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Australian Weather Mailing List Archives: 9th October 1998 |
Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 11:28:50 +1000 From: Michael ScollayOrganization: Telstra Strategy Data & Broadband X-Accept-Language: en To: Aussie Weather Subject: aussie-weather: Cloud SE Oz 19981008 Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com I probably fly interstate at least 45 times a year and always seek a window seat to look at the passing weather and clouds from a different perspective. Yesterday (about 199810080730 UTC + 1hr), I noted one of the largest extents of unbroken "alto-cumulous" (?) that I have seen. Base was about 1000m over Melbourne and higher (about 2500m) over Sydney but the tops stayed at about 5000m for as far as the eye could see. Almost entirely unbroken except for around Lake George, NSW. Such "stability" (except for clear weather) is very rare in my experience. Michael Scollay mailto:michael.scollay at telstra.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 11:41:11 +1000 From: Michael Scollay Organization: Telstra Strategy & Research X-Accept-Language: en To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Subject: aussie-weather: "Kiama cells" Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Matt Smith wrote: > > hey there > i was down kiama way over night,( i live in Burwood) and i remember those > harsh winds yesterday, but did you notice the sky around 5.30 6pm ? was a > site to behold :) > Lucky i had my camera, and from the broadway shopping center carpark i > snapped a pic of 3 small cell's lined up in a row.. great stuff,to the > ocean,from the west..wonder if anyone else saw them..hope the pic comes > out.. anyway i was in kiama,was heading back today around 4-5.30pm, and i > noticed nothing apart from large masses of cloud and that brief period of > rain at around 5.30 in inner teh inner west,i was looking at the sky all > the way back to sydney,(passenger seat;) lots small showers over > wollongong, but other than that.. nothing spectacular.. but dam its > cold...9.5 in sydney at the moment 10 past midnight..one hell of a front > that one ! Well Matt, I saw the "tops" of this formation while flying from Melbourne to Sydney at that time (see previous mail). I recall a few "tufts" emerging from the tops of an otherwise, almost unbroken, layer of "alto-cumulous" at about 5000m that was in the direction of Wollongong/Kiama but it was hard to get proper bearings. The cloud below looking from about 9500m was like a layer of carpet made out of small cotton-wool balls all the same size. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera:-( Michael Scollay mailto:michael.scollay at telstra.com.au -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: wbc at ozemail.com.au (Laurier Williams) To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Cloud SE Oz 19981008 Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 02:25:42 GMT Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by penman.es.mq.edu.au id MAA28418 On Fri, 09 Oct 1998 11:28:50 +1000, Michael Scollay wrote: >I probably fly interstate at least 45 times a year and always seek a >window seat to look at the passing weather and clouds from a different >perspective. Yesterday (about 199810080730 UTC + 1hr), I noted one of >the largest extents of unbroken "alto-cumulous" (?) that I have seen. >Base was about 1000m over Melbourne and higher (about 2500m) over >Sydney but the tops stayed at about 5000m for as far as the eye could >see. Almost entirely unbroken except for around Lake George, NSW. Such >"stability" (except for clear weather) is very rare in my experience. > The CSIRO hires satpix for 199810080450 and 199810080813 show an Ac cloud deck covering almost all NSW and eastern Vic -- they're still available on http://www.marine.csiro.au/~lband/storm/ and the 0450 one is a classic. BTW, it seems that CSIRO marine is giving us a 7 day archive of these monster satpix, so we won't have to dash in and grab each one individually. The time of the next orbit (i.e. image) is given at http://www.marine.csiro.au/~lband/weather.html, though it seems to take more than the stated 45 minutes before the image gets on the site. Congratulations to CSIRO and those on the mailing list that helped to make these excellent satpix available! Laurier Williams Australian Weather Links and News http://www.ozemail.com.au/~wbc/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Paul_Mossman at agd.nsw.gov.au X-Lotus-Fromdomain: NSW_AG To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 12:47:50 +1000 Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Cloud SE Oz 19981008 Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Hey guys!! Hows the weather looking?? It loks like I might have some action here this afternoon! Rapid development to the west , as well as development off the coast ...............brings a smile to the dial!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jane ONeill" To: "Aussie Weather" Subject: aussie-weather: Location & Introduction Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 13:04:47 +1000 X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4 Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com A suggestion to all members of aussie weather.... For those of us who grab our emails on the run throughout the day, it would be make it really easy to pinpoint what was happening where if everyone could include their location as well as their name on every email they send to the list. Saves having to scan through your memory (ancient in my case if we're going for records) with every email to remember who's in northern NSW, who's in southern NSW etc BTW as introductions seem to be the go.... I'm 42, live in Bayswater in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, work in Abbotsford just NE of the CBD, fell in love with storms when I was a kid (esp in Canberra where I spent some of my youth), loved them even more when I lived in Sydney in the early '80s.......and now I have a video camera which allows me to do what I've always wanted to do - record storms and lightning to relive during long Melbourne nights . Have been known to *speed* up Mt Dandenong at the drop of a hat (or the rise of a Cb more accurately) just to sit in a hailstorm for an hour. Why do my friends (and my Dobermann & my GSP) think I'm crazy????? Jane ONeill Melbourne -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jimmy Deguara" To: Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Cloud SE Oz 19981008 Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 13:31:45 +1000 X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Laurier, I had negotiated for quite a while to get these satpics available. Michael Bath was able to negotiate the new setup. However, we can thank Kim Badcock for the work she has done.... Kim.Badcock at marine.csiro.au -----Original Message----- From: Laurier Williams To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Date: Friday, October 09, 1998 12:26 PM Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Cloud SE Oz 19981008 On Fri, 09 Oct 1998 11:28:50 +1000, Michael Scollay wrote: >I probably fly interstate at least 45 times a year and always seek a >window seat to look at the passing weather and clouds from a different >perspective. Yesterday (about 199810080730 UTC + 1hr), I noted one of >the largest extents of unbroken "alto-cumulous" (?) that I have seen. >Base was about 1000m over Melbourne and higher (about 2500m) over >Sydney but the tops stayed at about 5000m for as far as the eye could >see. Almost entirely unbroken except for around Lake George, NSW. Such >"stability" (except for clear weather) is very rare in my experience. > The CSIRO hires satpix for 199810080450 and 199810080813 show an Ac cloud deck covering almost all NSW and eastern Vic -- they're still available on http://www.marine.csiro.au/~lband/storm/ and the 0450 one is a classic. BTW, it seems that CSIRO marine is giving us a 7 day archive of these monster satpix, so we won't have to dash in and grab each one individually. The time of the next orbit (i.e. image) is given at http://www.marine.csiro.au/~lband/weather.html, though it seems to take more than the stated 45 minutes before the image gets on the site. Congratulations to CSIRO and those on the mailing list that helped to make these excellent satpix available! Laurier Williams Australian Weather Links and News http://www.ozemail.com.au/~wbc/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jimmy Deguara" To: Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Location & Introduction Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 13:59:38 +1000 X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Jimmy Deguara, 30 lived in Schofields, Western Sydney NSW. I love severe weather and am one of the chasers. In fact, I lead our group to go straight through a severe heavy rain and hailstorm to observe the hail. The hail measured up to 2cm I would say. Got it all on video. The storm was in SE Qld in Stanthorpe on Monday this week. A nice storm that seemed t go forever. Jimmy -----Original Message----- From: Jane ONeill To: Aussie Weather Date: Friday, October 09, 1998 1:55 PM Subject: aussie-weather: Location & Introduction >A suggestion to all members of aussie weather.... > >For those of us who grab our emails on the run throughout the day, it would >be make it really easy to pinpoint what was happening where if everyone >could include their location as well as their name on every email they send >to the list. > >Saves having to scan through your memory (ancient in my case if we're going >for records) with every email to remember who's in northern NSW, who's in >southern NSW etc > >BTW as introductions seem to be the go.... >I'm 42, live in Bayswater in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, work in >Abbotsford just NE of the CBD, fell in love with storms when I was a kid >(esp in Canberra where I spent some of my youth), loved them even more when >I lived in Sydney in the early '80s.......and now I have a video camera >which allows me to do what I've always wanted to do - record storms and >lightning to relive during long Melbourne nights . Have been known to >*speed* up Mt Dandenong at the drop of a hat (or the rise of a Cb more >accurately) just to sit in a hailstorm for an hour. > >Why do my friends (and my Dobermann & my GSP) think I'm crazy????? > >Jane ONeill >Melbourne > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Paul_Mossman at agd.nsw.gov.au X-Lotus-Fromdomain: NSW_AG To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 14:07:17 +1000 Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Cloud SE Oz 19981008 Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Update from Taree on NSW Mid North Coast...........black clouds now developing to my west......storm is on its way!! Has a green tinge to it....so may get some hail as well. At work at the moment, so cannot see any pics of cloud development as to size or severity.....maybe one of you avid watchers out there could tell me ?? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Paul_Mossman at agd.nsw.gov.au X-Lotus-Fromdomain: NSW_AG To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 14:16:48 +1000 Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Location & Introduction Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com My names Paul Mossman, live at Mitchells Island near Taree, am 26, work with the Attorney Generals Department and have always loved weather, began keeping a rain guage at the age of 8..........and been "in love" since!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Michael Thompson" To: Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Location & Introduction Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 15:27:38 +1000 X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Ummm...you are not supposed to go core punching, Jimmy ! Actually folks we were trying to get to the northern side and chose a road that unfortunately looped us right into core, completely accidental. I say unfortunate as I believe the best storm structure photos were just about to happen. Jimmy however was thrilled with the hail, and it does do wonders to take off 3 days of accumualted bugs on the car. Seeing that intros are all the go....( and may I add how happy I am that this mailing list is working so good.) I am one of the elders of this group at 41, have been chasing storms, floods and snow since the early 1970's. I live at Mt Warrigal which is near Shellharbour, NSW. Michael >Jimmy Deguara, 30 lived in Schofields, Western Sydney NSW. I love severe >weather and am one of the chasers. In fact, I lead our group to go straight >through a severe heavy rain and hailstorm to observe the hail. The hail >measured up to 2cm I would say. Got it all on video. The storm was in SE Qld >in Stanthorpe on Monday this week. A nice storm that seemed t go forever. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 16:40:35 +1000 From: david.croan at agal.gov.au (David Croan) Subject: aussie-weather: St. Leonards tornado?? - Jan 1996 To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Content-Description: cc:Mail note part Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Hi all Well I have been reading some of the intros so I thought I had better pitch in.. I am 27 years old and have been a storm watcher for as long as I can remember and have been chasing a few storms around Sydney since 1995. Despite having observed many severe storms, my most memorable moment was meeting up with some other Chasers at Rooty Hill recently as part of the chase tour Jimmy organised (Unfortunately I did not get out of Sydney this time) even though a lack of low level moisture stopped things from bubbling. I certainly look forward to chasing with, and learning from you guys again soon. Below, for those interested, I have just written some of my recollections of a severe storm which moved through the lower Nth shore of Sydney a few years back. David Croan Paul (Graham) has just shown me a photo of what is probably the "St Leonards Tornado" which occurred on the 20 th January 1996, a picture which I presume many Sydney spotters/chasers have already seen. I remember this storm for two reasons; firstly my friend and fellow storm observer, Darren had bought his first new car on the day, and second we were, by accident, in the path of the storm as I had to do some experiments at my then lab (UTS St Leonards campus). I remember watching storms developing to the west and a large storm moving some distance to the south of us before we heard the severe ts warning on local radio. As soon as we looked out the window (which is 5 storeys up and on elevated ground facing north to Chatswood) at the approaching storm, Darren raced downstairs and drove his car up onto the gutter under the protection of the building. My recollections are of the straight line winds, which are the strongest I have ever experienced, particularly intense lightning, extremely heavy rain but no hail. In the aftermath, I was not all that surprised when I read in the report of the 20th Jan storms by Jimmy and Michael (http://australiansevereweather.simplenet.com/storm_news/issue04/docs/ iss04-11.htm) that a spotter sighted a funnel in the St. Leonards area. However, getting back to the photo, I was surprised by the large size of what is probably the funnel. A thinner cloud (funnel?) also appears to protrude back almost horizontally from the larger cloud (being undercut by outflow??) and appears to be in contact with the ground, although it is hard to tell. The cloud tags seem to suggest that the larger cloud is rotating although this also is impossible to call based on the photo alone. I notice that, judging from where the photo was taken, the approximate location of the probable funnel is approximately over the Cammeray golf course area where I observed several large trees down on the fairway, including one with a diameter of at about 1 metre. I remember that a friend who lived in a unit at Crows Nest had commented that "it was like being in a cyclone". As I was driving home after the storm, I saw scaffolding which had been blown down and onto the Pacific Hwy at the St. Leonard's station railway bridge, although the apparent strength of the straight line winds could certainly account for such damage. Nevertheless it is interesting that the more intense damage which I observed appeared to be confined to a narrow east-west line...was this a part of the St. Leonards tornado damage path?? It still bugs me that it did not bother to look more extensively at the damage patterns/locations and also at what I just may have seen had I looked out the other side of the building!. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 16:48:39 +1000 From: Anthony Cornelius To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Location & Introduction Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Good idea Jane... I'm Anthony Cornelius, I live in eastern suburbs of Brisbane, I'm one of the "youngins" in this list, I am 16 and I finish grade 12 this year (woohoo!!) I've been obssessed with weather for as long as I can remember Jane ONeill wrote: > A suggestion to all members of aussie weather.... > > For those of us who grab our emails on the run throughout the day, it > would > be make it really easy to pinpoint what was happening where if > everyone > could include their location as well as their name on every email they > send > to the list. > > Saves having to scan through your memory (ancient in my case if we're > going > for records) with every email to remember who's in northern NSW, who's > in > southern NSW etc > > BTW as introductions seem to be the go.... > I'm 42, live in Bayswater in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, work in > > Abbotsford just NE of the CBD, fell in love with storms when I was a > kid > (esp in Canberra where I spent some of my youth), loved them even more > when > I lived in Sydney in the early '80s.......and now I have a video > camera > which allows me to do what I've always wanted to do - record storms > and > lightning to relive during long Melbourne nights . Have been known > to > *speed* up Mt Dandenong at the drop of a hat (or the rise of a Cb more > > accurately) just to sit in a hailstorm for an hour. > > Why do my friends (and my Dobermann & my GSP) think I'm crazy????? > > Jane ONeill > Melbourne > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jimmy Deguara" To: Subject: Re: aussie-weather: St. Leonards tornado?? - Jan 1996 Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 17:36:47 +1000 X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com I was the who one rang in to initiate the warning. The storm began in my region and moved SE. We had very strong winds, hail, and very heavy rain. Trees were uprooted and branches snapped off. Thanks Michael Bath for reminding me of MR Kim. Jimmy Deguara -----Original Message----- From: David Croan To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Date: Friday, October 09, 1998 4:46 PM Subject: aussie-weather: St. Leonards tornado?? - Jan 1996 > Hi all > > Well I have been reading some of the intros so I thought I had better > pitch in.. I am 27 years old and have been a storm watcher for as long > as I can remember and have been chasing a few storms around Sydney > since 1995. Despite having observed many severe storms, my most > memorable moment was meeting up with some other Chasers at Rooty Hill > recently as part of the chase tour Jimmy organised (Unfortunately I > did not get out of Sydney this time) even though a lack of low level > moisture stopped things from bubbling. I certainly look forward to > chasing with, and learning from you guys again soon. > > Below, for those interested, I have just written some of my > recollections of a severe storm which moved through the lower Nth > shore of Sydney a few years back. > > David Croan > > > Paul (Graham) has just shown me a photo of what is probably the "St > Leonards Tornado" which occurred on the 20 th January 1996, a picture > which I presume many Sydney spotters/chasers have already seen. I > remember this storm for two reasons; firstly my friend and fellow > storm observer, Darren had bought his first new car on the day, and > second we were, by accident, in the path of the storm as I had to do > some experiments at my then lab (UTS St Leonards campus). I remember > watching storms developing to the west and a large storm moving some > distance to the south of us before we heard the severe ts warning on > local radio. As soon as we looked out the window (which is 5 storeys > up and on elevated ground facing north to Chatswood) at the > approaching storm, Darren raced downstairs and drove his car up onto > the gutter under the protection of the building. My recollections are > of the straight line winds, which are the strongest I have ever > experienced, particularly intense lightning, extremely heavy rain but > no hail. > > In the aftermath, I was not all that surprised when I read in the > report of the 20th Jan storms by Jimmy and Michael > (http://australiansevereweather.simplenet.com/storm_news/issue04/docs/ > iss04-11.htm) that a spotter sighted a funnel in the St. Leonards > area. However, getting back to the photo, I was surprised by the large > size of what is probably the funnel. A thinner cloud (funnel?) also > appears to protrude back almost horizontally from the larger cloud > (being undercut by outflow??) and appears to be in contact with the > ground, although it is hard to tell. The cloud tags seem to suggest > that the larger cloud is rotating although this also is impossible to > call based on the photo alone. I notice that, judging from where the > photo was taken, the approximate location of the probable funnel is > approximately over the Cammeray golf course area where I observed > several large trees down on the fairway, including one with a diameter > of at about 1 metre. I remember that a friend who lived in a unit at > Crows Nest had commented that "it was like being in a cyclone". As I > was driving home after the storm, I saw scaffolding which had been > blown down and onto the Pacific Hwy at the St. Leonard's station > railway bridge, although the apparent strength of the straight line > winds could certainly account for such damage. Nevertheless it is > interesting that the more intense damage which I observed appeared to > be confined to a narrow east-west line...was this a part of the St. > Leonards tornado damage path?? > > It still bugs me that it did not bother to look more extensively at > the damage patterns/locations and also at what I just may have seen > had I looked out the other side of the building!. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: paulmoss at tpgi.com.au Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 17:47:29 +1000 To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Subject: aussie-weather: Taree Weather Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Well.........things are brewing here at Taree.............we have just had heavey rain for 45 mins......already got 25.1mm.............and things are looking better and better towards the west. The radio has issued a revised forecast (supposedly) from the BOM which says we can expect thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow! How convenient! Anyway......w.ill let u know of further developments! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: paulmoss at tpgi.com.au Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 17:50:42 +1000 To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Subject: aussie-weather: Organised storm chase. Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Does anybody know whent the next organised storm chase will be?? Jimmy.........?? Thanx.......cause I would love to be part of it........and need to organise the time of work! Paul from Taree. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jimmy Deguara" To: Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Organised storm chase. Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 17:52:42 +1000 X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com The next organised storm chase will be next year but all chasers are encouraged to report possible severe weather outlooks based on personal observations. This will enable others to plan weekends away. During the spring period, if the potential is there, we will chase in areas out from Sydney wherever the action is. Jimmy -----Original Message----- From: paulmoss at tpgi.com.au To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Date: Friday, October 09, 1998 5:50 PM Subject: aussie-weather: Organised storm chase. >Does anybody know whent the next organised storm chase will be?? >Jimmy.........?? >Thanx.......cause I would love to be part of it........and need to organise the >time of work! >Paul from Taree. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: wbc at ozemail.com.au (Laurier Williams) To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Location & Introduction Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 08:02:52 GMT Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by penman.es.mq.edu.au id SAA29746 Mmmm... Laurier (aka Laurie) Williams here. If Michael is one of the elders of this group at 41, then at 52 I must be grandfather. OK. Introductions........ Like everyone so far on this thread, I got hooked on storms, rain and snow in early childhood -- my earliest memories are standing on a chair in our old house in Cremorne, an inner northern suburb of Sydney, looking out the window at the rain splashing in the puddles in our back yard. My primary school years were during the wet 1950s, and sloshing home via flooded gutters was a favourite occupation. The snowy 1960s also coincided with my first car -- a Morris Mini -- and I engaged in some early forms of storm/snow chasing, mainly as an ancillary to my other love of the time which was tearing around the countryside photographing steam trains before they vanished from our daily lives. While the feel and drama of the weather continues to thrill me, the weather bug bit hard enough in recent years for me to get heavily into the data side of weather. I went online with Weather Bureau data in the late 1970s, first using the old AXM radio-teletype transmissions from Canberra, which required an incredibly specialised knowledge, none of which I possessed, of shortwave radio technicalities, electronics, teleprinters and international weather codes. Manuals or explanatory information were non-existent, and I never did get to find another person with the same combination of interests -- i.e. receiving and decoding weather data by shortwave radio-teletype. Somehow I got it all working. The data came in printed on long rolls of paper, and I learnt more about meteorology from manually plotting these surface and upper obs on outline maps of the country I had printed up than I learnt before or since. When AXM closed down and "free to air" weather data ceased in the early 80s, I began to get Bureau data via telex. I lived with my wife at Glebe then, and the teleprinter lived in the room next to our bedroom, with a strict instruction that it was turned *off* between midnight and 6am. This lead to some tense situations on nights of particularly interesting weather! In the late 80s, the Bureau switched to delivery by landline direct to computer, so the midnight to 6am curfew was lifted, and I have saved every skerrick of data received since then -- basically the entire daily reporting rain and climatological network for Australia. My fascination with the "systems" side of meteorology has been given a mighty wallop forward by the Internet, which I reckon was conceived entirely to facilitate the dissemination of weather information for us folk. I started my Weather Links and News homepage at http://www.ozemail.com.au/~wbc/ in August 1996 because I was frustrated to find that there was lots of information on Australian weather coming out on the net, but most people I knew didn't know about it, and still thought that the Bureau of Meteorology was the only True Source. When I'm not running Williams Business College in North Sydney or Parramatta, I'm living with my wife and 2 poodles at Blackheath, just north of Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. We had sleet and sago snow last Tuesday, and have a great range of gales, thunderstorms and fogs, sometimes all at once. My other interests are riding sports motorcycles, bushwalking, camping, photography, UK canal boats and travel generally. This thread seems to have become the machine for introducing us to one another, but I'd agree with the first writer that it makes sense when we write in to describe current weather that we say *where* we are at the time. I'd also add that it helps to check that your computer's clock is correct, so that the time/date stamp on the email is right. Here's hoping for some storms in eastern NSW during the weekend as a small low winds up off the coast! Cheers Laurier Williams -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 18:20:38 +1000 From: Paul Mossman To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Subject: aussie-weather: Total Totals Index for tomorrow! Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Hey has anybody checked the total totals index for tomorrow?? It is suggesting that there is a possibility for severe storms for the south eastern part of Australia! Chasers get ready!! I already filled the car with a full tank in anticipation.......lets hope it comes off! What do you guys think? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jimmy Deguara" To: Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Total Totals Index for tomorrow! Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 18:27:26 +1000 X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com If the cloud band slipped off the coast and left instability, then it will happen... Jimmy Deguara from Schofields -----Original Message----- From: Paul Mossman To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Date: Friday, October 09, 1998 6:20 PM Subject: aussie-weather: Total Totals Index for tomorrow! >Hey has anybody checked the total totals index for tomorrow?? It is >suggesting that there is a possibility for severe storms for the south >eastern part of Australia! Chasers get ready!! I already filled the car with >a full tank in anticipation.......lets hope it comes off! What do you guys >think? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Blair Trewin Subject: aussie-weather: Introduction To: aussie-weather at world.std.com (Aussie Weather) Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 18:40:20 +1000 (EST) Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Now that introducing ourselves appears to be in fashion, I'll jump in.... I'm 27, grew up in Canberra but moved to Melbourne in 1994 to start a PhD and have been here since. I've been fascinated by weather, and in particular weather extremes, since the early years of primary school, although it was only as an undergraduate at ANU that I became seriously interested in climatology as a potential professional interest - my background was largely in mathematics originally. I'm in the closing stages (hopefully!) of writing a PhD thesis on trends in the frequency of extreme temperature events in Australia, jointly between Melbourne Uni and the Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre. Whilst doing this I became very interested in the issue of data quality and developing techniques for detecting quality problems and creating high-quality data sets. This led to my 15 minutes of meteorological fame when I wrote a paper finding major problems with the supposed Australian record high temperature at Cloncurry, which (perhaps because it came out in the middle of the silly season) created quite a media splash and ended up in a televised verbal stoush with the Mayor on Channel 9. I've just started working at the National Climate Centre with a brief to develop systems for improved quality control of the Bureau's data. I'm also editor of the Bulletin of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society which is open to all those interested in meteorology or oceanography, not just those who are professionals in the field, so we'd love to see you , and run a web page of Australian temperature extremes (http://mullara.met.unimelb.edu.au:8080/home/blair/ extremes/extpage.html). Outside meteorology/climatology I'm heavily involved with orienteering, and hope to go to the World Championships next year, selectors willing. Blair Trewin Data Management, National Climate Centre/School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Michael Thompson"To: Subject: aussie-weather: Great Chase - some video stills Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 20:04:06 +1000 X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Hi Everyone. I have put some video stills from the organised group chase into northern NSW / southern QLD. On this stage of the chase were Jimmy Deguara, Clive (Hayward? ), Paul Yole and Michael Thompson. This is just a temporary page until I write an article and get the real photos back from processing. http://thunder.simplenet.com/chase/051098.htm Michael Thompson http://thunder.simplenet.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 21:38:11 +1000 (EST) From: Paul Graham To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Subject: aussie-weather: Location + Identity... Reply-Receipt: pgraham1 at extro.ucc.su.oz.au Reply-Read: pgraham1 at mail.usyd.edu.au Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com Hi everyone, Since everyone is introducing themselves to the list I'll introduce myself too. I am 21 years old and living in North Ryde, NSW. Presently, I am studying Computer Science at Macquarie Uni. but I have also completed a unit in Meteorology (GEOS 216). I have long been interested in the weather - especially the severe weather events we occasionally experience here in Sydney. My weather obsession started when I was in primary school and I read the Time/Life "Storm" book which has some awesome pictures of severe storms over the Great Plains of the US along with a good introduction to the subject. Around the same time (1988), a representative from the Bureau of Meteorology visited our school to give a talk. He handed out some brochures, one of which was on Severe Storms (with a picture of the Sandon Tornado) and this fuelled my interest. I recall numerous spectacular storms here in Sydney and I'll recount a few memorable ones here: Early 1980's: remember a number of intense electrical storms in Spring and Summer followed by power outages. Late 1980's: (Possibly April 1987 but not sure) Observed spectacular roll cloud preceding thunderstorm. Mid afternoon but very dark - street lights switch on. Very intense lightning followed by a power outage. 1988 or '89: Observed a wide area of rotation in a Spring or early Summer storm from school looking towards Chatswood - intense lightning. Some friends were also watching this rotation in the clouds and I recall telling them that I thought the storm is "tornadic". I don't recall hearing of any tornado with this storm though. 1990 March - Unfortunately, I was not at home to see this storm but I am told we had one of our windows smashed by a hail stone the size of a hen's egg - this storm was thought to be a left moving supercell like the one that followed in Jan, 1991. 1991 January - Storm that caused millions of dollars worth of damage - some debate afterwards as to whether it was a tornado or a microburst. Radar imagery shows a bow echo a various stages indicating the presence of a mesocyclone. Study of the damage suggested it was most probably a microburst but a tornado was not totally discounted. A relative living in Turrumurra said she was terrified and had never seen anything like it - thought it was a tornado - described the winds as blowing one way and then in the opposite direction - many windows smashed by large hail and a pine tree fell through her roof. 1993 or '94: I think the month was May but I remember being at school in class and a tremendous storm came through with small hail. The wind was thunderous and I thought for a while that the roof would blow off since the building was shaking. Many trees uprooted. Intererstingly, I don't recall any lightning. 1994: November - possibly...I recall a storm front coming through - with a turbulent roll cloud and intense lightning. As the cloud passed over the pressure dropped so quickly that my ears popped (reminded me of going up in an aircraft). Then the wind came whistling through for about 30 seconds but there was only minor tree damage. A couple of buildings in Chatswood had some of their windows blow out due to the sudden pressure drop. I found our recycling bin (small plastic container) had been blown to the end of the street but it wasn't particularly heavy. There have been many more storms than this but these are just a few particularly memorable ones. My current weather project is to set up a satellite imagery receiving station at Macquarie Uni. I have nearly finished this with the kind help of one the Physics staff. Hopefully it will provide another source of high-res satellite imagery for weather entheusiasts. That's all for now, I'll keep you posted about any interesting weather or related info. - Paul.
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