We headed down the escarpment towards the coast and had lunch at Bellingen. The air was extremely humid and a fresh northeasterly was blowing here. Weak towers were developing but nothing substantial. So we progressed to a vantage point north of Urungah. The change could be observed to the south moving up the coast. The cumulus to our north began to strengthen so we moved again through Coffs Harbour towards Corindi Beach. Nick was to our north. It was extremely hot and humid but we enjoyed the very crisp towers rising almost overhead. It seemed to maintain its structure for some time and had gone through the glaciation stage. What was exciting though was that we were looking at the development in the triple point. There was a tower also to the north and it looked quite nice so we aimed for that cell. After all, our cell seemed to not be doing much.

Heading north was nothing but a mistake!!! Firstly the cell to the north collapsed not long afterwards. Second - the cell to our south which we were so close to had taken off perhaps offshore very close to the region and had drifted left up the coast producing a lightning show. We observed some of the lightning from Ballina.

Sunday, 2nd December 2001

In the morning we drove up to Michael Bath's place and checked the models and satpics and watched some video footage of what we had seen so far. Anthony Cornelius and Andrew Macdonald also arrived and we compared notes for an hour or so.

There was not much promise for the day. We headed off to Tenterfield and had a nice roadside barbeque, the only problem being that the flies thought that they were invited, too. We watched some storm development further north in Queensland and decided to get closer. By the time we had got to just north of Stanthorpe, the storms had weakened considerably. We paid a courtesy visit to the lookout above Stanthorpe (as there was no more storm activity to observe). We then headed back to Tenterfield and stayed the night at a local caravan park.

Sunday 2nd December 2001

This day did not look too good except for the development of storms near or north of the border ranges. Anthony Cornelius and Andrew MacDonald had a ball on this event. We observed some explosive updraught towers which they were onto - lucky them. We gave chase but the storms progressively weakened with development further north. So we turned around and headed to Glen Innes for the night.

Monday, 3rd December 2001

A check of the models and satpics led us to the conclusion that the activity of the day would be around the Dorrigo region again. Jimmy correctly pointed out that there would be storm activity in Sydney, it was just too far for us to travel in one stage to get there.

So in the still coolness of the morning we headed off along the New England Highway towards Glen Innes. We took a detour to the Sinclair Lookout on Inverell Road. All of the development was occurring in the Dorrigo region, so we headed back through Glen Innes and on to Ebor. While we were eating lunch, we kept our eyes on a large storm to our south east. We travelled on to Dorrigo where a brief observation stop revealed that the storm was on the escarpment and heading towards the coast. One disadvantage of travelling between Dorrigo and Bellingen is that as the road goes down the escarpment, the topography and the rainforest combine to make any observation of the weather very difficult. After roadwork delays, we emerged into more open space near Bellingen to see that the storm had weakened considerably as it approached Coffs Harbour. We took some photos of the weakening cell and enjoyed dodging some large raindrops.

It was hot and there was no further development so we headed south along the Pacific Highway towards Macksville where another weak storm was observed. It soon collapsed, however, Jimmy received the first of a few phone calls informing him of the severe storm outbreak that hit the Sydney region. Strong outflow winds were the main feature of these high based storms, with a record wind gust being measured at Richmond.

We could get into position near Kempsey to intercept this storm system as it moved up the coast. The timing was perfect as the line of storms appeared over the horizon just as the sun set. The line had developed many of the characteristics of an MCS complex. As we set up our tripods and cameras, it was difficult to decide which cell to concentrate on. For me, as it turned out, it did not matter, as in the dark I had accidentally bumped the shutter speed selector on my camera off the 'bulb' setting. As I am partly deaf and also due to the excitement of observing this storm complex, I did not notice the double click of the camera as I took each shot. The end result: one and a half rolls of blank film! The lightning displays were impressive as different cells appeared to take turns in being the most active. There were CCs, anvil crawlers and CGs with seemingly infinite combinations of all three. It is difficult to put into words what we were seeing. Jimmy's and Nick's video records of the night are the best way to experience what we observed. As the storms got closer, we moved north - north east along the South West Rocks Road taking every opportunity to stop and film the amazing sight. Eventually, of course, we could go no further as we reached the coast. It was now well after midnight, so we tried to search for accommodation as the storms passed overhead. South West Rocks is a typical sleepy coastal town and there was not a motel or caravan park that was open to receive visitors. We slowly travelled over the road back to the highway, which was awash in places after the heavy rainfall, and eventually reached the 24 hour motel at Kempsey. We were exhausted but elated. Initially it was difficult to get to sleep but in the early hours of the morning we managed to get a few hours of well earned sleep.

Monday 3rd December 2001

This was yet another day where wind shear was ideal but the cap was very strong. There were potential targets further to the west along the trough where even supercells were possible but also along the coastal strip if the cap could be broken, it was also a potential target. We positioned ourselves at a lookout firstly near Glen Innes. But the dreaded northwest winds developed so we headed east of town. Towers were developing nearer Ebor but also to the far south and southwest.

It was inevitable: the cumulus to the east were too tempting. Heading southeast, we made it to Ebor where we had lunch. Wow!! A storm had developed nearer Dorrigo. We were off in a flash. As we neared Dorrigo, it became clearer that the storm was just east or southeast of Dorrigo. We watched from the usual vantage point with intermittent cg's. We finally gave chase but were not able to intercept the storm passing to its south near Bellingen. It was hot and humid with high dewpoints. The northeaster was again blowing indicating just how shallow the moisture layer was. More cells kept developing along the same range where the initial storms had developed. I suspect hail would have been reported from the first storm and some other storms. What amazed me was that the storms were crisp and shallow but maintained for some time. The last one we observed was near Macksville to the south of the Bellingen area. It had backbuilt for about an hour.

Next move? There was occasional static oberved on the radio. We checked the internet and observed that the trough had developed rapidly to the west. So we headed south towards Kempsey. Anvils were extending through though the main storms were well to the west and southwest. An advice had been issued for the whole region. Around Kempsey, it was quite interesting. We had to wait as storms began to show up after sunset. The northeaster was blowing quite fresh.

Lightning obviously increased in frequency as the cells neared. There were some strong bolts mainly to the south. Another intense cell passed in the region probable near Bulahdelah. Nick snuck onto the other side of the road and got this impressive shot with myself silhouetted within the lightning. The rest of the night was great with the storms combining into a Meso Convective Complex. You know when this happens, you are in for a lightning show. After making to South West Rocks we headed throught the rain and back to Kempsey for accommodation. We had heard about the severe storms and damage caused by storms in Sydney (severe microbursts) and similarly at Tamworth.

Tuesday, 4th December 2001

More severe storms are forecast for the mid to far north east of NSW and inland as far as Tamworth and Gunnedah. The AVN supports this but the area of best convergence, LI, CAPE and humidity looks to be in the Coffs Harbour region. We move to the lookout / picnic area north of Urunga at the Repton turn-off. The waiting game begins.

At around 1:45pm the first organised storm for the day takes off just to the west of us. Right from the beginning it demonstrates good turning from the lower levels through the mid-levels and into the upper levels. The turning is from NE lower level winds to WSW in the upper levels. The LI in our region is reported to be -8 to -9. The storm becomes isolated with nothing to the north of it. There are strong updrafts on the back end of the storm. After about half an hour the storm is taking on LP characteristics as it develops on the dryline. There is a strong corkscrew updraft on the back end. We give chase as the storm heads towards the coast. After Jimmy and I took a scenic detour trying to find a way through on local roads, we finally met up with Nick and his chase partner again at North Beach, Mylestrom.

Here we watched the LP supercell develop into a classic supercell complex out to sea. As we watched the further development of the earlier storm and a smaller storm that developed inland behind us, we realised that a SE change was moving up the coast south of us and that there was a supercell that had developed on the moist SE inflow. The North Beach life saver who was on duty said that it looked like it was heading towards Scotts Head.

We headed south west along the highway to see what we could see. We stopped at Warrell Creek on the Scotts Head Road to take some photos and then moved on to Scotts Head where we were able to photograph the inflow band and some nice lowerings as the storm moved out to sea.

We stopped at Nambucca River Caravan Park near Macksville. The area is quite idyllic but Jimmy has voted it the mosquito capital of Australia. At night it is very wise to stay behind the protection of the insect screens.

Tuesday 4th December 2001

Jimmy Deguara's account on the same day

Even from the night before, this was shaping up to be an incredible event!!! Surface Lifted Index had been moderated by the models to -8 or so though the moisture profile was more ideal around Coffs Harbour. Wind shear would improve during the afternoon. A front was heading up the coast with mid-level moisture alon this wind change. So we took our time doing some shopping and gradually made our way to Coffs Harbour.

We parked near the usual vantage point north of Urunga. Cumulus towers were developing and collapsing over the hills near Dorrigo. Finally, one impressive tower broke the cap near the escarpment. It reminded me of the development of the first cell on the 5th November 2000 except the base was a little higher. It towered and glaciated almost overhead. More towers developed behind with this cell weakening just to our northeast.

The afternoon became a procession of small based tall cells which I immediately suspected to be LP cells (perhaps the odd LP supercell). Nothing was developing to the immediate north yet as we neared North Beach, numerous cells were developing and glaciating to the south.

An advice was issued for the region from around Kempsey to Evans Head. Wierd - it seems there may have been a stronger cap further north or a shallower moisture layer. The cells developed and moved off the coast with the occasional cell moving right almost heading backwards. After some time filming these cells merging off the coast into a complex, I took interest in the anvils to the southwest. A southeast change was moving up the coast with stratocumulus moving inland.

So we made the move - and it was like a timing device. It was like we had triggered something! The cells off the coast had begun to consolidate and were becoming larger. They were rapdily organising. Even within 10 minutes just short of the main highway - the cells were aligning into a flanking line step structure. But as we headed south, it was finally obvious the complex were organising into a massive supercell - truly awesome!!! As we headed south, this was filmed and photographed at any availablke opportunity. It was one of the few times you were happy to be in traffic...

We eventually parked ourselves nearer Warrell Creek. A storm had developed to the west on the northern side of the cluttered complex of storms. This gradually approached producing a couple of major updraught pulses observed from the crisp side anvil (Anthony Cornelius also confirmed this). I could see slight overall storm rotation. The rear flank downdraught precipitation was separated from the rainfree base. But the winds being southeast were not ideal to maintain this activity. The storm gradually began to weaken on approach even though hail probably occurred to our south. The storms from this point on were not that impressive even once we headed towards the coast.

Wednesday, 5th December 2001

The models did not show much chance for activity today, except for SE Queensland. As Nick had to head back to Sydney and there is nothing promising for the rest of the week, the vote was to return to Sydney.

The longish drive allowed us to review the chase and also to observe some of the damage to trees, which first became evident in the Bulahdelah area, from either the 24th November, 30th November or 3rd December storms. It was difficult to be sure which storm caused the damage and this demonstrated the unusual nature of the Bulahdelah region, which seems to attract more than it's fair share of severe storms. There was also some more severe damage on the northern outskirts of Sydney, most likely just from the 3rd December storm.

After reaching home, we organised for our films to be developed and then settled for a welcome rest before returning to work on the following Monday.