Author Topic: Rain event and thunderstorms SE QLD & NSW (incl major flooding Mid North Coast): 13-18 Feb 2009  (Read 36470 times)

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jamesdumar

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There is very strong and tight circulation over northwestern NSW this morning on the sat loop.
Looks like heavy rain out west later in the day.

Offline Colin Maitland

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This is just a straight posting from nineMSN news as a report on the NSW flooding to keep as a media record of the event.

Floodwaters have eased in the Bellinger Valley and other inundated parts of NSW, but more rain is forecast for the state as a low pressure system moves south.

The State Emergency Service (SES) received more than 400 requests for assistance over the weekend as heavy rain fell on western NSW and the state's mid-north coast.

"Conditions have eased considerably overnight in terms of rain and that has resulted in a dropping of river levels in all the flood-affected rivers," SES spokesman Phil Campbell said.

Floodwaters are now receding around the 500 residents of the upper Bellinger Valley who were isolated by flooding.

"The river has now fallen and access should be restored to those people," Mr Campbell said.

Minor to moderate flooding has been recorded on the Paterson and William rivers in the NSW Hunter region.

"That has caused some local rural inundation and has closed some minor roads."

Flooding has also been experienced in the Bokhara River near Goodooga, close to the flood-ravaged town of Bourke in far northwestern NSW.

"There is the possibility of the development of storms and heavy rain which will be developing over parts of that area today."

Twenty-five homes were damaged in heavy rain in Bourke on Friday night leaving a damage bill running into millions of dollars.

A record 200mm fell on the town in the 24 hours until 9am (AEDT) on Saturday, pooling behind the levee bank which protects the town when the river floods.

The SES received 28 requests for assistance in Bourke and various pleas to help fix leaky roofs from the Hunter region to Sydney.

Mr Campbell said SES crews had completed about 80 per cent of the calls for help.

"We are expecting today that weather conditions will ease a little bit," he said.

The low pressure system which caused most of the problems has moved offshore near Coffs Harbour.

"But we are expecting that it will track more towards the coast and we'll see a redevelopment of heavy rain later on today or overnight.

"A bit of rain may extend down to Sydney metropolitan tonight as well."

The rain is expected to hang around NSW until at least Wednesday.

Offline Shaun Galman

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Hi all,
Just received the first heavy shower for today streaming in from the SE, however it was brief (1mm) but shouldn't be the last we see today by a long shot!
The cumulus are monstrous with very dark bases and massive towers going up well above the troposphere. Just heard the first thunder rumbles so we may see a bit of activity soon? the humidity is very high and the current temp is 28Âșc but warms slightly more when the sun appears. Winds are almost nil.

The totals for Lightning Ridge for Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th were 90mm. I have just cleared the gauge ready for more over the coming days. Certainly a strong rain system by the looks! (almost reminiscent of last years rain events)

Regards,
Shauno.
Chasing Region: Lightning Ridge. N.S.W.
Website: www.ridgelightning.com

Offline Shaun Galman

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Upper Western NSW Storm Report. 16th February 2009
Hi guys,
We had a bit of an exciting afternoon as far as the storms were concerned! Around 4pm I was watching a large storm sitting out to our West that was an extremely dark and menacing high precip beast. Some partial activity was around though I didn't see much until I headed out around 5pm-ish. There was a really crisp and very large anvil covering town with some nice mammatus on board. This storm had very good inflow cloud bands streaming in from the East. I kept an eye on it for a while until.. it began to really pick up pace and come back in towards us (no doubt the low had crossed over us and swung the winds back from the West). There was a stunning bit of structure/shelf that was almost black in colour with shades of green/aqua around the inflow areas. I concentrated my photography in this region. Though I saw several nice CG, I had missed them (I always feel like I'm letting everyone down when I miss good lightning lol) as they weren't staccato. The structure well made up for it though :D
As the storm approached town, the shelf looked like it was scraping the tree tops! The whole town went dark as it loomed overhead and you could hear the rain core screaming through town coming in from the west behind the shelf. We had close on 20mm in only 15minutes, some smaller then pea sized hail also.

We've had a few more large HP storms since but nothing as large as that beast earlier on.
I am without photo processing software for the time being (due to formatting my pc) but I will get the shots up for you asap! They are fairly impressive, even for a HP beast!

Kindest regards and take care,
Shauno   
Chasing Region: Lightning Ridge. N.S.W.
Website: www.ridgelightning.com

Offline Harley Pearman

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Some further rainfall totals from 9 am 15/2/2009 to 9 am 16/2/2009 worth reporting:-

Sydney:

25 mm where I live.
35 mm at Penrith.
40 mm at Richmond.
43 mm at Sans Souci.
46 mm at Peakhurst.
47 mm at Prospect Reservoir.
56 mm at Berowra.

This pales in comparison to other areas including:-

54 mm at Mt Elliot.
62 mm at Mangrove Mountain.
71 mm at Darkes Forest.
77 mm at Reverces.
78 mm at Katoomba.
85 mm at Gosford.

On the mid north coast, Taree Airport received 106 mm and Smokey Cape 156 mm were some of the highest totals in the state of New South Wales for the period.

(Source Bureau of Meteorology 16/2/2009).

Some recent posts mention the prospect of flooding in the Bellinger Valley. I was there during the rain event and the Bellinger River had risen significantly although when I left Bellingen early Saturday morning 14/2/2009, the Bridge Street road across the river was still open and no significant flooding was occurring at the time. However more rain would have caused problems in low lying areas. I read a storey in the Sydney Morning Herald 16/2/2009 indicating that some flooding had since occurred in the valley.

Harley Pearman

Offline Michael Bath

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The focus of the rains last night was the northern half of the Mid North Coast extending to the Northern Rivers east of Grafton. Many centres between Nambucca and Coffs have recorded over 200mm - most of that falling during last night.

Flood levels have subsequently increased for the Nambucca, Orara and Bellinger rivers.  Some places in the Bellingen Valley have had about 500mm since the rain started on Saturday.
Location: Mcleans Ridges, NSW Northern Rivers
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Contact: Michael Bath

Offline Michael Bath

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Major flooding is now occurring between the Hastings River (west of Port Macquarie) to the Orara (west of Coffs Harbour). There's been some very impressive rainfalls this morning with many totals of over 100mm in 3 hours and over 300mm in the 24 hour period to 9am 17th February.

The attached chart is for the northern half of the Mid North Coast.
Location: Mcleans Ridges, NSW Northern Rivers
Australian Severe Weather:   http://australiasevereweather.com/
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Contact: Michael Bath

Offline James

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BOM now expecting flooding in Bellingen to reach March 2001 levels today. Amazing amount of rain down there - such a beautiful part of the world too.

97mm at Bostobrick on top of the mountain (parents place) since 5pm last night. Big difference compared to Bello and Dorrigo with Dorrigo only 13 kms away as the crow flies yet with double the rainfall. Amazing what a bit of orographic lifting can do.

Offline Colin Maitland

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Just browsing the charts and BOM, there is a system coming through which could be worth while keeping an eye on. There is a weak tropical depression just off Fiji.
It is moving west south west which means it will miss the top end of QLD, the models at this stage show a low of the QLD/NSW coast by Wed 19/02/09.
The low will continue to move south and by the Thursday will combine with another low on the NSW/VIC boarder.
You could have a very wet and windy week approaching.
Brisbane is forecasted to have showers increasing to rain as the low nears.


GALE WARNING 025 ISSUED FROM RSMC NADI Feb 17/0108 UTC 2009 UTC.

TROPICAL DEPRESSION 10F [1000HPA] CENTRE LOCATED NEAR 20.4S 164.7E AT 170000 UTC

MOVING WEST-SOUTHWEST 13 KNOTS. POSITION POOR.

CLOCKWISE WINDS 30 TO 40 KNOTS IN THE SECTOR 30 TO 150 NAUTICAL MILES OF CENTRE
IN THE NORTHEAST QUADRANT AND IN THE SECTOR 30 TO 200 NAUTICAL MILES OF CENTRE
IN THE SOUTHEAST QUADRANT. AREA OF GALES MOVING WITH DEPRESSION.

ALL SHIPS WITHIN 300 NAUTICAL MILES OF CENTRE ARE REQUESTED TO SEND REPORTS
EVERY THREE HOURS. VOS REPORTING SHIPS USE NORMAL CHANNELS. OTHER VESSELS FAX
PLUS 679 6720190 OR EMAIL NADITCC AT MET DOT GOV DOT FJ.

 

Offline Harley Pearman

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The Bellinger Valley was hit hard by the rainfall with the flood peak in the Bellinger River at 8.2 metres in the town of Bellingen at 11 am. River levels are falling during the afternoon with the flood peak moving downstream to a place called Repton and Urunga.

This is covered by the Bureau of Meteorology Flood Warning Number 24.

Some exceptional rainfall totals include:-

Comboyne 133 mm, Mt Seaview 176 mm, Port Macquarie 158 mm, Telegraph Point 206 mm, Kempsey 186 mm, Seven Oaks 124 mm, Macksville 159 mm, Spicketts Creek 311 mm, Kooroowi 303 mm, Girralong 272 mm, Meldrum 156 mm, Dorrigo 240 mm, Gleniffer 265 mm, Coffs Harbour 262 mm (Red Hill).

(All totals sourced from the Bureau of Meteorology 17/2/2009).

The Bellinger Valley was the hardest hit. The valley is surrounded on 3 sides by tall hills and mountains and the headwaters of the Bellinger River starts below Point Lookout (Elevation 1,563 metres). Clouds blowing in from the coast hit the landform barriers and dumps the rain within the valley (Orographic rainfall). The head of the Bellinger Valley close to Point Lookout is the wettest location in New South Wales and large rainfall totals such as those over the past few days close to Dorrigo and surrounds has allot to do with the topography of the area.

Harley Pearman

Offline Colin Maitland

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This is for the records. Nine MSN news report on the flooding at Bellingen.

A caravan park has been evacuated at Repton and the town of Bellingen has been cut off by floodwaters as heavy rain continues on the New South Wales mid-north coast.

Bellingen, with a population of about 2,700, is isolated after its main road, Waterfall Way, was cut by floodwaters on Tuesday.

'Both sides of the town are flooded,' the manager of the Diggers Tavern said.

The State Emergency Service (SES) said the flooding occurred after the Bellinger River peaked at Bellingen about 11am (AEDT) on Tuesday.

The flood peak was now moving down the river and was expected to peak about 3pm (AEDT) at Repton and Urunga.

Twenty-four people had been evacuated from the Repton Riverside Caravan Park in anticipation of flooding there, an SES spokeswoman said.

No other evacuations were planned but the SES was 'keeping an eye on things', she said.

The SES had received about 150 calls for assistance from residents of the Bellingen area since the heavy rain began on Friday, the spokeswoman said.

It received about 300mm of rain in the 48 hours until 6am on Tuesday.

Additional resources are on stand-by in case the flood situation in northern NSW gets worse, Premier Nathan Rees says.

The State Emergency Service (SES) says rising river levels may force the evacuation of residents on the NSW mid-north coast following further heavy rain, which is expected to continue until Wednesday.

'We are keeping an eye on the situation and will initiate the evacuation of some residents should that be deemed necessary,' SES spokeswoman Erin Pogmore said.

Rainfall had led to more than 500 calls for assistance from NSW residents since Friday, she said.

'Those calls have been for a range of jobs from roof and tree damage to general flooding damage.'

Mr Rees says there are long-standing arrangements to deal with floods in the region.

'Those have been put in place some time ago,' he said.

'Those arrangements work well.'

Additional SES volunteers and a helicopter were ready to mobilise if necessary.

'This is an area that is prone to flood,' Mr Rees said.

'The locals know how to deal with it.

'If there are any additional resources that are needed to help people out up there, then we will help with it.

Offline Shaun Galman

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Upper Western NSW Storm And Heavy Rain Report 18th Feb. 2009

Hi guys,
Thought I'd just add a new total to the already existing ones. Between 3:45pm and 4:05pm EDST today we received 27mm in a heavy downpour. Everything is pretty well flooded. My house is on a ridge that's around 15feet above the town level and the roads up here went under water. The town always gets the worst but I haven't been down for a look yet.

There was the odd CG around as it moved off the town area but none during the deluge. Still raining now but only light showery stuff. Temps are pretty warm , up around 34c earlier. Humidity would be close on 100% at a guess. Winds are still only very light, pushing in from the North currently (as is the weather).

The cumulus were enormous as would be expected in this current -very tropical- system. Does anyone know whats happening with the cyclone (Innis) being so far South? Will it push inland at all? I'll have to check out the cyclone tracker.

Kindest regards,
Shauno.
Chasing Region: Lightning Ridge. N.S.W.
Website: www.ridgelightning.com

Offline Colin Maitland

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Cyclone Innis is now known as former cyclone Innis. The ex Cyclone only made it 160 deg east, a movement of 0.5 deg east during the day. It does not appear it will move any closer to the coast at this point.
The BOM latest update on the low is

GALE WARNING 356 CCA
THIS AFFECTS OCEAN AREA: SUBTROPIC
AT 180600UTC
OVER WATERS EAST OF 160E.
LOW 998HPA, FORMER CYCLONE INNIS, NEAR 29S 160E MOVING SOUTH 20KT.
WITHIN 180 MILES OF LOW IN SECTOR FROM NORTHEAST THROUGH SOUTHEAST
TO SOUTH: CLOCKWISE 35KT.
GALE AREA MOVING WITH LOW.
THIS WARNING CANCELS AND REPLACES WARNING 349.

RE-ISSUED BY THE BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY, BRISBANE.


The present track map is as posted with sat and Thursdays synoptics

Hope this helps.

cheers
Col

Offline Shaun Galman

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Here's the updated photos from the storm I mentioned above, finally! But better late than never :)

Upper Western NSW Storm Photos 16th February 2009

This storm had amazing structure and pushed in from the West around 3pm, sat to our North for some time while I took these photos, displayed a 'mature stage' and showed some real nice organization. It then turned right, came over town and headed South before weakening. Right mover? There was a HP rain core sitting to the left of these photos. A few CG but nothing out of the box so to speak.

I'd like to hear what you think of this structure. This large (shots are at 10mm) base has a clear clockwise rotation in the photos if I play them timelapse-style. It must have been sitting on a dry northerly boundary of sorts? It was clear skies to the North and East of this thing.

On with the photos!

This was the first photo taken around 3pm-ish. This was as it pushed in from the West. The anvil was amazing and stretched way back overhead to the SE.


Some of the large anvil. I took these from an old opal field called Potch Point and they are all facing North.


This is where it stalled. The structure really gets good after this. The inflow winds were pretty strong here and CG were just starting to fire here and there.


I will post a few of these so you can see the maturity taking place. It's great to have a storm sit still long enough to have it's picture taken! lol.
 

I was praying a funnel cloud would form here but I wasn't that fortunate.



I apologize if these appear dark. I am only using GIMP to convert my RAW shots, then shrink and copyright them for posting. They are all in pure camera settings.
T.B.C...
Chasing Region: Lightning Ridge. N.S.W.
Website: www.ridgelightning.com

Offline Shaun Galman

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Continued from the post above...


I'm open to any comments here. What would you class this base feature as? It doesn't look much like a shelf cloud to me? Wall Cloud possibly? The inflow bands in the mid levels were very pronounced too :)


4:14pm now and it's really starting to rotate here and come straight towards me from the North. Still a nice HP core off to the left of picture.


Looming nicely and gathering pace. It started to rain just after this so i headed back into town.. just in time!


This wasn't long after the above photo. A nice downdraft hole forming there. Small pea sized hail was falling at this point also.


Time to head home! You could just about reach up and touch this beast! *remember this was taken @ 10mm.

All in all a nice afternoon as I recall :D
I hope you all don't mind coming back for a look at these, again I apologize for the slight lateness.

Kindest regards and take care,
Shauno
Chasing Region: Lightning Ridge. N.S.W.
Website: www.ridgelightning.com