Hi Everyone,
I was the one who saw this small 'tornado' and reported it to the BoM. I must admit, I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw it. It really took me by surprise as I never expected to see such a thing in what were seemingly benign passing showers. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera on me. But I suppose that I might not have been able to capture much even if I did as it was a short-lived event.
It happened while I was driving north along Silverwater Rd towards the intersection of Victoria Rd at about 12:30pm (February 12th, 2007). I was coming up to the crest of the hill when a spindly, rapidly swirling funnel cloud caught my attention slightly to my left. It was unmistakable. I know it was a technically a funnel cloud as I could not see debris, nor could I find any damage after investigating later. But given the rate at which it was spinning - it looked like water swirling down the plug hole - and its length, appearing to reach ground level, I'd say it could easily have been causing damage at the surface. It was a small but tight vortex and didn't last very long. I pulled off at the next left and tried to find a better place to view it. It must have taken about 5 minutes from first sighting until being able to stop and look in the direction where I'd seen it. In this time the funnel had disappeared, but the clouds in the vicinity where rotating and scud cloud was rising directly upwards into a very dark cloud base. I then looked for a public phone in order to call the Bureau and some friends as I'm not using a mobile presently. It was at this time that I lost sight of the area from where the funnel had been as buildings and trees were in the way.
I reported it to the BoM as a tornado because that is what it looked like at first sight. But in the absence of any visible debris or any damage it would probably only count as a funnel cloud, albeit very close to being a tornado given its proximity to the ground and the rate it was spinning. I noticed afterwards that the wind had increased following the storm cell that had produced it, and I pondered whether there might have been a small wind change and if this might have contributed to its formation. I spent some time driving around the local streets surveying for any sign of damage but to no avail. I also paid a lot more attention to other storm cells around being suspicious of any signs of lowerings or rotation, but there was nothing unusual in them at all. It was just the usual scuddy bases and small short-lived circulations but nothing like what I'd witnessed earlier. It seemed like the little funnel I witnessed was a freak event. I would be interested to know if something like this could have been resolved on doppler radar at all (which is able to measure wind speeds and directions and is able to sometimes pick up on tornadoes). I would also be interested to know if anyone else had seen it. I'd be very surprised if no one else saw it given its location near a main road in a populous suburb. But its short life span would probably have limited the number of witnesses.
Cheers,
Paul
