Topic: SE QLD & NSW Storms (incl possible Lismore tornado): 6-7 January 2008

[Steven]

Theres a line of storms from about Redcliffe all the way down to NE NSW right now and I am surprised no one has created a thread for it. So here it is. Currently theres a nice cell heading for the town of Esk (had black core), there is also a storm warning for SE QLD, my area is included however I have missed out so far.

[Michael Bath]

Yes, very noisy this afternoon with many storms around. Watching the odd CG out the front of my place - check the webcam for the view:

http://australiasevereweather.com/video/webcam.htm

Some pics of the storms I tool a bit earlier west of Lismore:

[Steven]

Nice to see the return of the storms, pretty disappointing the last couple of months. Meanwhile Esk must be drenched because they have this red-intensity cell over them which hasn't moved much, I'm eager to know what is happening there. And more cells are forming out west, should be an interesting night ahead..

Regards,
Steven

[Richary]

Thinking about it, I might hope they hold off in Sydney for a day or two (for a change). Have just installed an 8 metre high lightning attractor (I mean antenna pole) with a 3 metre long antenna for long distance FM reception - my other hobby). As it is attached to the balcony railing and guttering, neither of which is earthed, I should really bang in my earth stake and do this properly - just need to grab some cable and connectors from work tomorrow to ground it right.

I might be getting some very close lightning strikes, hmmm, next storm might just aim the camera straight up!

[Shaun Galman]

Hi guys,
A few storms came through our region yesterday afternoon around 1:30pm. A couple of these small cells were highly active as the updrafts were in full flight with all the moisture about. The thunder was fairly constant for 30mins with the accompanying barrage of CG. Once again we are having issues with the shear and winds as the storms weakened out to a heavy rain core after reaching town? I grabbed a few shots of some nice base formation and cloud structure (didn't manage to catch any CG unfortunately), nothing spectacular but I'll take anything I can get at the moment!

Rain totals were only in the 2mm range which I thought was low for these storms as the humidity was up in the 68% area?

Shauno

[Shaun Galman]

Hi guys,
I caught another possible tornado sighting on the channel7 news last night. This was pictured over the Wivenhoe dam, under a nice looking supercell structure. The words twister were used this time but it seemed a bit too distant to call? Did anyone else catch this footage or actually get a chance to chase this storm or even notice any form of supercell on radar around this region? It definitely had a great looking wall cloud to it!

Regards,
Shauno

[Michael Bath]

Hi Shauno - have merged your post into this thread as it's the same weather system.

I didn't see the footage myself though have seen a few comments speculating whether it was a tornado or not. Hopefully some photos or video get posted so we can suss it out.

regards, Michael

[Shaun Galman]

Cheers for moving the thread Michael! I cant wait to see if anyone has decent images of it!

Regards,
Shauno

[Rodney Wallbridge]

Gyday all, while observing a storm slipping past the southern side at 325pm of Lismore yesterday arvo which was extremly lightning active with heaps of visible Cg's.Looking west from Lismore along the rear part i noticed a substantial Funnel cloud protrude from the base.I had the video camera with me so filmed a very interesting funnel cloud with nice rotation which almost but not quite makes it to the ground just across the valley.
Lismore
Funnel

Lismore
Funnel sped up 5 times

[Jimmy Deguara]

Hi guys,

I like the dynamics associated with that funnel including the rope out stage. Is it possible to see if there was any confirmed touch downs in the area? Perhaps speak to some farmers in the region?

Also, is my eyes playing tricks with me - is that anticyclonic or cyclonic? Is there any way of getting a picture or video with the parent cloud as well please so we can appreciate where this was in relation to the storm or parent cloud.

Very nice indeed.

Regards,

Jimmy Deguara

[Michael Bath]

Very nice footage Rodney. Viewing the video captured on the PC here shows it is rotating anticlockwise and moving towards the N or NNE.

I've done up a page of video stills but there is no structure of the parent storm recorded:









I happened to take these two photos of the storm about 15 minutes before Rodney took the video:






--- > Radar loop

My pics are at 0400 UTC and the funnel occurred 15-20 mins after that.

[Jimmy Deguara]

In the two pictures you have provided Michael, it appears there is an inflow band of sorts. And yes it looks like anticyclonic rotation. Always remember, low bases and you are in with a chance.

Regards,

Jimmy Deguara

[Jimmy Deguara]

Gene Moore, veteran chaser in the US suggests that height of the funnel nearer the ground puts it a a high likelihood of it being a tornado which adds substance to the comments I made earlier.

Another comment was whether this can be confirmed as anticyclonic or cyclonic? The low contrast nature makes it difficult to determine. If the cloud tags associated with the shelf cloud are indeed coming in front of the funnel, then it is cyclonic. Any further evidence really comes back to the observers themselves.

Rodney?

Regards,

Jimmy Deguara

[Michael Bath]

Anticyclonic as I mentioned earlier - it is quite obvious when viewing the captured clip in video editing software.

MB