Topic: NSW/Qld Severe Hailstorms then Cold/Snow: 19 to 22 of October 2008

[Carlos E]

Well, hopefully Ipswich is ready for this one. It's about to affect them. :|

Amberly just recorded a gust of 102km/h.

[Michael Thomas]

A few very solid storms around today. Unfortunately, moisture didn't penetrate as far inland as I hope for along NE NEW. Despite this, that storm that formed north of Coffs Harbour really exploded and there were reports of 6 to 7cm hail according to the BoM. It looked quite impressive offsore for quite some time to. Other than this, that storm in SE Qld put on a real show. The Amberly Obs are very interesting, prior to the storm the dp increased to 16C and the wind was gusting to 40km/hr. Then the downdraft kicked in giving winds to 100km/hr. I have seen a picture of the structure which really look amazing. Ipswich looked like the place to be, hopefully there is not too much damage.

Edit: Things are by no means over, there is another storm quickly taking shape to the west of the Ipswich storm which has now died. Looks in a nice position for a while but will probably died nearing the coast. Also, storms are forming along the S'ly change in NSW.

Michael

[Jimmy Deguara]

Michael,

Yes the Woolgoolga storm would have been quite impressive to see given it would have had better access to moisture. Apparently only a few parts of very close to the coast got the very large hailstones and some areas of Woolgoolga the golf balls. Did it mostly just explode closer to the coast?

The Ipswich storm held good structure for a few frames and then rapidly became outflow dominant again due to the higher bases. Nice to see this afternoon on radar - can't wait to see the pictures from those who chased.

Regards,

Jimmy Deguara

[Richary]

The Woolgoolga storm was obviously quite localised. As the first call I had about it indicated mostly golf ball size with the occasional larger chunk, this was about 4 blocks south of the town centre. Her kids were the ones who reported one kid being knocked out by a larger piece near the high school, which is to the NW of the middle of town, and seeing a car lose it's windscreen (and subsequently crash) on the school bus ride home.

I then spoke to my parents who only live about 4 blocks SW (500m on google earth) of the first person, and they only had pea size hail and didn't realise it had been anywhere as severe in town as it was.

Unfortunately the hail photos received via MMS while supposedly in 640*480 aren't of good enough quality to be worth posting or viewing at any more than thumbnail size.

[Harley Pearman]

A severe thunderstorm Warning - SE Queensland has been issued for a particular storm that has gathered strength at 6.32 PM for:-

Moreton Bay and
Sunshine Coast.

A severe thunderstorm was detected near Caboolture and Wamuran and moving NE. Expected to reach Caloundra and area SW of Caloundra and Beerwah by 7.05 pm and Maroochydore waters off Caloundra and waters of Maroochydore by 7.35 pm.

DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAILSTONES ARE LIKELY.

The current radar images 7.35 PM show an intense core but over rural areas but headed in the direction of these urban areas.

Harley Pearman

[Steven]

Popped out to the shop to have a look and we're in the firing line tonight, I noticed the overshooting tops in the sunset, it looked quite spectacular. Pity the lightning isn't all that frequent (about 1 every 5-10 secs).

[vrondes]

Report from the hailstorm yesterday the 20th October that went through the Blackheath area of the Blue Mountains. By the way, excellent report and photos from James and Nick, , yes , it was moving rapidly , about 60 kms an hour based on the radar reflectivities. I was in the area bushwalking watching  some decent updrafts going up on the Grose valley side of the tableland. Around 5 pm I could see some solid vertical development taking off north of Blackheath on the Hartley side of the tableland, so I headed off up the highway when a fabulous rain free base greeted me coming towards the tableland just after Mt Boyce. So I stopped at Browntown oval to get a good view of the boiling updraft of the cell and its wonderfully rippled base.






Rain free base moving overhead just before the hail hit with a 5 minute volley before the rain cut in and intensified as it crossed the highway. This was the northern end of the hail as the hail was heavier to the south, size of the hail was mostly 1 to 2cm up to 3.5 cm sporadically. Certainly a very impressive storm to finish off the day,


Cheers, Con.

[Richary]

Hail 'bombs' rip through east coast

News story on the Coffs Harbour/Woolgoolga storms - with video. Actually wouldn't bother watching the video as it takes ages to load and doesn't show anything really interesting except people holding golf ball size hail.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=650823

Hailstones as large as tennis balls pelted the nation's east coast this afternoon after storms rolled in carrying winds of up to 100km/h.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) reported hailstones measuring 7cm were seen in Woolgoolga, NSW, around 3pm (AEDT), while flash storms laid into much of south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales.

A number of ninemsn readers wrote in to tell of their close encounters with the monster hailstones, which varied from marble-size to as big as tennis balls.

"It looked like there were bombs in the swimming pool — it was crazy," Ipswich resident Nathan Pamenter told ninemsn.

"There was a thunderous roar on my roof and could see [the hail] coming down the street like a snowstorm. I've never seen a storm like it."

The BOM said a 100km/h wind was recorded at nearby Amberley shortly before 5pm (AEST).

Vanessa Binnington was caught by surprise at Karana Downs, west of Brisbane, despite being aware of the storm warning.

"One minute the storm was just rumbling, then the hail hit," she said.

"It got so intense. I didn't even have time to get out and move the car."

[vrondes]

Continuing on from the previous post with a photo of the hail,



and some nice knuckles in the updraft with the sun illuminated the hailshaft as the storm headed east,



Cheers again, Con.

[Michael Bath]

These pictures were forwarded from Martha at the Guyra Argus newspaper. A lot of marble sized hail fell in a thunderstorm just before 3pm on 21st Oct.

[Michael Bath]

21 October 2008

Chased yesterday doing a loop down to Grafton via the Summerland Way then back via the Pacific Highway, meeting up with Rodney at Maclean. Fast moving cells are difficult to chase !

I noticed the early convection appeared to form with the accas - or above the inversion evident on the Brisbane sounding. Most of the cells in the Northern Rivers were high based but had very strong features from the mid to upper levels.



A couple of pics of the Woolgoolga / Coffs Harbour area storm tops - the ones that produced the large hail. This first pic is when the storm was just west of Coffs Harbour (02.50UTC on radar)

1.48pm

Two main cells on radar now:


2.45pm

Later on in Grafton. This storm put out the most CGs I saw all day:

4.20pm

A traffic mess in town ensured I could not get better views of the storm. The outflow from it was violent:

4.30pm

Same storm now offshore (SE of Yamba):

4.55pm

Strong looking storm located between Ballina and Evans Head:

5.40pm

This storm to my north dropped hail in parts of Lismore and my place at McLeans Ridges. Hail was only up to 1cm diameter, but 17mm fell.

6.25pm

Same storm cluster now offshore from Broadwater:

7.00pm


All photos for 21 October

---> Grafton radar loop

---> Brisbane radar loop

Regards, Michael

[Michael Bath]

From Weatherzone News this morning

Snow has been falling on the Blue Mountains this morning as a burst of cold, unstable southerly winds surge across the region.

There has been a mix of snow flakes, sleet, hail and thunder. The snow even became heavy for a time in the Katoomba area.

It is a rare event for the region. Snow in October has been reported about five times in the last 50 years.

[Michael Bath]

It appears the person in the attached photo is standing in the hail as it was falling. It was found on the Coffs Coast Advocate website but not sure where in the Coffs Harbour region it was taken.

[Richary]

Michael, looking at the radar now it doesn't look like you are having to chase the storm, it's right over you! Nicve and black on the Brisbane radar as well.

[leo76]

We just had some decent sized hail go over Goonellabah about 30 minutes ago.