations which may be affected include Tamworth, Gunnedah, Moree, Narrabri, Walgett and Coonamble.

Wind gusts to 74km/hr have been observed at Moree and hail has been reported in Tamworh at the time of issue.
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Mike on 26 October 2007, 07:20:32 AM
wonderful strikes there Shauno - your'e getting your worth from these storms!  Pretty envious i can tell you!
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: James on 26 October 2007, 07:34:16 AM
Awesome shots Shaun! That last one in particular really stood out to me - The strong bolts in clear air give them such definition. Imagine being near them as they went off ... :)

Having yourself and David on the forums is great. It's nice being able to see what happened out there on storm days!
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Harley Pearman on 26 October 2007, 09:05:59 AM
Hello

Storms on the NW slopes look impressive from the satellite photos. However, I have been watching a cluster of storms 50 KM NW of Albury near the town of Jerilderie (2 pm) which have also been active. There are no severe thunderstorm alerts on them yet on radar they appear to reasonable cells.

I have also spotted a cluster of storm cells west of Goulburn and near Yass (2.30 pm). Amazingly I have been watching the lightning trackers - 10,266 flashes and strikes between 1 pm and 2 pm with 2,662 occurring between 1.45 pm and 2 pm giving a rate of 177 per minute for that 15 minute period. Much of this is occurring over the NW slopes although a reasonable number is occurring over SW NSW.

Even yesterday there were active storms for many hours in the same general region. While watching the lightning activity using the Strikestar Lightning Tracker, I noted one single lightning strike occurring NW of Windsor at 5.07 pm. Other than that I have not observed or noted any real thunderstorm activity in Sydney to date.

Harley Pearman

Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: David C on 26 October 2007, 09:15:01 AM
Great bunch of images there guys.

On the 'sounds of thunder' (might be a good dvd title :) ), I have always put that down, at least i  part,  to the acoustics of the terrain. Living up on a high point at Beacon Hill in Sydney for 7 years, I noticed that there was almost always a palpable shockwave with Cgs, even those that were not that close. It was as if you could feel it hit you but was brief, very discrete wave. Now I am in a valley of sorts and, well let me think back to the last time I heard thunder................., it definitely does not have the same impact.  Not science, just observations really.

Moree radar showing some nice cells at the moment, nothing terribly, organised, but heavy rain and plenty of lightning by the looks.





 
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Mike on 26 October 2007, 09:33:27 AM
No doubt there's some merit in your post David.  My area is kinda in a low area compared to the rest of the place - undulating i guess you could call it, but i get the same booms with window rattling shock waves if the strike is even a little down the road - would it depend on the wind direction perhaps to enhance it - probably a topic for another thread...


Mike
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: David Brodrick on 26 October 2007, 11:14:01 AM
Here's some photos of a large storm complex over the Pilliga forest south of Narrabri this afternoon. I left it a bit late and the anvil cloud had covered most of the sky so the conditions weren't good for photography.

As David C noted the storms weren't very organised but there was a substantial shelf cloud for a little while.

We received an email from someone who lives out in the forest who said she had 29mm in 30 minutes and some small hail from this storm.

I noticed some bushfire smoke earlier on so I hope the rain fell whereever the fire was and lightning didn't start too many new ones!


ED - just compressed the file sizes a bit. MB
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Shaun Galman on 26 October 2007, 02:00:58 PM
Hi guys,
Thanks to ALL for the great comments, very much appreciated!!! :)

James: Thanks for your kind words, it was great to have clear air bolts, just a shame it had rained in the morning and made all my high lookouts totally muddy and inaccsesable but we did realise those bolts were coming down in that area so it was probably for the best that I couldn't make it out there! Would've been nice to get out there as I would have been able to see the impacting area of the CG, but there will always be another time :)

Just posted the images here in sequence but still have to add the report which could take me a while to get through lol.

http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1416

We just missed out this afternoon, looks as if the Moree/Mungindi area is seeing some action at the mo, can't see any part of it on the horizon here unfortunately?

It's great to see such photogenic active storms here pre December/Janurary!
I hope and look forward to seeing a few shots from anyone out chasing the Eastern half today!

Nice structure in those shots David B. Great to see!
Cheers and take care guys.
Shauno 
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Jeff Brislane on 26 October 2007, 02:36:25 PM
There is a nice cell just headed past Towoomba with a squall line chasing it and with a consistently good enough radar echo to suggest to me that it's possibly/probably a supercell. I hope someone is getting photos of it's structure allthough it's most likely High Precipitation so probably just a mean shelf cloud etc.

I'm Looking forward to more storms here overnight and tomorrow. It's certainly nice to be getting such a change in conditions from dry and windy to humid and thundery. Actually it feels more like February than October now.

It's interesting how often we seem to get good storm producing systems here in the east around October 25th to 30th. Maybe it would be a good subject for another thread.

Jeff.
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Harley Pearman on 26 October 2007, 04:30:18 PM
Hello

At around 9.30 pm an active thunderstorm crossed NW Sydney bringing moderate to heavy bursts of rain, brief squally winds, a number of intra cloud lightning flashes and occasional cloud to ground lightning, especially where I was at Bella Vista.

This storm was unusual because it came in from the north tracking south. Later, looking at the radar images of it I noted that there was another nearby cell moving south but parallel to the coast.

I am not sure of rainfall totals but I am aware that Canterbury scored 20 mm of rain from it which seems to be the highest total that I could see to date.

The pair of storms seemed to be reasonably active. I viewed the Sydney Tri Star lightning tracker which showed 681 lightning flashes and strikes (various) with 192 CGs and 264 negative CGs. The rest were intra cloud flashes.

Harley Pearman
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: James on 26 October 2007, 04:39:03 PM
Some nice lightning active cells passed across Sydney this evening with some pretty strong strikes around the Hills region and further west/southwest. Once the rain cleared a little, I managed to get a few strikes on film towards the Blacktown area. Not a bad start to spring for Sydney - two storms so far with some pretty good lightning.

  (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-10-25-02jh_sm.thumbnail.JPG) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-10-25-02jh.jpg)

(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-10-25-01jh_sm.thumbnail.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/07-10-25-01jh.jpg)
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Dave Nelson on 27 October 2007, 12:55:31 AM
hi gang,

    a good storm over the western burbs last nite.  Cindy and I went out  and intercepted the south moving
storm at McGraths Hill (nth side of Rouse Hill)  about 9pm the rain was torrential making driving very difficult.
No hail encountered tho.
   As we were on our way up there we could see all the anvil flashes buried in the cloud above us. It wasnt till we
got to location did we get rain and many CG's.

My new DSLR Pentax K10D finally got its first storm workout with some good stills

(http://www.sydneystormcity.com/IMGP0234.JPG)

(http://www.sydneystormcity.com/IMGP0247.JPG)


cheers
Dave N

hey mods   I still cant figure out how to do inline images   hence my continued posting of links to my www site
help :)

Dave, do you mean posting images like this?

yes like this... thanks I see what you did in my post.    one day will find out how the other way is done too
with a thumbnail and is clicked on to produce a larger image  :)
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: David Brodrick on 27 October 2007, 01:17:53 AM
Hey Dave, Nice shots. I only figured inlines out yesterday. When you're writing your post click on additional options and then you can attach image files.
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Mike on 27 October 2007, 03:00:22 AM
There's such a variety of lightning and cloud structures that I'm finding myself coming back to the thread just to show folk here at work and my daughter at home the shots - a great fortnights worth of activity for your parts down there, is anyone able to supply some data on the storms that came through regarding the photos posted?  A sounding, GFS or similar?
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: David C on 27 October 2007, 04:00:51 AM
Very impressive flangfest in the southwest suburbs last night!

As for today, it looks pretty decent if we can get some heating from noon say into early afternoon which I think will be the time to be out there (although I see a small cell has already fired up between Bilpin on Lithgow and put out a strike on the tracker). Storm motion will obviously have a large southerly component.
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: scottme on 27 October 2007, 07:11:21 AM
A rather strong cell heading for Richmond AP as of 1pm from NNW. Lots of lightning around. This afternoon looks like it's going to get very interesting in Sydney.
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Mike on 27 October 2007, 08:27:32 AM
Noticed a right and left mover near brissy - Boondal is getting the left mover and they are huge cells.  Associated warnings out for both NSW and QLD.  Impressive radar signature for NSW that storm front moving towards the coastal areas.
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: David C on 27 October 2007, 09:51:14 AM
Took an extended lunch break today after seeing stuff firing up to the northwest of Sydney.
Very solid storm indeed, with high voltage CGs!! I was able to shoot some video from the building here at North Ryde.

I'll upload some stills if I can find my copy of premier somewhere around the place.

Still a squall line atm, although it is kind of crapping out over the NSW southern highlands right now.

Furthern north, cell tracking towards Byron Bay may have some rotation, bit hard to say for sure.
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Michael Bath on 27 October 2007, 11:15:20 AM
There was a tornado observed and videoed by Jimmy at Dunoon around 3.50pm (about 10ks N Lismore). He will report more soon !!!!!    We were in masses of golf ball sized hail earlier SW of Lismore.

MB

Edit - corrected location.
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Shaun Galman on 27 October 2007, 11:42:21 AM
Hi all,
A tornado? That sounds interesting? I hope Jimmy had his camera handy, it would be great to see! Did you manage any shots of the cell that produced the hail Michael?

(I think Lismore needs to be moved undercover or mounted on wheels so it can be towed away from the destructive hail path caused by all these storms?)

Nothing out this way today, just clear blue skies.
Still masses of cells firing along the eastern parts, plenty of chasing and photographing to be done!
Cheers guys and take care if out in the maelstrom.
Shauno

Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: David C on 27 October 2007, 11:42:33 AM
There was a tornado observed and videoed by Jimmy near Clunes at 3.50pm (about 5ks N of where I live). He will report more soon !!!!!    We were in masses of golf ball sized hail earlier SW of Lismore.

MB

Hi Michael, yes he has said there was debris, condesnation funnel to the ground the whole works -- and he was close. Apparently some building including a church suffered damage.
Watch channel 9 news as the footage should go to air this evening.



Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Harley Pearman on 27 October 2007, 11:46:33 AM
Hello

Today I had an RDO. I jumped into the car at 11 am and heading towards Windsor, I noted that a large northern storm cell was moving south east. I also noted that the storm cell was beginning to weaken. Further, another smaller storm was developing to the south. I decided to go to Windsor and watch that southern storm develop.

This storm produced several new updraft towers which I photographed. The northern storm weakened further but a new pulse and updraft tower developed on it's southern side. This storm cell was small but produced a rain shaft and some cloud to ground lightning before weakening.

The southern storm consolidated further and after lunch the storm broke. I filmed and photographed a low shelf cloud on its northern side and some cloud to ground lightning.

I experience a burst of moderate to heavy rain, a significant amount of thunder and sustained downdrafts (Outflow winds) at my location. There was no hail.

While the storm was overhead, I watched two new storm cells develop to the east over Sydney. One of these developed over the Epping / Hornsby area and I just made it back into Sydney in time to capture some of its structure on its western side. This storm quickly consolidated, produced some great cloud to ground lightning but became outflow dominant.

A shelf cloud detached itself from the western side of the storm that was blown westwards before disintergrating apart. This storm did not come in from the NW as stated by the media.

It seems that this storm as well as another southern cell developed from the outflow of the earlier storms I had at Windsor. I state this because I experience sustained but cold downdrafts where I was and as this storm was abating and weakening, the Sydney storms were developing as new cells.

I have made an attempt to attach a picture but not sure If I have done it correctly.


Harley Pearman
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Jason(pato) on 27 October 2007, 12:38:30 PM
Hi all,

I was watching the storm Michael reported on for some time on the radar.Initially it was taking a SE course however just outside Casino it turned left. It looked as if it would head towards Lismore so I ducked out to a similar vantage point where Michael got those shots from the Oct 9 Lismore hailstorm. Inflow was quite strong and a large RFB persisted for quite some time. Some rotation was observed with some suspicious lowerings. Lightning and thunder was fairly infrequent though i did experience some close rumbles. This is my first real attempt at a report of events so feel free to correct or offer advice. I have photos but i am having trouble trying to put more than one photo on the attachment. Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers Jason
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Mike on 27 October 2007, 01:07:32 PM
Hi there Pato, your reports are fine, keep them coming. 

 With the photos go down to the 'additonal options'  just below the post space and click that, there you'll see the 'browse' and click that and that will take you to your computer's files, locate your photos, right click 'select' on your photo and there you go!  If you want to add more photos, simply click on 'more attachments' and go through the same process again.  look forward to your pics!

Mike
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Mike on 27 October 2007, 01:19:45 PM
Lets hope that no-one was injured during that tornado, Jimmy should provide some excellent coverage if he was in the area.  This thread will go berserk with photos I'm sure.  Would appreciate the Met obs when everyone settles down!!!
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: enak_12 on 27 October 2007, 01:28:31 PM
I saw some of the footage on NBN news earlier could see a debris cloud swirling under a funnel. Had a nicely structured storm in Coffs today looked like it may have even been supercellular for while. I'll put some pics up later for the more experienced people to judge on. It looked quite mean for a while before dying on top of Coffs.
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Jason(pato) on 27 October 2007, 01:54:15 PM
Hi,

Will try and post pics now. Hope that this works this time.
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Mike on 27 October 2007, 03:37:34 PM
Well done.  I'm only presuming but the dew point level must have been up by the look of the condensation under the main cloud base.  Did you encounter any lightning during the photographing of these shots?
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Jason(pato) on 27 October 2007, 04:02:16 PM
Yeah Mike there was lightning around, however it was quite sporadic. Most of the CG's that I saw came from the left hand side of the photo as you look at it. I must say though we got moderate to heavy rain with some pea sized hail for about 30-45mins. On a by note there seems to be conflicting reports of where that tornado occured. Michael has informed us it was at Clunes(N of Lismore 12-15km) however the news reports it as being at Dunoon(NNW of Lismore 10km).  I wonder if its just a mixup or if it is possible that they are two separate reports. I'm sure Jimmy or Michael will clear this up. By the way I think that the DP was around the 16-18c mark.
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Michael Bath on 27 October 2007, 04:09:56 PM
The tornado was definitely at Dunoon, did not hear the full information earlier.   Jimmy's report and video clip to come in a min.   Have spent some time doing lots of video stills which we'll put up tomorrow.

MB
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Jimmy Deguara on 27 October 2007, 04:11:56 PM
Hi all,

To say that I am generally tired is an understatement! To say that I have adrenalin - you are correct. It was meant to be a leisurely chase with Michael Bath in the Northern Rivers and we met up near Casino. The storm that was heading towards Casino showed supercell characteristics. It was a nice structure and continued to maintain this structure for quite a while. I was impressed with the low level inflow and shear dynamics but the cold outflow won out.

We got hailed on about 10 km ESE of Casino and then somehow lost each other though Michael had to go back and do some more work. The storm produced hailstones to about golf ball sized but not measured but I trust our judgement and the noise from hits on the roof. The hail at one stage was falling profusely.

I hung around Lismore and waited for the storm to come through. Then I noticed, and it was confirmed by Michael another updraft region (Michael tells me at this point there was a blackout and he could not do work at the time).

I continued along to this region chasing virtually blind because I knew little of the road network and the scale of the map did not show this region at all. Then I saw a sign to Nimbin which was more like the general direction I wanted to be in. Basically I was on a head on collision with the northern part of the new cell. It did not notice anything peculiar and I thought if anything hail would most likely have been less intense if anything. I turned this corner at Dunoon and this feature resembling a funnel caught my eye. Even on the video, I comment about the funnel. Then I saw the intense and strong debris cloud and condensation rapidly changing form. This was a tornado and I got out of the vehicle. But then I thought the tornado is coming my way. Suddenly the concept of chasing in Australia turned quickly to tactical chasing of a tornado - US style!

Changing position to the intersection turned out to be a wise move as the tornado was clearly visible for quite some time. From outside the vehicle this strong tornado became larger and debris filled. One piece of this debris landed in the electricity substation and to my astonishment it exploded! I could not believe what I had witnessed. This tornado eventually shows multi-vortex behaviour although I was so taken away by the event I had not noticed. I wanted to contact the Bureau or Michael but simply could not pick the phone without interfering with footage. Then during my repositioning I was able to finally get a call through.

The tornado was over a built up region of the village and the road ahead was blocked. The large tornado had done damage on the southern outskirts of Dunoon. The tornado was still very dynamic but thankfully had moved out of town into a field to the northeast or east. All this time, I was basically in the hook of the circulation with intermittent bursts of rain - no hail.

Repositioning again was the last chance to observe from a different perspective given the road was blocked. I caught the final seconds of the tornado through from the south but when I settled into a better location, I could no longer see it. The tornado's fury was over. The tornado in all must have lasted about 15 minutes.

I made a move to get into better mobile coverage and head back to Lismore but I turned around to survey the damage. It seems the tornado damage may have reached EF-1 in my estimation. The local church eastern and southern walls (later we noticed the northern wall) were caved into the church so luckily nobody was inside. A few other buildings sustained minor damage such as a roof completely removed and also the power lines were downed. Some of the residents were in shock.

At this point I headed back to Lismore where contact was made to TV stations. Even as I type, it is still sinking in how one afternoon can change dramatically. The what-ifs have been flowing through. The rest is history.

Check this spectacular clip out (13mb):

Dunoon Tornado Substation Explosion (http://australiasevereweather.com/video/movies/2007/dunoon_tornado_substation_explosion.wmv)

(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/dunoon_tornado01.jpg)

(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/dunoon_tornado02.jpg)

(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/dunoon_tornado03.jpg)

(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/dunoon_tornado04.jpg)

(http://australiasevereweather.com/temp/forum/photos/dunoon_tornado05.jpg)


Regards,

Jimmy Deguara
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Mike on 27 October 2007, 04:24:11 PM
Real-time footage!  Glad you weren't in any 'immediate' danger, Jimmy.  Saw the two vortice funnels on the video footage briefly also.  Did BoM give you any comments on what you reported when you were able?  I'm sure the footage will be in hot demand considering the debris damaging the substation.

Mike
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Paul Graham on 27 October 2007, 04:24:22 PM
Amazing footage and report, Jimmy!  I don't know how you do it!  I'm looking forward to reading more about this event and the dynamics of this storm.
-Paul
Title: RE: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: James on 27 October 2007, 04:47:55 PM
Brilliant Stuff JD!!! The video footage you have is simply amazing. How strong was the inflow with that storm? I bet you would have never thought you were going to see what you did today!
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Brad Hannon on 27 October 2007, 05:50:31 PM
Simply awesome footage :)  Multiple-vortex, debris, howling winds, just fantastic.  Great to see all your hard work pay off Jimmy, and it's not even November yet!  Nothing meteorological to report down here in Melbourne as usual :(
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Steven on 27 October 2007, 06:01:09 PM
Well at least your safe, I saw the footage on the news, great stuff!!! I would never want to go near one of those. Congratulations Jimmy and Michael.
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Jimmy Deguara on 27 October 2007, 07:01:53 PM
Hi guys,

Definitely did not wake up and thought I would see this - what an incredible situation to find myself in.

Anyway, I will report more on things tomorrow.

Kind regards,

Jimmy Deguara
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Geoff Thurtell on 27 October 2007, 07:11:11 PM
Hi Jimmy,
Talk about being in the right place at the right time!! What an amazing sight! As Paul said, it will be interesting to see an analysis of the meteorological set up for this storm. When the roofing iron hit the sub-station, it appeared that you were just outside the debris cloud. The multiple-vortice stage was quite interesting. The people of Dunoon (and no doubt you, Jimmy!) will remember this event for a long time.

Regards,

Geoff
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: nzstorm on 27 October 2007, 10:39:11 PM

Great to see a multivortex tornado filmed in Australia. Well done on the video Jimmy.
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Jason(pato) on 28 October 2007, 12:33:36 AM
Hi Jimmy,

Great footage you got there. As you have said I bet a tornado was the last thing you would have expected to see. Whilst observing the storm in my photos i did notice significant rotation, especially near the leading edge of the lowest part of the cloud in those photos. Seems as though Lismore and surrounds has become a hotspot for violent storms lately. I look forward to reading more on this and about the dynamics which contributed to this amazing event.

Cheers Jason
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Jeff Brislane on 28 October 2007, 03:10:01 AM
Jimmy,

That's an awesome tornado! What height do you think the funnel was to the cloud base or the cloud base from the ground? And what phase re;classic,wet classic, hp, do you think the storm was in at the time, (it looks wet classic to me)? Mate I was watching this storm on the radar and it was showing nice left moving behaviour but I wasn't overly impressed by the strength of it's radar signiture at times. After Lismore it did show intensification and I have to say I was surprised to hear it had tornadoed.

Jeff.

Btw, you were very close to the tornado circulation! And I love the twin funnels that condense and join up rapidly, what a dynamic and powerfull funnel!
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Rodney Wallbridge on 28 October 2007, 03:16:10 AM
Hi all, well what a suprise re Tornado in the area yesterday well done Jimmy!!!!!!. I managed to photograph the storm which went through Lismore while at work and later converged with another north of town according to radar.
        The storm had magnificent inflow charateristics as it was passing Lismore.Also noted a very healthy Flanking line stretching away to the Nw.here are a few pics Go  NRTH NSW!!!!
 (http://www.australiasevereweather.com/rodney/20071026rwa.jpg)
 (http://www.australiasevereweather.com/rodney/20071026rwb.jpg)
 (http://www.australiasevereweather.com/rodney/20071026rwc.jpg)  (http://www.australiasevereweather.com/rodney/20071026rwd.jpg)
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: nmoir on 28 October 2007, 03:17:57 AM
well done jimmy , i cant think of another chaser who more deserved nailing an australian tornado , awesome footage.

i bags the next one.

nick moir
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: vrondes on 28 October 2007, 04:16:24 AM
It could not have been better scripted, the passion of your life and your knowledge of severe weather equals Jimmy capturing breathtaking images of a tornado in this country. Well deserved and congratulations.
In relation to yesterday's squall line across Sydney , as David mentioned, it certainly packed a punch , the new Aldi store at Wentworhtville provided a vantage point to witness a decent shelf cloud , around 2.15 pm, which  revealed a hint of greenage before the outflow engulfed the area accompanied by some intense cg's. Pea size hail lasted for a few minutes as the storm intensified over Parramatta causing localised flash flooding around Parramatta golf course which I had to get through on the way to picking up the kids  from school. Looking forward to seeing Dave's video footage as well .  Took a couple of images on the digicam  which I can try and post later. Cheers, Con.



Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: David Brodrick on 28 October 2007, 04:56:10 AM
Awesome stuff Jimmy. It's funny to see some media reports are already calling it a "mini-tornado" as per usual.

I can see the power substation on google maps and there is a house directly behind the trees in the tornado's path. It's very lucky that nobody in Dunoon was injured.
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: leo76 on 28 October 2007, 05:07:02 AM
Hi all, newbie here.

For some strange reason I took my camera with me on the school run when I took a couple of shots leaving Goonellabah, but for a first attempt I am pretty happy.

Ed:  adjusted your comment re your photos - all photos are valued on this forum and you've done well!
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Gambit on 28 October 2007, 06:22:09 AM
Hi All,

I am really glad to see that someone got some footage of the tornado out at Dunoon. and from what I have read no one is more deserving. Congratulations Jimmy.

Kudos also goes out to all the others who have posted some great still of the approaching storm, I was unfortunately at work  :-[

Great work and keep it all coming!

Cheers

Mat
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Mike on 28 October 2007, 06:31:18 AM
Hi Leo, that top photo shows some great structure - anvil and all - is that a lightning strike you captured by chance in the bottom righthand corner or is that an antenna from the roof of the house - if it's lightning i think you've taken it at the right time!! 

Mike
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: leo76 on 28 October 2007, 06:48:12 AM
Hi Mike

Unfortunately, no it is not a lightning strike, its the toilet vent pipe from the house. Im sure they get some thunder out of it though.....

Literally after I took that shot, there was a CG from the cloud above the anvils. I was mortified I missed it.
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Mike on 28 October 2007, 06:57:17 AM
LOL!  Oh dear, my eyes really are failing me.  Excellent reply and I duly stand educated!  If you have any comments to make on the storm and what you saw it would be of interest to post.

Mike

Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Michael Bath on 28 October 2007, 08:17:37 AM
Jimmy and I spent a couple of hours sussing out the damage at Dunoon this morning. The village was very hectic with repair crews from the SES, fire brigades and Country Energy - along with many people having a look at the mess the tornado caused.

The two maps give you an overview of where Dunoon is in relation to Lismore, while the other is our assessment of the actual tornado track, and roughly its damage width.

(http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/dunoon_tornado_location_map1.png)

(http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/dunoon_tornado_location_map2.png)

(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1027mb08.jpg)

(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1027mb15.jpg)

(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1027mb27.jpg)

(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1027mb57.jpg)

(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1027mb59.jpg)

(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1027mb62.jpg)

I've uploaded a gallery of tornado damage photos:

http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/mb20071027.html

Michael


Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Geoff Thurtell on 28 October 2007, 08:53:31 AM
My goodness! When you said the church walls had been damaged I imagined a little weatherboard church. This one has substantial double brick walls! It appears that the windows may not have been able to withstand the "suck" and took large sections of the walls with them.

A couple of other observations (from here in my living room, of course!):
1. Some of the trees near the weatherboard house on The Channon Road show twisted tops.
2. The tornado appears to have taken a sharp left turn as it strengthened. I wonder if this is reflected in the storm motion as a whole?
3.  It appears that the church may have been in the path of the tornado just after the multiple-vortices re-combined into one funnel. Is it possible that when a tornado goes through a multiple vortex stage, it may be an indication of intensification of the tornado?

An interesting severe weather event and I am sure much can be learnt from it because Jimmy was there on the spot!

Regards,

Geoff
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Michael Bath on 28 October 2007, 10:09:38 AM
Some weather data for the Dunoon Tornado event 26th October 2007

Jimmy first start filming the tornado at 3.45pm. The substation explosion occurred at 3.50pm, multivortex was 3.51pm. The last video of the tornado was 4pm. Elapsed time 15 minutes, and this was only the track once it was heading almost north - none of the ENE heading part of the path.


Interactive radar loop: Grafton 128km (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/radar/20071026/grafton128.htm)


(http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/thumbs/2007102600brisbane.png) (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/soundings/2007102600brisbane.png) Brisbane 00z


(http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606.png)


Links to GFS Analysis: Friday 26/10/2007 06z

Instability: CAPE (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606cape.png) / Lifted Index (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606li.png)

Relative Humidity: 0300 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606rh0300.png) / 0500 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606rh0500.png) / 0600 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606rh0600.png) / 0700 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606rh0700.png) / 0850 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606rh0850.png) / 1000 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606rh1000.png)

Temperature: 0300 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606tmp0300.png) / 0500 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606tmp0500.png) / 0700 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606tmp0700.png) /  0850 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606tmp0850.png) / 1000 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606tmp1000.png)

Winds (knots): 0200 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606wind0200.png) / 0300 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606wind0300.png) / 0500 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606wind0500.png) / 0600 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606wind0600.png) / 0700 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606wind0700.png) / 0850 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606wind0850.png) / 0925 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606wind0925.png) / 1000 (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2007/maps/2007102606wind1000.png)

MB

Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: larnie on 28 October 2007, 12:07:06 PM
Thank you for sharing that wonderful footage with us. It gave me the shivers watching it. I have been coming and going from this site for some time but most of the time only had a dial up connection which was frustrating to say the least. The photography and contributors now is wonderful. I love storms - always have but from a safe distance. To those - Jimmy, Michael and others I admire your nerve and letting us not-so-brave see it up close from the safety of our homes.
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Steven on 28 October 2007, 12:45:53 PM
I watched that video over 20 times last night, it was in one word "awesome" and what caught me by surprise was how a piece of roofing iron was able to explode a power substation!! My best guess was that this was an F1 tornado judging by the intensity, however even F1's do quite a bit of damage. Well done Jimmy! See people, we do get twisters here!!! *shudders*
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Jeff Brislane on 28 October 2007, 12:51:04 PM
That radar is interesting. How many times have we seen intense echoes with pendant shape present but no tornadoes reported and yet this time there is a pendant present with a weakish outflow echo but it produces an F1 tornado from a meso!

Jeff.
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Michael Bath on 28 October 2007, 01:24:23 PM
Here is the clip taken by a resident of Modanville to the south of Dunoon

Article (http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=68547)  /  Dunoon Tornado video footage (http://ninemsn.video.msn.com/v/en-au/v.htm?f=39&g=4E67761A-8828-410F-BA05-BA5672525754&p=aunews_aunationalninenews&t=s29&mediaid=111593) / Another video clip link (http://video.netshow.ninemsn.com.au/video/000/111/593/111593.wmv)

That is awesome !

MB

Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Harley Pearman on 28 October 2007, 01:46:12 PM
Hello

Congratulations to Jimmy in getting and filming the tornado. I saw the  footage on the news and the debris hitting the electricity sub station is awesome.

The media called it a "mini tornado" which is incorrect. It also proves that we do get tornadoes here although much less frequent and intensity than those in the USA.

Harley Pearman
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Mike on 28 October 2007, 02:13:22 PM
Ya have to love the mother on the video - 'I know it's a hurricane, i'm filming it!'  Top footage!
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: enak_12 on 28 October 2007, 02:22:34 PM
Absolutely fantastic stuff guys! I knew it one day and Australian chaser would have to score a tornado so close like this and no surprises it was Jimmy. Well here are some pics of the Coffs storm. At the peak of the storm I had to do a driving test for my license and in my excitement of watching the storm and then rushing off for the test I forgot my damn license ah! I had to cancel my test. Please excuse all the frustrating trees and hills in these pics this is why I need my license. Sawtell headland would have had a great view of this storm but I couldn't head down there, wish it could of happened one day later but oh well. These are my pics from the day:

(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/enak12/October%2026%202007/Untitled_Panorama2copy.jpg)

(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/enak12/October%2026%202007/5.jpg)

(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/enak12/October%2026%202007/IMG_0719copy.jpg)

(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/enak12/October%2026%202007/3.jpg)

(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/enak12/October%2026%202007/1.jpg)

(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/enak12/October%2026%202007/IMG_0796.jpg)

(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/enak12/October%2026%202007/IMG_0808.jpg)

(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/enak12/October%2026%202007/IMG_0832.jpg) 
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Jimmy Deguara on 28 October 2007, 02:27:18 PM
Fanstastic we had that large storm possibly another supercell on here as well. Michael and I were wandering what it may have been doing and what it looked like when it turned left. Great stuff.

Any idea of the damage it may have caused in the region it affected?

What shows in both pictures are deep inflow bands/beavertail.

In regards to the Ninemsn footage of the second source of the tornado is awesome high contrast. WOW! Well done to the lady who captured it! This tornado has gone for quite some distance.

Kind regards,

Jimmy Deguara
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Michael Bath on 28 October 2007, 05:25:05 PM
Have got all the video stills online for Jimmy's tornado footage:

http://australiasevereweather.com/video/stills/2007/20071026.html
http://australiasevereweather.com/video/stills/2007/2007102602.html
http://australiasevereweather.com/video/stills/2007/2007102603.html
http://australiasevereweather.com/video/stills/2007/2007102604.html

MB
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Reed Timmer on 28 October 2007, 11:29:57 PM
AMAZING pictures and videos Jimmy!

Definitely one of the best up-close videos I've ever seen...let alone from Australia!

I wish I could have been there with you.

Textbook left turn with that supercell on radar.

Congrats,
Reed
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Michael Bath on 29 October 2007, 04:28:56 AM
Finally had a chance to upload some photos of the supercell thunderstorm that went on to produce the tornado at Dunoon. Was out at Casino initially watching the early development and met up with Jimmy. This pic at 12.49pm:

(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1026mb009.jpg)

1.16pm was about the time the cell started to organise, it (and another cell to its south) had been fairly low topped prior to this.

(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1026mb021.jpg)

1.48pm in Casino

(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1026mb038.jpg)

2.05pm about 5ks ESE of Casino

(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1026mb047.jpg)

2.28pm in the hail core at Tatham (southwest of Lismore) - stones were up to 4cm but mostly 2 to 3cm diameter. After this I had to head home for work.  Drove through torrential rain and hail for what seemed like ages, only coming out of the rain close to home at McLeans Ridges.

(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1026mb066.jpg)

This is the view of the intensifying storm closing in on Dunoon at 3.30pm. Heavy rain soon blocked my view. The thunder was constant for at least 40 minutes.

(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1026mb077.jpg)

4pm looking at the back end of the tornadic supercell. The Dunoon tornado was just about to dissipate.

(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/1026mb080.jpg)

The full gallery of my photos for 26th October can be found here:

http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2007/mb20071026.html

MB


Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: James on 29 October 2007, 05:35:25 AM
Great photos there Michael. The last shot really grabbed my attention. Is that cloud like feature adjoining the rain curtain the actual tornado (can only see the top half)?
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Shaun Galman on 29 October 2007, 06:45:55 AM
Hi guys,
WELL DONE JIMMY AND MICHAEL!!!
I saw the footage on the news last night and was totally stunned! The shot of the sheet iron going into the sub-station is one for the vault! The pictures show it in much better detail, particularly the shot of the house that has been unfortunately semi-detatched? The shots of the supercell are spectacular also!
Was there much in the way of significant rotation with this supercell, or more to the point, could you notice any while out there in it? 
From the pictures the characteristics of that severe cell look almost textbook!

This has indeed been an amazing start to the storm season!
Great job by all who managed shots of the supercell! (we are all jealous out here) :)

I hope theres a supercell/tornado DVD in the making soon guys!
Take care.
Shauno
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: stewart on 29 October 2007, 01:12:42 PM
Great job mike and jimmy ;D
i could not get any pics as i had other thing i needed to do ::), but yeah good footage of thew tornado, the storm made the news also the paper, as shaun said a great start to the storm season ;D

CHEERS ;D
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: David Brodrick on 29 October 2007, 01:22:26 PM
Did the BOM update their warning to include the tornado warning after you rang it in Jimmy?
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Michael Thompson on 29 October 2007, 02:57:20 PM
Hi Michael B

Nice set of pictures there. I would guess that the last one shows a decent hail shaft, possibly a downburst with high hail content.

You have a few good days lined up for that area this week! ( mind you the 3200 CAPE progged for Scone next Sunday has got to be too good to be true )

and finally congratulations Jimmy, of course I am jealous, but realistically you have put the hard miles, so it was deserved.
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Reed Timmer on 30 October 2007, 12:28:42 AM
Great photos Mike.

I love how the tail cloud is oriented from left to right.  Mirror image of the NH.

It looks like the storms may be rather low-topped.  Was this true? 

Based on the sounding it appears the EL was below 30,000 feet, but this may not have been coincident with peak heating.

Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Michael Bath on 30 October 2007, 03:34:29 AM
James - I'm not sure what feature you are referring to, though I could not see the tornado at any stage. Locally heavy rain ruined what would have been a view of it. The last photo is the rear flank of the storm with heavy rain and hail south of the tornado.

Shauno - Jimmy was not able to see any base rotation prior to seeing the tornado due to all the damn trees in that area. However - have a look at the other video clip by the local resident at Modanville and you can see more of the base features.

Reed - the storm tops were peaking about 30,000 feet during the initial thunderstorm development, but it soon pushed much higher. The Brisbane sounding is about 200km north of the event and a few hours prior. GFS had warmer upper temps in Southeast QLD compared to Northeast NSW where the Dunoon tornado occurred.   Storm tops I saw mid to late afternoon would have been about 40,000 feet.

Regards, Michael

Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Richary on 30 October 2007, 01:38:48 PM
Excellent work people. I was in the process of moving from Adelaide to Sydney (via Sydney and Coffs Harbour then back). I saw the tornado footage on Prime News at Lake Macquarie on the Friday night, then Jimmy's story in the Sun Herald yesterday.

I had just arrived at Ermington to sign the lease on the new house with the storm fast approaching with lots of CGs. Then I got to the new house at Rydalmere and the heavens opened. Stopped long enough to make out the driveway and drove into the carport. Lots of close CGs here and some light hail. Unluckily the few shots the camera took didn't capture anything, I have determined that in 7mp in won't continuous shoot and in 5mp it will only do 2 in a row. Have to try 3mp and see if it cooperates more. The older Fuji X700 may do better, but it is in a removal truck and won't arrive for a few days. Shame, there were some spectacular hits nearby.

Oh well, have moved to Sydney and looking forward to a lot more storms!
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: James on 30 October 2007, 04:19:26 PM
No worries Michael. I only had a quick glance at the photo and wasn't sure if there was cloud like structure on the top middle of the precip. That dark section is certainly the heaviest precip/hail curtain I have seen in some time!
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: David C on 31 October 2007, 06:55:33 AM
Last night I watched the footage with Jimmy and Paul, and I have to say, the stuff available online tells only part of the story. This was a quite long-lived, at times large tornado, and had very rapid motion in the condensation funnel and the inner debris cloud. The extent to which it grew in size in a short space of time was remarkable. We'll probably see an F-rating of 1 or 2, depending on the structural aspects of the few buildings that were damaged, but there is no doubting that this was a strong tornado.

As for Sydney (26th Oct), well, the cold pool drifted virtually right over us and here we lacked sufficient mid-level winds for more sustained updrafts. I think deep inflow was there and some nice storms did organize.

I planned on an extended lunch break and with my work being minutes away from the M2, that was the obvious route to go west. Basically sat and watched radar periodically, and darted out as a weak cluster/brokem line of storms was tracking SE towards the outer NW metro area. As I pulled off Old Windsor road I could see that the base was dark, although typical in appearance of disorganized activity; competing updrafts collapsing and their outflow generating new cells, on the sthn flank in this case. Nice CGs at the time. No point going on for this garbage, so I figured I would shoot some brief video of the lightning from a vantage along Jimmy’s street, just in case he could not chase (we have a bit if a running joke re schofields and storms – little did I know what he would experience some 90 minutes later!).

What did interest me was that there appeared to be some solid convergence, a focused line of convective updraft bases. These remained rain free for some time and became substantial. There southern ½ of the metro area and beyond was free of clutter and getting some good insolation. I new things would get interesting at this point as dark menacing bases grew larger in size.

It wasn’t long before the first CGs rained down, powerful strobing bolts all around as I headed south along Windsor road to the M2.

(http://www.agrigen.com.au/David/20071026_03.jpg)

Along the convective line, a dominant updraft, I would guess somewhere over the hills district, appeared to clear precip out on either side. I knew that I had to head back east and could only think of a 4th floor balcony at work providing the only decent N to NW view. All this time I was heading east on the M2 I could see glimpses of interesting base structure through the mirror. Would it crap out before I got a look? Fortunately not.

The next sequence of images are looking WNW from the building at the north flank of intense radar echos. (location marker on google map below, black arrow direction I am pointing camcorder).

(http://www.agrigen.com.au/David/20071026_06.jpg)

I was pretty much leaning over the balcony to try and get this angle in, showing clearly the rain free region that persisted and the intense core to the north. If only we had better flow aloft!!

(http://www.agrigen.com.au/David/20071026_07.jpg)

The CG lightning was frequent and strobed.
(http://www.agrigen.com.au/David/20071026_08.jpg)

(http://www.agrigen.com.au/David/20071026_09.jpg)
(http://www.agrigen.com.au/David/20071026_13.jpg)
(http://www.agrigen.com.au/David/20071026_15.jpg)

There was a good NE infeed at cloud base

(http://www.agrigen.com.au/David/20071026_17.jpg)

I darted across the other side of the building for a view form the southward facing balcony. New bases developing, more dilution of convective energy and more lighting. As the storm moved over North Ryde, there was heavy rain and very frequent lightning and gunshot thunder.

(http://www.agrigen.com.au/David/location.gif)
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Michael Bath on 31 October 2007, 10:07:57 AM
Another video of the tornado is available here taken by Tim Hollis at Modanville

http://www.abc.net.au/northcoast/stories/s2075207.htm

Sure shows how big the tornado got !
MB


Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Gambit on 31 October 2007, 03:20:37 PM
Scary stuff... I had no idea that it was that big.
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: striker92 on 02 November 2007, 05:19:58 PM
Wow seeing this new footage it actually shows the size of the tornado, despite what the media are saying this is anything but a mini tornado. Its amazing an F1 strength tornado could actually grow this big, develop twin vortexes and a pronounced wedge shape. If anyone deserved to capture the footage it was jimmy well done mate! Under the circumstances i think that mother did a great job to, nice low base, good rotation and a nasty beast of a storm and wallah! Tornado for the masses!
the other amazing thing about this particular tornado was its longevity, it sure took a while to make its mind up whetherto make contact but when it did it was on for young and old, rarely do we experience such tornadoes in australia. Oh and BTW MB, jimmy you guys have copped way to much hail to the headthat was intense and you were so close, someone mentioned before you were only juuuust out of the debris field, ill leave that up to you the pictures make me shiver as it is..........
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Jimmy Deguara on 25 November 2007, 01:35:07 PM
Hi,

I am not sure whether it has already been posted, but here is another video of the Dunoon tornado taken from the northwestern perspective:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=atL0UeMVqEM

Regards,

Jimmy Deguara
Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Michael Bath on 26 November 2007, 05:18:47 AM
Wow - nice to see some storm scale rotation and structure in that clip. The same guy has posted some Dunoon tornado damage pics put into a video :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU0knMfbVs8

MB

Title: Re: NSW / S QLD Rain/Storms (incl Dunoon Tornado) 24 - 26 Oct 2007
Post by: Jimmy Deguara on 26 November 2007, 02:37:17 PM
And you guessed it - another video from a different perspective!

http://www.buscatube.com/play/youtube/dunoon/tag1/VCqnUQZXl7I/dunoon-storm-26-10-2007/

This highlights to me that we really are not that isolated in seeing tornadoes given the technology that now exists!

Regards,

Jimmy Deguara