Hi guys,
Been a busy day and finally am able to write the report for this day.
Chase Report 14th January 2010 - Walcha region, Northern TablelandsThe conditions on this day were anticipated to be unstable but with relatively weak upper level support. Moist air was expected to persist over the ranges. My thoughts were that storms would head north and contain lightning. When I got there I was rather disappointed!
Storms had begun to develop and looked rather weak and I thought it was simply a day of numerous storms. Two cells consolidated to the west with the southern one organising first and moving south. No roads there and it seemed the northern was developing a soft base and backbuilding west. There was a road towards Tamworth that headed west - a good road option. Perhaps 10 to 15km west, I noticed and photographed some interesting structure but the further west I headed just heavy rain and lack of structure.
Finally back east I returned to see if the structure was still there. It wasn't! This day was going to be a up and down with brief maturity of cells! I called Michael to see if he could see these cells and they were definitely active in terms of lightning though not really visible on radar. I simply had to act virtually alone.
I simply headed north to see what other cells may have been developing. Past the rain and WHAT THE!! I was in disbelief - the original storm had begun a northerly track and gained - "supercellular characteristics". I found the first available stop to shoot timelapse. Bolts were already ripping from the updraft and anvil. Inflow streaming in from the ground into the updraft. A ground hugger - I could barely see the base. This was bloody awesome. I had to control my nerves to feel reality! I mean weak wind shear was producing THIS! A green tinge began to show as the updraft consolidated and was now clearly rotating. The bolts were so frequent and pulsing that long I was able to photograph a few.
Further north, after a relatively brief period of inactivity, it was now the frequent powerful pulsating bolts that alerted me stop once more. The storm was trying to re-organise on the northern end. The structure was still evident though I was relatively closer.
My focus turned to the emerging base - at first it seemed like a shelf cloud.
But when the whole structure revealed itself, it was showing signs of rotation. Time for timelapse. The base was so low and it was rather dark. Lightning was drawing near. The end of the tape seemed to coincide with light rain.
Next stop with new tape rolling - right under the base north of Walcha. Bolts were dangerously close and rather frequent. Close was understatement - one bolt with almost instantaneous thunder deafended me! I pratically s--t myself! I turned the car around a little and a bolt hit the powerline with a spark explosion. Another explosion occurred in the powerlines on the nearby field. My mind began to ponder thoughts of the car being struck.
The rain curtain finally closed in and the bolts moved northeast so I made my way north - to sample the core. I was met by violent winds and blinding rain. The road's centre line was barely visible! Debri littered the road in patches - evidence of powerful gusts. A tree further along caused chaos as cars stopped - others including myself manouvering around them. Hailstones with diameter of 2 to 3cm rattling the aerial and unsettling car panels. Rain and hail was driven horizontally. Visibility was so poor that I had little time and no choice but to drive over a small branch. In fact driving further north was dangerous of hydro-planing so I proceeded with care. The intention was to get the storm east of Armidale - but the storm seemed to weaken from outflow confirmed by Michael
After pondering what to do next and whether to head back home - not another a 1am arrival. A severe thunderstorm warning came through and Michael confirmed that a cell was situated near Gunnedah heading northeast. Heading to Tamworth would place me in position to this cell depsite the risk of it dissipating. What more evidence do I need now to stay overnight!
The cell came into view as I made my way towards the last descent off the Northern Tablelands. It had rounded top to a leaning updraft - anvil streaming southeast. Based on its perspective the storm was headed on a track north of Tamworth.
It was about 7:30 in the evening - I did not feel like making the treck to Manilla. But I just had to see if there was some interesting structure given the inflow. The storm was rather lightning active. However, by the time I got to Manilla - you guessed it - it was in a weakening phase! Taking pictures with dogs barking around the place and pure darkness just did not make it an attractive prospect. I was hungry and also needed to get accommodation anyway. Lucky this was just prior to the Tamworth Country Music Festival. The road to Tamworth showed some very nice anvil crawlers becoming less frequent. By the time I was in Tamworth, lighning seemed to cease altogether with only distant flashes.
This was another surprising day - incredible structure and some awesome opportunities to photograph and video. It took me some time to crash out - not until I browsed that footage. Suddenly the disappointment of the worst start to a storm season in storm chasing history seemed to fade away - lost in the past.
Regards,
Jimmy Deguara
