Topic: Adelaide tornado Port Noarlunga : Sat 11 July 2009

[Colin Maitland]

I have been trying to find the rating as well, but the only thing I keep finding is found at  http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/month/sa/adelaide.shtml

under the heading Severe thunderstorm BOM is quoted as

Severe Thunderstorm

A small supercell spawned a significant tornado in the southern Adelaide suburb of Port Noarlunga on 11 July. The tornado damage track was 2.7 km long. At the western end, the tornado damaged five houses, demolished a shed, shifted cars, and hurled iron and glass debris across an oval during a football match. One person on the oval was injured. Substantial tree damage occurred along the eastern section of the track. Damage was rated to be at the high end of category F1 or possibly the low end of category F2 on the Fujita tornado category scale

This is the same as Teckert has posted.

From reading a lot of the archived news reports found on the net from "The Age", ABC news etc etc, some state that the winds were 150km/h  while others are stating the winds were 160km/h.

No real clarification yet from officials unless the abovementioned statement is the official report.   
Col

[Richary]

Of course the Noarlunga station wasn't in the path of the touchdown, but that's usually going to be the case. So all we can go on is damage and local trails.

I spoke to a friend last night who operates a tow truck in Adelaide, there was a coffee van on the Southern Expressway travelling at 20 kph that was tipped over by the tornado when it hit. Shame nobody has posted any aerial footage of the storm track in the following day or two that might make things easier to work out.

[_Chris_]

I don't know if this is useful to anybody, but this is one of several of the video pans I took of the cell while it was passing overhead. Also, I have to question the track length proposed in that summery. The damage continued over South Rd, and that point is around 3.5km from the initial touchdown point on Commercial St.
Winter tornadic supercell (Pt Noarlunga tornado, Adelaide)

[Richary]

Thanks Chris, those clouds at the base to the north of you look interesting. Whereabouts was this shot from? Looks like somewhere south of Noarlunga from my memory of Adelaide.

[_Chris_]

The video was taken at the end of Cliff St, about 1km south of the Onkaparinga mouth and the oval.