Topic: Pre & TC Helen photos: Jan 2008

[Mike]

I'll put my photos here and for the use of anyone else from Darwin who takes some photos.

Headed out to the coast this afternoon and after stopping at a service station and then finding that my battery went dead i spent $165 for a battery and then had to change the blasted thing in a torrential downpour!!  The things I have to go through!  Is this what they mean by paying your dues as a storm chaser?  I think I qualified long ago....

Here's some photos of the very strong winds that are actually associated with the monsoon and not actually the rain bands of Helen.  These conditions are nothing compared to what's coming.  I particularly like the shot of the young lad standing in the foreground in defiance of the big breakers!  The other is the jellyfish warning sign - the least of anyone's problems at the moment...

 I'll be out most of the night capturing some photos of hopefully some lightning from the outer convective bands and a lot more.  It's going to be wild in town tonight.!

Hope you all enjoy.

Mike

[Mike]

Here's a few more.  The rip was so strong to watch, the waves were being sucked back out even before reaching the shore and they were overrun by other waves coming from behind...you can understand surfers being out there, but man people were actually swimming in this mess - I was blown away by their blatant misunderstanding and niavity to being pulled out to sea - there's no life guards on this section of beach.  Madness to the extreme.

Mike

[Richary]

I was under the impression salties discouraged swimming up there in the first place? But maybe the swimmers figured the waves would drive them away or something. Some amazing pics on the TV News tonight of the waves up near the NSW/Qld border forming a huge layer of foam that was just burying swimmers. Kids got out coated with a foot deep layer of the stuff. Not that given the wave size I would have been anywhere near the water!

[Richary]

The radar is interesting, with the circulation very obvious as it approaches the coast. Can someone answer me one question though - the radar shows a big gap in the middle of the rain circle that is about 50km wide. Just did some googling and that is about the maximum size of the "eye" or a cyclone. Is this usual for Darwin area cyclones - if in fact this is what it is?

Would be fascinating to have one of the windfinding radars there at the moment!

[Mike]

WZ radar shows a weak circulation in the vicinity of the eye - yet the satpics don't show any from the last hour or two.  The satpics are not very good on the VISAT images as it's in between frames, but am trying to locate other sources for a satpic.  What you described is common on all cyclones/hurricanes and an eye emphasizes strong storm depth and cyclone strength/organisation. It's not unique to NT cyclones as they are in reality what forms within the systems worldwide of this nature.  If it does not form an eye it just means that it has not intensified enough - if this system had a lot more ocean on its eastern side then in all probabitilies would form one, it's just a timing factor of the storm's development.

The cyclone is due to make landfall within the next hour and a half, 100kmh winds are being experienced between Darwin and Port Keats to our west and we've been having drizzly rain with the odd burst, but no gusts at the moment.  Won't be long and most people have taken shelter.

Mike

[Richary]

Looking at the radar the centre has probably just crossed the coast between Dundee Point and Channel Point. Certainly tracking south of Darwin CBD but hard to say exactly where it will go. Glad it hasn't got too hairy for you so far.