Storm Australian Severe Weather Forum
Severe Weather Discussion => Australian Severe Storms, Weather Events and Storm Chasing => Topic started by: nmoir on 30 September 2008, 12:00:19 PM
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GFS has some CAPE sitting in the central tablelands or the Weather co predict is the Hunter on thursday , but i wonder if the moisture will be wiped out like the last couple of times , at the surface it seemed to be a northerly and has some ok dewpoints but i dont see anything stopping those storm killing north westerlies.
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I'm thinking that it's going to be a lot less spectacular than GFS is suggesting at this stage Nick, but would be happy to have been proven wrong come Friday morning. Clearly GFS has almost no handle on the boundary layer moisture in recent times eg cf. 18-20C dewpoints Friday versus LAPS progged 10C dewpoints which looks more realistic given the synoptic situation. Based on form, I know where my money is. High-based storms at best for Friday; maybe some ok lightning.
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Not that i've been able to follow the model progression very much over the last few days but I think it seems to be slowing down the front. Current forecast for Sydney for Friday is for a late shower/storm but I'm more interested in Saturday late morning/early afternoon as the southerly comes up the coast and the upper levels are starting to get more interesting. Timing is a massive factor here but if it can hold off until then, I'd think Sydney could get a nice early afternoon surprise on Saturday. Wouldn't be the first time I've seen something like this.
Macca
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Hi guys,
It'd be nice to be able to position a chase base around Canberra for the next few days! It would give nice access up and down the Hume and across to the coast! It's great to have the convection forecast up and running on WZ once again. It makes it quick and easy to correlate a few factors.
Might be worth leaving this thread open for Sunday or even Monday given things still might hold out for the Eastern coast as the system moves across the state through the weekend.
I hope you guys get another possible supercell chance! Lets hope the jet stream that's currently sitting in QLD gets a chance to move a little further South! (I haven't had time to check the charts for the weekend as yet)
A real touch of summer here today with temps pushing 36ºc but the Northerly winds are fairly dry.
Take care if chasing tomorrow! :D
Shauno
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The models are continuing to find it hard to agree with systems with GFS playing silly buggers. Today there is a general thunderstorm outlook but I doubt worth much of a drive. This is noth the scenario one would have hoped for. With double de-merit points in NSW, definitely best to remain home unless a supercell attracts you.
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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Hi guys,
Jimmy: what seems to be going on with GFS do you know at all? I've noticed a few complaints and obvious issues in the recent storm threads here.
We had a rather nice storm sitting to our SW last night. We had a moist NE wind inflow that kept the storm sustained and highly active for just over 3hrs! I noticed a lot of bright flashing while out walking at 8pm and it continued until I walked home again at 10:30pm. Seemed to be very active with a good large strike (lighting the whole sky) every 3seconds or so with smaller flashes in between. Once I reached the top of the hill just up the street from home I could see towering structure being nicely illuminated orange-ish due to the distance of the storm, which I would estimate at 100k's or so. Temps were still 25ºc at 10:35pm! At a guess I would have positioned the storm somewhere out between Cumborah (to our West) and Walgett. I saw the last flashes at 11:15pm just before I hit the hay.
If this is any indication of the lightning activity to come with this system (given conditions are similar tonight) it shouldn't disappoint!
Currently sitting at 35ºc here and it does feel a little humid. Winds are only very light if any at all so I can't give an accurate direction.
Take care,
Shauno
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Shauno,
My complaints are merely realting to the moisture overestimation. And it is a significant difference. Moisture according to the GFS was anticipated to be 16 to 18C whereas realistically it was maximum13 to 14C. The higher dew points explains the high CAPE and very significant Surface Lifted Index reading.
We'll see how GFS handles further into the season.
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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You've got to love the Dorrigo Plateau for storms. When no forecast or model thinks it's a chance, it always throws up something. Storms have formed near Point Lookout and Ebor.
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And in the past hour, storms have erupted out west with plentiful lightning. Hopefully the storms will survive for a lightning show nearer Sydney.
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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Starting to fire up. Fingers crossed.
Nice looking cell on the radar to the NE of Armidale as well.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
for DAMAGING WIND
For people in parts of the CENTRAL TABLELANDS, SOUTHERN TABLELANDS, CENTRAL WEST SLOPES, CENTRAL WEST PLAINS, SOUTH WEST SLOPES, RIVERINA, UPPER WESTERN and LOWER WESTERN Forecast Districts.
Issued at 3:02 pm Friday, 3 October 2008.
Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds in the warning area over the next several hours. Locations which may be affected include Parkes, Griffith, Tibooburra, Cobar, White Cliffs and Ivanhoe.
A wind gust of 91 kph has been recorded at Moomba in South Australia, from a thunderstorm in a similar environment to those in NSW.
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Yep GFS is awful at modelling daytime boundary layer conditions.
It's intriguing given that the model initial conditions should be well constrained by surface and satellite observations. And more intriguing given that it seems to do a marvellous job at modelling the upper atmosphere and that nighttime conditions are predicted quite well.
Narrabri is presently about 32 degrees with DP of 11 degrees. Whereas GFS predicted a max temperature of 26 degrees for 2m AGL and DP of 18 degrees.
It would be interesting to know more about what is going on from one of the GFS developers.
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Timing is a massive factor here but if it can hold off until then, I'd think Sydney could get a nice early afternoon surprise on Saturday. Wouldn't be the first time I've seen something like this.
From the BoM 4:15pm today:
Forecast for Saturday
A few showers and the chance of thunderstorms. Moderate west to northwest winds ahead of moderate to fresh south to southeast change by the afternoon.
Picked it 3 days ago. Did you bring you camera down?
Dann
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Nice lightshow on the N Shore tonight!!! Lots of CG's!!! heres a few. all can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/28009095@N05/
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3106/2909898598_fdf5657a10.jpg?v=0)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3007/2909900562_378244c6ab.jpg?v=0)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3104/2909900794_636617ba5c.jpg?v=0)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3121/2909052815_74ee818b63.jpg?v=0)
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Thanks Ben - some lovely lightning there !! :)
Has anyone heard any reports of severe weather? the BoM had warnings out for damaging winds for most of the arvo and evening and that's not surprising given the speed the storms were moving.
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Ben and I went up to his local oval which has great views, took me 20mins to get there which is a very good run through Pennant Hills RD. Was a very enjoyable send off just before my overseas trip (Tomorrow 11.20am). Here are my pics:
Click here for pictures (http://s446.photobucket.com/albums/qq183/shanesmp/October%203rd%20-%20Sydney%20Lightning/)
:)
P.S. I have heard no reports of damage in the Sydney area, if anywhere would have got damage it would have been the oval we were on, and no branches/trees down... not really any strong winds at all. Just some nice lightning.
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Hi all,
Nice lightning shots there Ben!
We had a rather nice storm sitting to our SW last night. We had a moist NE wind inflow that kept the storm sustained and highly active for just over 3hrs! I noticed a lot of bright flashing while out walking at 8pm and it continued until I walked home again at 10:30pm. Seemed to be very active with a good large strike (lighting the whole sky) every 3seconds or so with smaller flashes in between. Once I reached the top of the hill just up the street from home I could see towering structure being nicely illuminated orange-ish due to the distance of the storm, which I would estimate at 100k's or so. Temps were still 25ºc at 10:35pm! At a guess I would have positioned the storm somewhere out between Cumborah (to our West) and Walgett. I saw the last flashes at 11:15pm just before I hit the hay.
I have to correct myself here:
This storm was a little further West and more distant than I had guessed. It was creating a little havoc at Brewarrina and dumped 4-5mm from a few different sources I've looked at. That distance really surprises me as I could almost see the cloud structure clearly enough to get a photograph or two (maybe I should have in hindsight?) from here which is 150k's away as the crow flies.
Hopefully something may pass close by or over our area today? Currently: Temp.- 32.7ºc and a light to moderate N-NW wind. The DP was 15.1 at 9am (though I would imagine that would have come down a little by now) Humidity is at 46%, and boy does it feel it!
Cheers guys,
Shauno
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Some nice pictures. By the time the Bureau issued the severe storm alert for Sydney it was obvious the storms were going to followr the fairly common track from Glenorie-Hornsby-Northern Beaches route and stay a fair way north of my location. I did see a few nice strikes from home but they were a fair way off.
Can't see anything building up for later today like promised, it just hasn't warmed up enough and constant showers are taking the heat out of any potential buildup.
I do need to find somewhere else to rent, maybe I should look at the common storm tracks through Sydney and base my location on that!
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Watched the storms develop over the Old Northern rroad to my north from Galston last night. Lots of interesting mid level crawlers but not many CG's.
No reports of damage from the Sydney area that have heard/read. The BOM mentioned in their cancelled STW last night that two places had received winds above 90km/h .. I think one was West Wyalong but cant remember the other location. Was somewhere inland
Looking forward to the 00z run of GFS in a few minutes. Tomorrow may have some severe potential over the NWSAP/NT's
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I am not too sure what to make of today. I think there may be some real potential for severe storms if things come together. Moisture looks surprisingly good, even west of the ranges. Not quite as high as GFS has surface dp's but not too bad. I am not sure whether this is just really shallow moisture though. Anyway, I think that CAPE will not be too high, I suspect somewhere around 1000-1500 j/kg max. I believe this should be sufficient though considering wind shear is very strong. If we have NE surface winds by the coast in the hunter region, 0-6km shear will be around 60 knots, this is very favourable indeed. In the upper Hunter region GFS has W'ly surface winds but directional shear is still very strong. Nice to see N'ly surface winds forecast up on the NWSP as well.
Tough forecast I think. This is complicated to an extent by on going convection. There are currently storms approaching Putty. These actually look quite good, if fact I think a severe storm warning wouldn't be out of the question. My guess would be the Hunter should do well today. Once these storms move out I think we will end up with a E-W orientated boundary. I think to the north of this boundary should be the focus to the afternoons round of storms. Also, I guess that further north around the NWSP might see some nice storms too. Fingers crossed that things don't get messy and we see some nice discrete cells firing in the afternoon.
Michael
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Michael,
I think you are on the money for today. This is the hidden potential day. I don't think moisture is a problem. I think all we require is sufficient heating and the storms will become intense. There is the potential for the odd supercell today.
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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Will be watching the sat pic and obs closely today. Will probably head out to the Hunter and see how it goes from there. Agree with both you guys about today having some interesting potential. Shear is pretty good - would like to see the surface winds a little stronger. Atmosphere dries out above 650 - potential for some good size hail.
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Agreed there is potential for organised storms this afternoon. Southern NTs, NWS&P and Upper Hunter look interesting according to GFS. MLAPS has none of the boundary layer northerlies of GFS and of course the DPs are lower.
Ballera Gas Fields (http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ60801/IDQ60801.95487.shtml) in SW QLD measured a 139km/h gust in the storm at 5.37pm yesterday.
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Today has good potential for supercells in the Hunter region. Nice curved hodographed based on morning Sydney sounding winds, excluding post frontal winds in the lowest levels. Good luck chasing!
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Here is this morning's hodograph. Ignore the helicity value at the bottom as that is using post frontal winds. You can see, even excluding post frontal winds, it is pretty good. I'd be chasing today if I could.
(http://www.skyrama.com/stormdata/Sydneyhodograph05102008.jpg)
Sorry if you can't see the above image...my web host is not working currently.
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Upper Western Storms 4th October 2008 Update
Hi all,
Last night's storms were the first line of action to pass through our area so far. I headed out at 6pm (after an sms from Rodney Wallbridge) to watch the storms approaching from the West, at that point they were still 75k's away on radar but I could see multiple CG and crawler almost everywhere out there on the rain front. There was no structure whatsoever which I was expecting given the moisture content was fairly high. I sat and watched it for half an hour or so then I had a cloud burst right over head so I grabbed the camera and headed home for the duration of that rain.
Russ sms'd me 20mins later so we met up and positioned ourselves for a few decent lightning photographs as the active line approached town. Crawlers were abundant (but heavily rain wrapped) and the CG became very infrequent with only 5 or 6 in total. Russ managed to catch 3 or 4 of these but I stood no chance due to keeping the rain off my camera and the inevitable- loosing all focus every time I wiped the droplets of the lens. I said to Russ that things were going pear-shaped fast and you could literally see the storm splitting around us to the North and South upon arrival. The rain set in and quite steady thus bringing our strive for a few lightning shots to an abrupt end by 8:30pm. Once home Russ confirmed by sms that the storm had split well before reaching us (visible on radar and LT obs).
Good to see a little lightning action but a disappointment in the fact I couldn't manage to get one shot with the new camera? I'm not happy with the lack of infinity setting on my lens (my auto-focus cant seem to find infinity with this kit lens) so I will hopefully have a new one in 2weeks with some sort of infinity mark. We shoot in almost pitch black 90% of the time so this will be an issue that needs addressing.
Rain totals were good, having received 12mm in total last night and a further 1mm at 9:30am this morning from a very small storm cell.
See how things pan out today?
Take care,
Shauno
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Quite a nice example of a storm split today. The right mover actually lasted for quite a long time, I suspect this had to do with a rather straight hodograph out in the upper Hunter. To me, it appears as if the Newcastle radar is not calibrated correctly as the reflectivities seemed a bit low. A strong storm nevertheless. Good to see the Hunter fire, I must say though, it was a rather late show and overall storm coverage was surprisingly low.
Michael
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Hi guys,
It seems the NW winds did cut into the moisture and deplete it somewhat. But at least the boundary fired in the end. Nick Moir and I were chasing the Hunter region and Nick observed the storm split. I could not confirm it given I was aiming for the northern portion of the storm. In answer to your comment Michael T, it seems that perhaps the hodographs favoured right movers today?
Anyway, the storm shaped up nicely after a slow start. All cumulus and storms had some form of inflow attached to them and one of the little cells even had a funnel atypical of LP on the portion below the anvil. Thanks for spotting that Nick - his car was in my way when we were chatting and this feature suddenly appeared. However, it was the latter cell that dominated proceedings after 5:30pm. Not sure if any warnings were issued but the storm produced gusty winds, very heavy rain and we only experienced hailstones perhaps up to 1.5cm perhaps 15 to 20km SE of Muswellbrook? Not sure what happened in other parts of the core.
Pictures posted in the morning. Nick has a better perspective of this storm which is excellent so he should post his in the morning as well.
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
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There was a severe storm warning issued for a cell near Branxton moving east, so that could have been the one you guys were chasing.
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Storm chase Sunday 4 October:
Haydee and I decided to give Sunday afternoon a go after explaining to her the CAPES and Lifted Indexes for the region and potential targets.
I though one target would be Scone / Singleton and the other west of the ranges NW of Lithgow.
Haydee seems to have an interest in thunderstorms so I decided to head NW beyond Lithgow where CAPES seemed to be around 1,200 and Lifted Index minus 5. I wanted to stay in the region of best potential but on the western side. We went up to Capertree not too far south of Mudgee.
I chose this area because I felt the southerly change along the coast had spoilt things. I appreciate how much damage a southerly change does to the coast too considering that cumulus clouds were not making it to the coast. We were in sunshine beyond Mt Victoria but with plenty of cumulus cloud towers.
One cumulonimbus cell was observed over the Oberon Plateur near Oberon but decided not to go for that because we would have been inside low cloud but underneath it.
North of Cullen Bullen we were chasing Altocumulus Castellatus most of the time. At the Capertree lookout we could see through to the lower Hunter Valley and it was cloaked in low stratus cloud and no thunderstorm tower could be seen. We stayed in that region for about an hour.
We headed back towards Lithgow then Mt Victoria and some small late afternoon showers began to develop but one cloud tower started to consolidate enough over the Oberon Plateau to warrant a watch.
Watching it from Mt Victoria it developed into a cumulonimbus cell. I positioned ourselves directly in it's path and we definitely copped a heavy downpour and one thunderclap within the cloud was audible. No hail. Amazing, it was quite warm at Mt Victoria too.
It was the only storm cell of substance to form west of the Blue Mountains. It weakened rapidly as it tracked further east. I dare say, Haydee thought it was amusing to catch the only storm cell of any substance to form in that whole region by day.
I am aware two other storm cells formed around Singleton late in the day. I saw these cloud towers close to sunset but I was concerned about the impact of that low level stratus cloud and southerly change might hide them from view which was why I decided to keep away from the coast. Also they were too far away to target them by sunset.
PS:- A word of warning to those chasing and in the grass photographing and videotaping clouds in the country. Lookout for snakes. We saw two rather large snakes chasing one another close to us assuming courtship so while looking up at the sky, also look down where you tread too and don't step on a snake.
Harley Pearman
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Jimmy and i first placed ourselves in Denman then Merriwa , staying nth of a few weak Lp structured cell we tracked east to Scone with them , one cell developed a high funnell shape which is the first photograph. just as i was decding to follow one of these storms east home i stopped about 30km sth west of Musswellbrook , where jimmy was on the outskirts , he saw a rapidly devoloping storm , i was east of it and saw it split , image 2 is inflow moving into the south split and image 3 is the well structured nth cell , 4th image was lightning as the nth cell moved ENE into no roads territory.
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A GFS reanalysis this morning shows instability a fair bit less than forecast - no doubt due to a better grip on the moisture situation. Also lacking is the northerlies that were forecast to reach the Upper Hunter.
This is the warning for the Hunter storm. I was surprised it did not include hail. None of the BoM warnings from NSW and QLD yesterday and overnight mentioned hail - all were damaging winds.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING - SYDNEY/NEWCASTLE/WOLLONGONG REGION for DAMAGING WIND
For people in parts of the Greater Newcastle and Maitland/Cessnock areas.
Issued at 7:25 pm Sunday, 5 October 2008.
The Bureau of Meteorology warns that, at 7:20 pm, severe thunderstorms were detected on weather radar near the Singleton district. These thunderstorms are moving towards the east. They are forecast to affect Maitland, Branxton, Rothbury, Greta and Lochinvar by 7:50 pm and Raymond Terrace, Kurri Kurri, Hexham, Beresfield, Morpeth and Bolwarra by 8:20 pm.
Damaging winds are likely.
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We also chased to the Denman area experiencing that same storm near Jerrys Plains .The storm produced some heavy rain and tiny hail as it passed over us. Structurally it looked its best as it moved east of us towards Singleton. Will write up a report and some photos soon as I only just got home. Also have some video so i'll put that up as well shortly.
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Hi Michael , if you have time could you post the radar loops of the Denman storm as it split?
thanks
nick
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Headed out from Sydney around 1pm yesterday afternoon not expecting things to go up till mid-late afternoon. Based myself between Jerrys Plains and Denman for most of the afternoon (surprised I didn't bump into you Ben/Phil). First few cells were pretty but bases looked to be very high based.
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-01jh.thumbnail.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-01jh.jpg)
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-02jh.thumbnail.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-02jh.jpg)
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-03jh.thumbnail.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-03jh.jpg)
I was on a hill east of Denman when the Denman cell formed. Here's a few shots of it during the early stages (looking west).
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-04jh.thumbnail.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-04jh.jpg)
From here it developed rapdily and put out some extremely nice CG's on the front end. Managed to capture one too - excuse the blur - no tripod.
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-06jh.thumbnail.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-06jh.jpg)
I'm not so sure that this storm split. Well it did if you consider the two cells went different directions but they didnt both come from the same updraft region. From the east I could see some large bases forming on the southern side of the anvil rain. These formed into the southern cell.
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-05jh.thumbnail.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-05jh.jpg)
At this point I headed north towards Lake Liddell trying to get on the northern side. As I drove out of the rain shaft I was greeted by one extremely low and dark base. Cloud heights would have only been a few thousand feet above. I drove further north west to get a view of the back end structure. Very nice and seemed to notice some rotation in the mid section.
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-07jh.thumbnail.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-07jh.jpg)
There were some interesting funnel features from under the base of the storm. The best looking one was while I was driving - excuse the dodgy photo
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-08jh.thumbnail.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-08jh.jpg)
Headed back into town and had some dinner before watching the light show later in the evening.
(Drove past you Jimmy and must have been Nick in a white falcon behind you. Turned around but you guys had left - sorry I missed you.)
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I'm not so sure that this storm split. Well it did if you consider the two cells went different directions but they didnt both come from the same updraft region. From the east I could see some large bases forming on the southern side of the anvil rain. These formed into the southern cell.
(http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-05jh.thumbnail.jpg) (http://sydneystormchasers.com/system/files/images/08-10-05-05jh.jpg)
I have just looked at the archived radar for Williamtown. Certainly seems to show it splitting there. It's weird as from where I was (right in front of the right cell the bases seemed to form on the edge before low scud cloud really started to be drawn into the base (As per Nicks photo).
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Neat images James and Nick. Loved the in-car shots as you were on the go, gives a nice perspective! I was wondering if you guys were out chasing when I viewed the radar...great stuff! You have an extensive band of showers coming through with embedded storms looking at Grafton radar ATM? SSW issued but will it amount to anything?
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Hi guys,
Great reports and photos by all! What an awesome little LP cell!
Upper Western Storm Report. 5th & 6th Oct. 2008
I'm also happy to report we had a great evening's chase out here too! Russ and myself headed out and met up on the first signs of cell activity approaching from the West at around 5pm (right in the middle of the NRL final lol?) I shot 3 sunset lit cells that were only sparsely active so I just couldn't manage to catch any lightning at that point and the rain cores soon arrived overhead so we called it quits for the time being. At 8pm we had the second set of storms come past town, these would also split around us but that worked as the rain stayed away for some time and allowed us to keep shooting the still fairly distant lightning. We saw (and subsequently missed) a gorgeous crawler come from the rear of the main cell (sitting to our NE) and come straight towards us and cover the whole sky! We managed a few "ok" shots from these but nothing spectacular. The rain set in and killed things off again so we each headed home for dinner. At this time I said to Russ that if at any point storms approached during the night to let me know as conditions were still primed for action in the Upper Western area, particularly also that there was a large storm front brewing out between Bourke and Brewarrina.
I think I got a whole hour's light sleep with strong winds dropping branches onto the roof so I knew something wasn't far away. At 1:10am my phone went off! it was Russ saying the monster approaches! He came and picked me up and we positioned ourselves on the western edge of town to meet the thing head-on. The activity was ridiculous and spread over a couple hundred kilometres (it's worth a look at the radar and LT for that time!) Structure was apparent with a nice shelf being illuminated by numerous crawler and CG lightning. Some of these crawlers were shooting up through the clouds from 100k's south of us and made for a totally amazing sight that I haven't seen the likes of for a few years now!
I think the frontal shelf cloud finally reached town at 2:45am with a nice little flurry of CG action and sparse showers that allowed us to continue photographing without too much worry about getting soaked. We continued shooting in town until it moved off towards the east around 3am and I think I got back home at 3:20am! (things you'll do for a good storm photo!? lol) :D
I have several hours of photos to process but I will get the best up asap! I feel buggered and zombie-like today but very relieved to see some fantastic storms!
Rain totals for last night/this morning were 11mm.
Take care,
Shauno
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It's those early morning buggers that have your scrambling out of bed with a head as heavy as dough!! Nice to see you had some activity in your area - has been a drought of sorts ! Russ must have been on the net watching things evolve whilst you were napping - shame on you!
Look forward to the photos Shauno & Russ.
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Hi Mike,
Yeah, I certainly do feel very heavy headed at the moment and the daylight savings isn't helping one bit. No operating any heavy equipment for me today lol! I was almost caught out napping but I had an inkling about what was coming and I'm always wide awake at the first distant rumblings ;)
Russ has always been a late sleeper (with a good laptop & wireless broadband!) so that really helps to no end! I think he was doing a few house renovations at the time? I'm normally out like a light at 10:30pm so it really kills me to be out for that duration but it's all in good fun! :D
I should add that the storms we got at 2am wreaked havoc at Bourke (and Brewarrina no doubt) with damaging winds etc. according to the news. The storms were out there building for 6hrs on radar before they reached us here! They were high based but had a bit of kick.
Kindest regards,
Shauno
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I have uploaded a few photos and videos from yesterdays chase.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v168/pingtang100/IMG_4976edit.jpg)
Some nice updrafts develop to our east probably around Singleton. Video can be seen here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXOXyF8cm3w
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v168/pingtang100/PA059431edit.jpg)
Later on a storm developed to our west with a handful of very nice CGs. Only 1 pic but plenty on video which can be seen below. This storm delivered some very heavy rainfall and minor flash flooding.We even got some tiny hail for a brief period. As the storm moved to the east we noticed some CAs though too far away for photos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di1OTJ3Js6A
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Hi guys,
Very interesting pictures from various positions and video placed online. Nice indeed!
Here are a few of the images I had on the day perhaps summarized well by Nick above.
The most amazing features of the day were the mid-level funnel and the rapid development of the cow-catcher feature.
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2008/1005jd05.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2008/1005jd05.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2008/1005jd09.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2008/1005jd09.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2008/1005jd16.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2008/1005jd16.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2008/1005jd22.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2008/1005jd22.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2008/1005jd33.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2008/1005jd33.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2008/1005jd40.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2008/1005jd40.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2008/1005jd41.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2008/1005jd41.jpg)
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2008/1005jd47.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2008/1005jd47.jpg)
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Hi guys,
Upper Western. NSW Storms. 5th & 6th Oct. 2008 Photos
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2241&g2_serialNumber=2)
This was one of the first cells to roll in around 5pm. There was hardly any activity to be seen and this was as good as the structure got for the first lot of weather that came through.
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2248&g2_serialNumber=2)
This is part of one of the many crawlers that were very abundant in the storms that passed us by to the North around 8pm. This is the direction (facing generally North of town) that we saw a couple stunning CC's that filled the sky above us. I really wish I could have caught them on film!
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2251&g2_serialNumber=2)
Here we are at 1:30am-ish waiting for the onslaught to arrive from the west! It looked like this for a good hour or so with constant CG & CC's everywhere. Definitely an amazing sight to see a CC travel overhead through the clouds from at least 100k's to our South! They were taking several seconds to reach us and were darting in and out of the base nicely :D
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2254&g2_serialNumber=2)
You can just make out the approaching shelf cloud lit up here.
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2257&g2_serialNumber=2)
This was the second nice (close) CG to come out of the anvil ahead of the storm. I missed the first while moving to this position as it started to sprinkle rain lightly.
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2260&g2_serialNumber=2)
My favorite shot of the morning! These were some of the last CG that I saw before the shelf raced overhead and it poured rain. Luckily enough I had just switched the camera to RAW and took the lens in from 18mm to 30mm. I used a 20sec. exposure for all the night photos.
(http://www.ridgelightning.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2263&g2_serialNumber=2)
A tiny piece of a large CC that, again spread across the whole sky! You can see the shelf just passing over us here also.
All in all a good bit of fun and a great chance to test the new camera :)
Kindest regards,
Shauno
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Cool images Shauno. Like the second to last one with the two CG's exiting and the streamer bolt was nice. Sounds like you had a ball - the locals were probably wondering which was louder, the thunder or you two hoot'n anda holler'n!
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A line came through southern Sydney today (Monday) so took a few mobile pics of the gustfront.
(http://www.thunderbolttours.com/temp/photos_au0809/06102008(002)_sm.jpg)
(http://www.thunderbolttours.com/temp/photos_au0809/06102008(004)_sm.jpg)
(http://www.thunderbolttours.com/temp/photos_au0809/06102008(005)_sm.jpg)
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Photo from the Sydney storm on Monday Afternoon, had an interesting base for a while.
(http://www.downunderchase.com/friends/flip/photo/monday_oct6th08.jpg)
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This is a photo taken in Clovelly (sydney) by a herald photog on monday arvo , he fluked a bolt
(c) 2008 Quentin Jones
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Phew, that's a nice image - great structure. Fluked the bolt? More-so luck I think! Anyone who gets a single shot daytime strike is def lucky (unless you have a lightning detector attached to your camera - like some people who shall remain nameless!!!!)
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Jealousy is a curse so they say.....doh I must be cursed! and im not referring to Jimmy's good looks or Nick Moirs funky hair either. Geez I need a good storm down here. Getting very jealous of the great action occuring up north. :'(
In all seriousness though, great reports, pics and discussion everyone. This forum really is operating really well and providing a fantastic resource and link for chasers and a great record of chases and severe weather amongst other things. ;)
Fluked the bolt? More-so luck I think! Anyone who gets a single shot daytime strike is def lucky
Speaking of luck and flukes with daytime lightning photography, I took this in June 2006 in Wyoming with roaring inflow behind us, handheld leaning against a paddock fence at 1/200th sec at 4pm in the arvo! The original image is sharp as a tack too ;D
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I once fluked a daytime bolt up near Lismore, was photoing this approaching front and didn't even realise until I had the pics developed that I had caught one. Unfortunately no longer have that particular photo in my possession, though it wasn't very spectacular.
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On our return from Tamworth last Sunday afternoon we bumped into some nice storm structure in the Hunter. 1st shot is of a nice LP cell near Aberdeen. 2nd and 3rd shots were taken of some nice updrafts as we went through Musswellbrook. Great reports and photos from all, Cheers, Con.
LP cell taken on the Scone side of Aberdeen 0n the 5th at 17:13:35.
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w28/elenecon/Storm%20Season%2008-09/DSC_6377.jpg)
Taken coming into Musswellbrook on the 5th at 17:23
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w28/elenecon/Storm%20Season%2008-09/Hunterstorms051008.jpg)
Taken at the lights in Musswellbrook on the 5th at 17:25
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w28/elenecon/Storm%20Season%2008-09/Hunterstorms051008-2.jpg)
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On Monday the 6th a visit to the Entrance when the line went through resulted in some nice vortices and a funnel as the ragged lowerings of the gustfront went through. As it headed out to sea the front displayed some decent base features , and threw in a rainbow as well, Cheers again, Con.
This shot taken at the Entrance on the 6th at 16:13:45
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w28/elenecon/Storm%20Season%2008-09/TheEntrance061008-1.jpg)
This shot taken at the Entrance facing NNE at 16:24:20
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w28/elenecon/Storm%20Season%2008-09/TheEntrance061008-2.jpg)
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Well done Con! I know which cell it was and knew it was somewhere along the coastline. This is the cell you are most likely referring to yes?
Can you please edit your specific posts and place some times as I am curious as to your location at the various times.
Regards, Jimmy Deguara
(http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/thumbs/2008/1006jd01.jpg) (http://australiasevereweather.com/photography/photos/2008/1006jd01.jpg)
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Radar loops for the 5th October 2008 Hunter Valley storms.
---> Newcastle 128km (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2008/radar/20081005/newcastle128.htm)
---> Newcastle 256km (http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/2008/radar/20081005/newcastle256.htm)
MB
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On Monday the 6th a visit to the Entrance when the line went through resulted in some nice vortices and a funnel as the ragged lowerings of the gustfront went through.
Ok, so now I know for sure the weather gods are teasing me! I stayed on the 5th floor of a resort at the Entrance last week for 3 nights. I was disappointed to barely see convection the whole time and then within 4 days of returning to Melbourne I read this report from Con about a line, vortices and a funnel at the Entrance! ::)
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Thanks for the comments Jimmy ,.I've added the times and locations in ... Brad, I'm sure there is a dynamic summer waiting for you, I've got a few more from the weekend once photobucket is back on line. Cheers, Con
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A few more photos from the 5th and 6th,
Oct 5th, 17:15:01, it started to break up fairly quickly after this shot.
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w28/elenecon/Storm%20Season%2008-09/AberdeenLPcell0510-08-2.jpg)
Oct 6th, 16:13:37
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w28/elenecon/Storm%20Season%2008-09/TheEntrancefunnel06-10-08-2.jpg)
Oct 6th, 16:23:40
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w28/elenecon/Storm%20Season%2008-09/TheEntrance06-10-08-3.jpg)
Cheers, Con.
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That's a wonderful shot of the rainbow and the coast there Vrondes. Was anyone else in the park aware of what you were photographing and did you give them some info?