|
Storm News
[Index][Aussie-Wx] |
Australian Weather Mailing List Archives: Wednesday, 12 April 2000 |
From Subject
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
001 "Kevin Phyland" [kjphyland at hotmail.com] Links...
002 Miguel de Salas [mm_de at postoffice.utas.edu.au Oil fired power station
003 Lindsay [writer at lisp.com.au] The Low tracking east
004 Malcolm Ninnes [NinnesM at franklins.com.au] small funnel
005 Lindsay [writer at lisp.com.au] Hail Stories/Blasts from the Past
006 Carl Smith [carls at ace-net.com.au] SUMMARY: February TC Summary - Part 2
007 "Michael Thompson" [michaelt at ozemail.com.au] Hail Stories/Blasts from the Past
008 Jimmy Deguara [jdeguara at ihug.com.au] Hail Stories/Blasts from the Past
009 "David Croan" [wxbustchase at hotmail.com] Hail Stories/Blasts from the Past
010 Jimmy Deguara [jdeguara at ihug.com.au] Storm News
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
001
X-Originating-IP: [203.166.12.205]
From: "Kevin Phyland" [kjphyland at hotmail.com]
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Subject: aus-wx: Links...
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 23:58:57 EST
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Hi every1,
I nearly had a disaster with my computer the other day and thought I'd lost
all my bookmarked sites...so I decided to archive them.
They're unsorted, probably all well-known, (and quite esoteric - I guess I
show my weird tastes) but feel free to browse...
http://www5.50megs.com/wycheproof1/links.html
Cheers,
Kevin from Wycheproof.
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
To unsubscribe from aussie-weather send e-mail to:majordomo at world.std.com
with "unsubscribe aussie-weather your_email_address" in the body of your
message.
-----------------------jacob at iinet.net.au------------------------------
002
X-Sender: mm_de at postoffice.utas.edu.au
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.6 (32)
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 09:57:11 +1000
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
From: Miguel de Salas [mm_de at postoffice.utas.edu.au]
Subject: Re: aus-wx: Oil fired power station
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
At 08:07 PM 11-04-2000 +1000, you wrote:
>Hello Everyone
>
>This is probably not the place to mention this (those of a sensitive
>nature may wish to delete this email) but we have had some very nice
>weather lately!
>It has been balmy, max temps around 19C, minimum's around 8C, sunshine
>all day with light winds.
>The result is the Hydro Electric Commission has started to take the oil
>fired power station out of mothballs. The long term storage dams are
>both below 50% of capacity (Lake Gordon, Great Lakes). The oil fired
>power station will be required if we continue this drier than normal
>weather.
>There is a climate conference in Hobart. One of the media releases has
>the strong westerly winds heading south. This has caused the Jem fish to
>stop breading, there is also concern for the abalone and crayfish
>breading in Tasmanian waters.
>
>Chas
>Strahan Tasmania
The period between April 99 and April 2000 has been officially the driest
ever on record in SE Tasmania. I think it's similar on the West Coast: Lake
Burbury, on the King river, is running at 9% capacity. Lake Rowallan and
Lake Macintosh are also running in the low teens.
Miguel de Salas
School of Plant Science,
University of Tasmania,
PO Box 252-55, Sandy Bay, Hobart
Tasmania, Australia, 7001.
mailto://mm_de at postoffice.utas.edu.au
My Moths Page:
http://members.xoom.com/migueldes/moths/moths.html
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
To unsubscribe from aussie-weather send e-mail to:majordomo at world.std.com
with "unsubscribe aussie-weather your_email_address" in the body of your
message.
-----------------------jacob at iinet.net.au------------------------------
003
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 00:12:43 -0700
From: Lindsay [writer at lisp.com.au]
X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (Win16; I)
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Subject: aus-wx: The Low tracking east
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Anybody got any thoughts/info on that low coming our way?
Any decent potential in cold weather reaching the Cent. Tablelands?
Lindsay P.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
To unsubscribe from aussie-weather send e-mail to:majordomo at world.std.com
with "unsubscribe aussie-weather your_email_address" in the body of your
message.
-----------------------jacob at iinet.net.au------------------------------
004
From: Malcolm Ninnes [NinnesM at franklins.com.au]
To: "'aussie-weather at world.std.com'" [aussie-weather at world.std.com]
Subject: aus-wx: small funnel
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 13:26:16 +1000
X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2448.0)
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Hi all,
Just saw a small funnel cloud from Strathfield (NSW), looking NW at 1245
today. It persisted for approximately 45-60 seconds, eventually roping out
and becoming drawn into the main cloud base. Rotation was evident, even
from the distance at which I was viewing. What are the odds, I was having
lunch in a park that I haven't been to for months, and BINGO. Pity I didn't
have my camera with me.
Did anyone else see anything around this time? The chances are extremely
slim.....
Malcolm Ninnes
Unix Systems Admin / Operations Support
National Technical Services - Franklins Ltd
Ph. (02) 9722-1862
ninnesm at franklins.com.au
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
To unsubscribe from aussie-weather send e-mail to:majordomo at world.std.com
with "unsubscribe aussie-weather your_email_address" in the body of your
message.
-----------------------jacob at iinet.net.au------------------------------
005
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 05:08:39 -0700
From: Lindsay [writer at lisp.com.au]
X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (Win16; I)
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Subject: aus-wx: Hail Stories/Blasts from the Past
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Reading Jimmy Deguara's story on the Sydney hail storm of 1983 in Storm
News - Winter edition, reminded me of a fantastic hail storm we had in
the late seventies.
I can't remember the year, although I know I was in high school at the
time, (Maybe 1978 or 1979) and it hailed VERY heavily, such that we made
snow men in the school grounds that morning (I think it was morning) and
I remember seeing a guy removing hail from his guttering on the way home
that day. I also climbed onto our roof and found hail still there the
day after the storm! Maybe it was during winter, I can't recall.
The park near our place in "Bevo" (Beverly Hills) was inches deep with
hail and it really did look like a snow scene. The hail was probably
five to ten cent piece size, going on memory, with maybe the odd bigger
stone.
Anyway, Jimmy's story reminded me of my own highschool hail storm
experience. poufflkjsldjdljfdusiuf, oops sorry, my Jack Russell just
jumped onto my lap and the keyboard!
Blair, Don or others, any way of pin pointing the year/month etc, of
that storm?
Do others recall it? It was the best I have ever seen.
Lindsay Pearce
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
To unsubscribe from aussie-weather send e-mail to:majordomo at world.std.com
with "unsubscribe aussie-weather your_email_address" in the body of your
message.
-----------------------jacob at iinet.net.au------------------------------
006
X-Sender: carls at ford.ace-net.com.au
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 16:58:31 +1000
To: Aussie Weather List [aussie-weather at world.std.com]
From: Carl Smith [carls at ace-net.com.au]
Subject: aus-wx: SUMMARY: February TC Summary - Part 2
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
MONTHLY GLOBAL TROPICAL CYCLONE SUMMARY
FEBRUARY, 2000
(For general comments about the nature of these summaries, as well as
information on how to download the tabular cyclone track files, see
the Author's Note at the end of this summary.)
NOTE: The February summary is being issued in two installments. This
second installment covers the Australian Region and the South Pacific.
The first installment, covering the Southwest Indian Ocean, was issued
on 2 April.
***********************************************************************
SPECIAL NOTE by AUTHOR
Since August, 1999, most of the Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone
Summaries have been initially issued in two or three installments in
the interest of getting information out as quickly as possible.
However, after the final installment has been disseminated, I put
together all the sections into one complete summary and send this to
the several persons who archive the summaries. For those persons who
wish to archive their own copy of the summaries for future reference,
I would advise downloading the completed version from one of the web-
sites referenced at the end of each summary. I occasionally make
some corrections or revisions after the initial installment has been
mailed out, and in one case, I received some additional information
which was incorportated into the final version.
***********************************************************************
FEBRUARY HIGHLIGHTS
--> Extremely long-lived and far-traveled Indian Ocean cyclone wreaks
havoc in Madagascar and Mozambique
--> Rapidly forming cyclone strikes Cairns, Queensland--regenerates
in Gulf of Carpentaria
***********************************************************************
ACTIVITY BY BASINS
ATLANTIC (ATL) - North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico
Activity for February: No tropical cyclones
***********************************************************************
NORTHEAST PACIFIC (NEP) - North Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 180
Activity for February: No tropical cyclones
***********************************************************************
NORTHWEST PACIFIC (NWP) - North Pacific Ocean West of Longitude 180
Activity for February: No tropical cyclones
***********************************************************************
NORTH INDIAN OCEAN (NIO) - Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea
Activity for February: No tropical cyclones
***********************************************************************
SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN (SIO) - South Indian Ocean West of Longitude 90E
Activity for February: 2 moderate tropical storms **
2 severe tropical storms ++
1 intense tropical cyclone (hurricane)
** - This based upon official classification from RSMC La Reunion.
Based upon JTWC warnings Tropical Storm Gloria briefly reached
minimal hurricane (cyclone) intensity.
++ - This total includes Tropical Storm Connie, which on 1 Feb was
still technically at severe tropical storm intensity, but was
rapidly weakening and by 2 Feb had weakened significantly and
was becoming extratropical.
NOTE!!! The South Indian Ocean was covered in the first installment
of the February summary and was issued on 2 April; however,
some updated information follows.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION on Tropical Cyclone Eline
------------------------------------------------
Arvind Mungur of London sent me some observations he had gleaned
from the Mauritian daily _Le Mauricien_. As Eline passed to the north
of Mauritius it caused rather abundant rainfall which officially ended
the drought the island had been experiencing. Over the period 12-16
Feb an average rainfall of 228 mm fell over the island with a maximum
of 405 mm recorded (exact location unknown). An additional 24-hour
total of 182 mm was measured on 16-17 Feb.
ADDENDUM to JANUARY SUMMARY
---------------------------
Arvind Mungur of London sent me some information on Tropical Cyclone
Connie which he had gleaned from the Mauritian daily _Le Mauricien_.
Connie passed about 130 nm northwest of Mauritius on 28 Jan and a peak
gust of 73 kts was recorded on the island with a 24-hour rainfall total
of 262 mm reported.
***********************************************************************
AUSTRALIAN REGION (AUG) - From Longitude 90E Eastward to Longitude 160E
Activity for February: 1 tropical LOW
1 tropical cyclone of gale intensity **
1 tropical cyclone of storm intensity
1 severe tropical cyclone (hurricane)
** - This system, Tropical Cyclone Marcia, was never carried as a
tropical cyclone by JTWC.
The primary sources of information for Australian Region tropical
cyclones are the warnings and bulletins issued by the three TCWCs
at Perth, Darwin, and Brisbane. Information gleaned from JTWC's
warnings is used as a supplement for times when it was impossible to
obtain Australian bulletins and for comparison purposes. References
to sustained winds should be understood as being based on a 10-min
averaging period unless otherwise noted.
Matthew Saxby, a tropical cyclone enthusiast from Queanbeyan, New
South Wales, Australia, typed up the tracks for the cyclones and LOWs
in the Australian Region. Also, Carl Smith, another dedicated tropical
cyclone enthusiast from the Gold Coast of Queensland, sent reports he
had written for Tropical Cyclones Steve, Leon, and Marcia. Also, Lori
Chappel of the Darwin TCWC sent me a report on Cyclone Steve's passage
through the Darwin AOR. Most of the material presented below is
based upon these reports. A special thanks to Lori, Carl and Matthew
for passing along the information to me.
A description of the Australian Cyclone Severity Scale can be found in
Chris Landsea's FAQ on HRD's website:
on Michael Bath's Australian Severe Weather site:
or on the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's official website:
Links to various reports and map animations can be found under the
link 'TC Reports & Map Animations'.
Australian Region Activity for February
---------------------------------------
Tropical cyclone activity in the Australian Region picked up
somewhat in February with three cyclones being named during the month
as opposed to only one in January. Tropical Cyclone Leon reached
hurricane intensity early in the month in the Southeast Indian Ocean,
weakened, then moved across 90E into the Southwest Indian basin to
become the long-lived and destructive Tropical Cyclone Eline. Marcia
was a short-lived, marginal cyclone which popped up around mid-month
in waters to the southeast of Cocos Island. Another tropical LOW
was getting organized off Western Australia as the month ended and
intensified into Severe Tropical Cyclone Norman in early March.
In the Coral Sea what appeared to be a rapidly developing midget
cyclone warranted three warnings from Brisbane on 19 Feb, but the
system just as quickly began to weaken. The first warning, issued
at 19/0100 UTC, had placed the LOW's center about 225 nm east-southeast
of Townsville, or near the Creal Reef AWS. At 1900 UTC on 18 Feb the
station had reported 10-min mean winds of 31 kts with the pressure
dropping to 1006.1 mb. Initially, the LOW displayed a good cloud
signature in visible satellite imagery through 19/0500 UTC as it was
under very diffluent upper-level flow. However, it then moved under
unfavorable southerly flow and weakened rapidly. The LOW moved
northeastward in the direction of Lihou Reef where it became stationary
and ill-defined. The LOW which was the precursor of Tropical Cyclone
Steve developed in the same general area a few days later and there is
a possibility that Steve was a redevelopment of the earlier LOW.
This second LOW intensified rapidly on 26 Feb while approaching the
Cairns, Queensland area into a near-hurricane. After weakening over
land, the ex-Steve LOW re-intensified in the Gulf of Carpentaria and
made a second landfall in the western Gulf region on 1 Mar, weakened
again, and later re-intensified a third time in the Southeast Indian
Ocean and made two more subsequent landfalls in Australia. I have
chosen to split the coverage of Steve between the February and March
summaries. (Most of the data on the LOW of 19 Feb came from Jeff
Callaghan of the Brisbane TCWC--a special thanks to Jeff for passing
the information along.)
Severe Tropical Cyclone Leon-Eline (TC-11S)
3 - 23 February
-------------------------------------------
On 3 Feb at 0100 UTC the Perth TCWC issued a High Seas Warning for
a 1000-mb tropical LOW which had developed about 325 nm east of
Christmas Island and was moving west-southwestward at 5 kts. At 1400
UTC JTWC issued a Formation Alert on the LOW. Animated infrared
satellite imagery revealed disorganised but persistent convection
associated with a LLCC. CIMSS analysis indicated weak to moderate
vertical shear over the area and animated water vapour imagery depicted
fair outflow aloft. JTWC issued their first warning for TC-11S at
04/0300 UTC with the MSW (1-min avg) estimated at 30 kts. Data from a
scatterometer pass indicated an elongated LLCC. About this time
a boat carrying 500 (apparently) refugees from the Middle East arrived
on Christmas Island, and the seas kicked up by the LOW were so rough
that the boat had to be escorted into a bay on the leeward side of the
island where the people were removed a few at a time by small boat.
At 0400 UTC BoM Perth upgraded the LOW to Tropical Cyclone Leon with
45-kt winds, located about 115 nm south-southeast of Christmas Island,
and moving west-southwestward at 10 kts. Leon quickly gained intensity
whilst moving on a track that became more southwesterly. Peak
intensity of 960 mb and 75-kt MSW (10-min avg) was attained at
1000 UTC on 5 Feb about 300 nm south-southwest of Christmas Island.
(This was per BoM Perth's analysis--JTWC reported the 1-min avg MSW
at only 55 kts at this point.) Following this, Perth's MSW dropped
slightly to 65 kts but then increased again to 70 kts by 06/0400 UTC.
JTWC's 1-min avg MSW estimate had also increased to 70 kts by this
juncture. Convective organisation had improved during this period
but enhanced infrared imagery showed that the cyclone was undergoing
some northeasterly shear. SSM/I imagery on the 6th revealed that the
LLCC was under the northeastern region of the convection and that the
convection had become more symmetric.
However, on 7 Feb warnings from both agencies indicated a weakening
trend as the upper-level anticyclone weakened and shifted east of the
LLCC, thereby increasing northerly vertical shear. Leon's track turned
to a westerly heading with the storm passing about 275 nm south of
Cocos Island around 0400 UTC on the 7th. Weakening continued as Leon
approached the western boundary of BoM Perth's AOR with most of the
significant convection sheared to the south of the LLCC. MSW were
down to around 40 kts by the time Leon crossed 90E into the Southwest
Indian basin at a point about 500 nm west-southwest of Cocos Island
and was renamed Eline by the Mauritius Meteorological Service.
Although at this point it looked as if Leon-Eline were on its last
leg, subsequent warnings from JTWC forecast a regeneration of the
system. While the storm remained quite weak for several days, it
did ultimately re-intensify and before it was through, had traveled
almost one-quarter of the way around the globe and made two destructive
landfalls in the western portion of the South Indian Ocean. The
history of this system as Tropical Cyclone Eline is detailed in the
section of this summary covering the Southwest Indian basin (which
was disseminated as the first installment on 2 April).
Tropical Cyclone Marcia
15 - 21 February
-----------------------
A Tropical Weather Outlook for the Central Indian Ocean issued by
BoM Perth at 0400 UTC on 15 Feb mentioned a 1000-mb tropical LOW
located about 290 nm east-southeast of Cocos Island. The first
warning, issued at 0900 UTC, located the center somewhat farther to
the south and east. The system remained basically quasi-stationary
over the next day or two with a slight increase in organisation.
The LOW was upgraded to Tropical Cyclone Marcia at 0300 UTC on 16 Feb
at a point roughly 325 nm east-southeast of Cocos Island. JTWC
issued a Formation Alert at 0500 UTC which stated that winds were
estimated to be 25-30 kts in the area. Animated visible and infrared
satellite imagery indicated a well-defined LLCC within the monsoon
trough with convection continuing to organise around the center.
By 1000 UTC the estimated CP and MSW (10-min avg) were 992 mb and
45 kts, respectively, and Marcia was moving east-southeastward at
3 kts. The Perth warning at 1600 UTC relocated Marcia's centre about
35 nm east of the previous warning position. The marginal cyclone
was looking less impressive by this time and winds were dropped to
40 kts. Perth issued their final warning at 17/0400 UTC with Marcia
centered about 375 nm south-southwest of Christmas Island. Winds were
expected to moderate below gale force within the next six hours.
Perth continued to mention the system in daily Tropical Weather
Outlooks for a couple of days, and JTWC issued daily Formation Alerts
through 19/0500 UTC, but never commenced issuing warnings. (If this
system had been in the Northwest Pacific basin where JTWC's warning
criteria is more liberal, likely it would have been classified as
a tropical depression.) The ill-defined LOW continued to drift
generally southeastward for a couple of days, as tracked by JTWC in
their daily STWOs, being last mentioned on 21 Feb when it was located
roughly over 400 nm to the south-southeast of Christmas Island.
Tropical Cyclone Steve (TC-14P)
25 February - 12 March
--------------------------------
On 25 Feb a developing tropical LOW with a CP of 1000 mb was located
approximately 300 nm east-southeast of Cooktown on the Queensland
coast. Satellite-derived wind data indicated extensive areas of west
to northwesterly winds averaging between 30 and 40 kts to the north
and northeast of the centre. (This LOW was possibly a redevelopment
of the LOW for which Brisbane issued three warnings on 19 Feb. See
comments in the introductory paragraphs above for more information
on the earlier system.) The system moved westward, slowly becoming
better organised, and by 26/1800 UTC was located about 115 nm east of
Port Douglas with the pressure having fallen to 996 mb. JTWC issued
its first warning at 1800 UTC, estimating the MSW (1-min avg) at
35 kts based upon satellite current intensity estimates of 30 kts
and a synoptic observation of a 10-min mean wind of 32 kts. Infrared
imagery indicated continued organisation of the system with convection
building over the LLCC.
At 2000 UTC, in a special marine warning, the Brisbane TCWC named
the LOW Tropical Cyclone Steve, placing the center about 100 nm east-
northeast of Cairns. The CP was reported as 994 mb and the maximum
10-min avg winds were estimated at 40 kts. Steve remained stationary
for several hours and then began to move generally on a west-
southwesterly track toward the coast. Animated water vapour imagery
revealed good outflow aloft--especially to the north--and weak vertical
wind shear across the region. Shortly after being named as a cyclone,
Steve began to intensify rather rapidly. By 27/0100 UTC the cyclone
was centered about 65 nm east-northeast of Cairns with the CP having
fallen to 988 mb and the MSW (10-min avg) estimated at 50 kts.
Cyclone Steve crossed the coastline in the Cairns area around 0900
UTC with an attendant CP of 975 mb and MSW (10-min avg) likely in
the 60-65 kt range. The eye passed very close to Green Island where
a 10-min mean wind of 62 kts with gusts to 85 kts was recorded at
0830 UTC. Landfall was slightly to the north of Cairns which measured
a maximum 10-min wind of 56 kts and peak gusts to 77 kts around 0851
UTC. The exact center seems to have passed over Kuranda which,
unfortunately, does not send in weather observations. The radius
of gales for Steve was very small--on the order of 15-20 nm. The
10-min avg maximum wind observations from Cairns and Green Island
would translate into a 1-min avg MSW of around 65-70 kts, making Steve
a minimal hurricane by Northern Hemisphere standards--well above the
40-kt MSW estimated by JTWC shortly before landfall. The contention
that midget cyclones are often much more intense than they sometimes
appear--an idea often espoused by Mark Lander--is certainly supported
by this case. (Most of the above meteorological information was sent
by Sue Oates of BoM Brisbane to Matthew Saxby, who in turn forwarded
it to Carl Smith and myself.)
Rainfall totals were not exceptionally large for a tropical cyclone.
Some of the higher totals from the area include Kuranda - 291 mm;
Mt. Sophia - 269 mm; and Mareeba - 218 mm. However, Cairns recorded
its wettest February on record with the suburb of Manunda measuring
1462.7 mm and Bartlefrere recording 3376 mm. In the Cairns area many
trees were uprooted and some buildings were unroofed. Hundreds of
homes reportedly suffered damage to some degree with more than 40,000
homes without electrical power. Many roads were blocked with downed
trees and the Bruce Highway was cut by flooding. In Cairns a really
giant fig tree was uprooted with the entire root system out of the
ground. It apparently became the "cool" thing for tourists to have
their photos taken standing by the tree--the root bowl being taller
than some adults of shorter stature.
By 1200 UTC Steve had been downgraded to a Category 1 cyclone on
the Australian Cyclone Scale when it was about 40 nm west of Cairns,
moving west at 16 kts. Some gales with gusts to 60 kts were still
being felt along the coast and adjacent inland areas between Cairns
and Port Douglas but were expected to ease within a few hours. The
final advice (for the time being) was issued by Brisbane at 1300 UTC,
downgrading Steve to a LOW which was continuing to move further inland
while weakening. The LOW moved somewhat to the west-southwest and
by around 0730 UTC on 28 Feb was located near Normanton, southeast
of the Gulf of Carpentaria. By 1330 UTC the system had changed
direction and was moving west-northwestward over water in the Gulf of
Carpentaria about 40 nm northwest of Karumba.
A strong mid-level circulation was maintained under a divergent
upper trough while the system was over land, and as soon as the center
moved back over water, the LOW began to regain intensity and was
renamed Cyclone Steve by Darwin at 28/2230 UTC. The cyclone was
located near Mornington Island and was moving west-northwestward at
8 kts. Gales with gusts to 65 kts were being experienced between
Mornington Island and the Queensland/Northern Territory border. After
regaining cyclone status Steve initially continued moving to the
west-northwest, then turned to a westerly course as it approached the
Northern Territory coast along the western Gulf of Carpentaria. With
warm SSTs and good to excellent upper-level outflow in all quadrants,
the storm intensified slightly with the MSW increasing to 45 kts (per
both Darwin and JTWC) by the time Steve made landfall around 0000 UTC
on 1 Mar near Bing Bong.
Centre Island reported gales from 2030-2230 UTC on 29 Feb as the
cyclone approached and passed just north of the AWS. The maximum
10-min mean wind was 38 kts at 2224 UTC with the peak gust of 50 kts
occurring at 2145 UTC. The cyclone moved across the Bing Bong port
office after passing Centre Island. A minimum pressure of 987 mb
was reported but mean winds were no more than 20-25 kts (as estimated
from white caps on the water visible from the office). A calm lasting
about 45 minutes was observed as the center passed by. Damage from
Steve in this portion of Australia was very light. No damage was
reported from Bing Bong, while Borroloola township, about 60 km inland
from Bing Bong, reported some uprooting of small trees.
After making its second landfall Tropical Cyclone Steve continued
westward across the Northern Territory, maintaining a strong low- to
mid-level circulation. Gale-force winds were observed in the Timor
Sea in the monsoon westerly flow to the north of the LOW and storm-
force wind gusts were observed across the Top End. The LOW moved just
south of the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and into the Kimberley region of
Western Australia, and once more reformed into a cyclone just north
of Broome on 5 March. The subsequent history of Tropical Cyclone
Steve in the Timor Sea and Southeast Indian Ocean will be covered in
the March summary.
***********************************************************************
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC (SWP) - South Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 160E
Activity for February: 1 tropical depression
1 tropical cyclone of hurricane intensity
Most of the information presented below was taken from the
operational warnings and advisories issued by the Fiji TCWC at Nadi.
References to sustained winds imply a 10-minute averaging period
unless otherwise noted. Also, the basic definition of a cyclone in
WMO Region 5 (Australia and the South Pacific) has the unique
requirement that a depression must have gale-force winds more-or-less
completely surrounding the center before the system is named as a
tropical cyclone. Hence, often gales of 35-40 kts may be present in
one or two quadrants but the system is not considered a tropical
cyclone. Last season Fiji initiated their own numbering scheme for
tropical disturbances (01F, 02F, etc) that form in the Nadi AOR.
Some of the numbered disturbances never warrant depression status.
The report on Tropical Cyclone Kim was written by Alipate
Waqaicelua, Chief Forecaster at the Nadi TCWC, with only minimal
editing by myself. Also, I received some information on damage caused
by Kim from Steve Ready of the New Zealand Meteorological Service.
A very special thanks to Alipate and Steve for sending along the
information.
Southwest Pacific Activity for February
---------------------------------------
One tropical cyclone, Kim, came to life in the South Pacific east
of 160E during February, and surprisingly was unusually far to the east
of the normal cyclogenetical region--in the very edge of the tropics
to the southeast of French Polynesia. Most people expect tropical
cyclone formation to occur this far east only during warm ENSO events
(El Ninos), but according to information received from Steve Ready
of the New Zealand Meteorological Service, tropical cyclones of higher-
latitude origin do occasionally develop in this region during La Nina
seasons. In February, 1989, Tropical Cyclone Hinano developed
near 27.0S, 127.3W while at about the same time Tropical Cyclone Judy
formed near 19.0S, 152.0W. Both of these systems were midgets which
sported eyes in satellite imagery. Also, Tropical Cyclone Frances
became a hurricane near 25.0S, 150.0W in February, 1976, during another
strong La Nina. All three of these cyclones had a pronounced westerly
component to their tracks. Also, in some correspondence from months
back, Mark Lander mentioned that the Southeast Pacific was the only
area outside the North Atlantic and the Northwestern Pacific which
normally has a well-developed TUTT which occasionally helps to trigger
the formation of higher-latitude midget tropical cyclones.
In addition to Tropical Cyclone Kim, another system was designated
as Tropical Depression 13F at the end of the month. This depression
formed about 125 nm north of Noumea in New Caledonia on 28 Feb and
subsequently moved south-southeastward and into the Wellington AOR
on the 29th. Gale warnings were issued on 29 Feb as gale-force winds
were forecast to be occurring in the southern semicircle well-removed
from the center.
Tropical Cyclone Kim (TC-13P / TD-11F)
23 - 29 February
---------------------------------------
A tropical depression was analysed by RSMC Nadi over the south-
eastern parts of French Polynesia (near 23.3S, 134.0W), approximately
60 nm east-southeast of Rikitea or about 270 nm northwest of Pitcairn
Island at 23/1800 UTC, moving slowly northwestward. The system was
being subjected to significant shear as the LLCC was clearly exposed
at some distance northwest of the deep convection. Aloft, at 250 mb,
the depression was situated just west of an upper-level ridge axis. A
little over 24 hours later, no substantial change had occurred, except
for convection beginning to develop about the LLCC. However, by
24/1200 UTC, convection had erupted over the LLCC and cooled
considerably. Spiral bands were also better organised and wrapping
with more curvature amid the presence of some shear. At this time,
the depression was moving westward about 5 kts and was located just
west of Rikitea. The system continued to develop further through the
night, and by 24/1800 UTC was named Tropical Cyclone Kim about 40 nm
west of Rikitea or about 200 nm southeast of Mururoa.
Twelve hours later, at 25/0600 UTC, Kim attained storm force
(48 kts) and reached hurricane intensity at 25/1200 UTC after a ragged
eye was observed on satellite imagery only 18 hours after being named.
At this stage the cyclone was being steered west-southwestward with
anticipation of a gradual turn and eventual southwesterly track into
New Zealand's AOR. Kim continued to intensify with deep convection
cooling further and the rather broad eye at 25/1800 UTC becoming
well-defined and contracting. After 26/0000 UTC the cyclone also
gradually picked up speed under the strengthening mid-level north-
easterly steering regime. Primary responsibility for warnings on
Tropical Cyclone Kim was handed over to New Zealand after 26/0600 UTC.
Tropical Cyclone Kim reached its peak intensity of 80 kts (10-min
avg) six hours later at 1200 UTC, still moving to the southwest. The
storm was then located over 500 nm west of Pitcairn Island or more
than 700 nm southeast of Tahiti. The estimated minimum CP in Kim was
955 mb, and the estimated peak 1-min avg MSW from NPMOC was 100 kts,
which agrees quite well with Wellington's assessment. After reaching
its peak, the cyclone began to steadily weaken as it continued to trek
toward the southwest over increasingly cooler SSTs. By 29/0600 UTC
Kim was becoming extratropical as it still moved southwestward nearly
1000 nm south of Tahiti.
No damage reports have been received as yet, even though, from its
track, it can be inferred that damage, if any, especially in Rikitea,
would be either minimal or negligible. Kim was probably a hybrid
(with more baroclinic traits) that gradually and eventually developed
deep convection all around the LLCC and hence attained tropical
cyclone characteristics further south than usual. Kim developed in an
area of a fairly warm SST anomaly--approximately 2 to 3 deg Celsius
warmer than average.
Some information received later from Steve Ready of the New Zealand
Meteorological Service: During the early stages of its development,
Kim passed over the islands of Rikitea about 1200 UTC on 24 Feb.
Rikitea recorded a maximum 10-min avg wind of 27 kts, a peak gust of
52 kts, and a minimum pressure of 996 mb. During its hurricane phase
Kim passed to the east and south of the island of Rapa on 27 and 28
Feb. The lowest pressure of 995.8 mb was reported when the eye was
located about 80 nm from the island. The maximum 10-min avg wind was
less than 30 kts and the peak gust was 74 kts. Rapa lay on the more
sheltered side of the cyclone. According to Jacki Pilon, Meteo France
in French Polynesia, there was no loss of life and material damage
was relatively minor--just a few trees were uprooted and a few less
substantial homes lost their corrugated iron roofing.
***********************************************************************
EXTRA FEATURE
In order to shorten the amount of typing in preparing the narrative
material, I have been in the habit of freely using abbreviations and
acronyms. I have tried to define most of these with the first usage
in a given summary, but I may have missed one now and then. Most of
these are probably understood by a majority of readers but perhaps a
few aren't clear to some. To remedy this I developed a Glossary of
Abbreviations and Acronyms which I included in the July, 1998 summary.
I will include this glossary from time to time, primarily in "lean"
months without a lot of tropical cyclone activity to cover. But if
anyone missed receiving it and wishes to obtain a copy, send me an
e-mail privately and I'll forward them a copy.
***********************************************************************
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This summary should be considered a very preliminary
overview of the tropical cyclones that occur in each month. The cyclone
tracks (provided separately) will generally be based upon operational
warnings issued by the various tropical cyclone warning centers. The
information contained therein may differ somewhat from the tracking and
intensity information obtained from a "best-track" file which is based
on a detailed post-seasonal analysis of all available data. Information
on where to find official "best-track" files from the various warning
centers will be passed along from time to time.
The track files are not being sent via e-mail. They can be retrieved
in the following manner:
(a) FTP to: hrd-type42.nhc.noaa.gov [140.90.176.206]
(b) Login as: anonymous
(c) For a password use your e-mail address
(d) Go to "data" subdirectory (Type: cd data)
(e) Set file type to ASCII (Type: ascii)
(f) Transfer file (Type: get remote_file_name local_file_name )
(The files will be named with an obvious nomenclature--using
February as an example: feb00.tracks)
(g) To exit FTP, type: quit
Both the summaries and the track files are standard text files
created in DOS editor. Download to disk and use a viewer such as
Notepad or DOS editor to view the files.
The first summary in this series covered the month of October,
1997. If anyone wishes to retrieve any of the previous summaries,
they may be downloaded from the aforementioned FTP site at HRD. The
summary files are catalogued with the nomenclature: feb00.sum, for
example.
Back issues can also be obtained from the following websites
(courtesy of Michael Bath, Michael V. Padua, Tom Berg, Michael
Pitt, and Rich Henning):
TROPICAL CYCLONE REPORTS AVAILABLE
I have discovered that JTWC now has available on its new website
the complete Annual Tropical Cyclone Report (ATCR) for 1998 (1997-1998
season for the Southern Hemisphere). Also, ATCRs for earlier years
are available also.
The URL is:
Also, TPC/NHC has available on its webpage nice "technicolor"
tracking charts for the 1999 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific
tropical cyclones; also, preliminary storm reports for all the 1999
Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific cyclones are now available.
The URL is:
Prepared by: Gary Padgett
E-mail: garyp at alaweb.com
Phone: 334-222-5327 (nights & weekends) / 850-882-2594 (weekdays)
***********************************************************************
***********************************************************************
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
To unsubscribe from aussie-weather send e-mail to:majordomo at world.std.com
with "unsubscribe aussie-weather your_email_address" in the body of your
message.
-----------------------jacob at iinet.net.au------------------------------
007
From: "Michael Thompson" [michaelt at ozemail.com.au]
To: [aussie-weather at world.std.com]
Subject: Re: aus-wx: Hail Stories/Blasts from the Past
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 19:57:13 +1000
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2014.211
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
The best I ever saw was around 1967-68. I was in 5-6th grade of primary at
the time. It occurred in a narrow band centred around the Wollongong suburb
of Primbee, lesser hail fell in Port Kembla. The storm hit in September ( I
think ) about 6 to 7.30pm one night. I cannot recall the lightning and
thunder being significant, but the hail lay several inches deep. The winds
with the storm must have come in strong from the south as the hail was piled
3-4 ft up some south facing walls. The hail persisted until the next
morning. It was not big, about 1-2cm maximum. I remember going to school the
next day and as I walked through Primbee park I came across the mother lode
of hail. This was in the days of open drains, and many gutters from the hill
at Primbee all converged to a swampy ditch at the park. The hail was 3ft
deep and covered a large area. I scooped some into a plastic bag to take to
school and show everyone, alas it melted.
Michael
----- Original Message -----
From: Lindsay [writer at lisp.com.au]
To: [aussie-weather at world.std.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 12 April 2000 22:08
Subject: aus-wx: Hail Stories/Blasts from the Past
> Reading Jimmy Deguara's story on the Sydney hail storm of 1983 in Storm
> News - Winter edition, reminded me of a fantastic hail storm we had in
> the late seventies.
>
> I can't remember the year, although I know I was in high school at the
> time, (Maybe 1978 or 1979) and it hailed VERY heavily, such that we made
> snow men in the school grounds that morning (I think it was morning) and
> I remember seeing a guy removing hail from his guttering on the way home
> that day. I also climbed onto our roof and found hail still there the
> day after the storm! Maybe it was during winter, I can't recall.
>
> The park near our place in "Bevo" (Beverly Hills) was inches deep with
> hail and it really did look like a snow scene. The hail was probably
> five to ten cent piece size, going on memory, with maybe the odd bigger
> stone.
>
> Anyway, Jimmy's story reminded me of my own highschool hail storm
> experience. poufflkjsldjdljfdusiuf, oops sorry, my Jack Russell just
> jumped onto my lap and the keyboard!
>
> Blair, Don or others, any way of pin pointing the year/month etc, of
> that storm?
> Do others recall it? It was the best I have ever seen.
>
>
> Lindsay Pearce
>
> +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
> To unsubscribe from aussie-weather send e-mail to:majordomo at world.std.com
> with "unsubscribe aussie-weather your_email_address" in the body of your
> message.
> -----------------------jacob at iinet.net.au------------------------------
>
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
To unsubscribe from aussie-weather send e-mail to:majordomo at world.std.com
with "unsubscribe aussie-weather your_email_address" in the body of your
message.
-----------------------jacob at iinet.net.au------------------------------
008
X-Sender: jdeguara at pop.ihug.com.au
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.2.2
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 21:59:16 +1000
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
From: Jimmy Deguara [jdeguara at ihug.com.au]
Subject: Re: aus-wx: Hail Stories/Blasts from the Past
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
To answer the question, the best bet in regards to hailstorms would have
been November 1979. The Bankstown area (hailstorm alley) had quite a few
severe hailstorms at that time.
Begin Date/Time Latitude Longitude Nearest Town
Event 1 12 Nov 1979 2:00 33.67 151.00 NW & N SUBURBS
Event 2 12 Nov 1979 6:10 31.12 150.90 TAMWORTH
Event 3 12 Nov 1979 7:10 31.08 150.93 TAMWORTH
Event 4 15 Nov 1979 5:15 33.88 151.22 BANKSTWON AIRPORT
Event 5 15 Nov 1979 10:00 34.00 151.00 SW & S SUBURBS
Event 6 23 Nov 1979 7:45 34.00 151.00 SW & S SUBURBS
Event 7 23 Nov 1979 14:00 33.88 151.22 SYDNEY
Event 8 25 Nov 1979 19:00 34.00 151.00 SW & S SUBURBS
Hail Max Wind (kts) Precipitaion Amount
(mm) Precipitation Period (mins) Event Comments
Event 1 5.00 5 CM HAIL,FF NEW NORTH ROCKS RD
UNDER 1 M WATER,K MART FLD AFTER ROOF COLLAPSED,LASTED 15 MINS,UPROOTED
TREES flash flood
Event 2 48.00 48 kt gust at Tamworth at 0610 UTC
on 12/11/1979.
Event 3 48.00 Bureau Study (WINDEX)
Event 4 50.00 THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCED 50 KNOTS
GUST, THIS IS ABOUT 5 HOURS EARLIER THAN EVENT ON SAME DAY
Event 5 71.00 GUST 71 KT AT 2118,BUILDINGS
UNROOFED,TREES DOWN,00'S HOMES DAMAGED,$ MILLIONS DAMAGE
Event 6 52.00 GUST 52 KNOTS AT BANKSTOWN WITH 26
MM/25 MINS
Event 7 53.00 GUST 53 KNOTS
Event 8 4.40 61.00 GUST 61 KNOTS, GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL,
$1 MILLION DAM
I hope this information helps. It is information from the Bureau of
Meteorology storm database in Sydney.
Jimmy Deguara
At 05:08 12/04/00 -0700, you wrote:
>Reading Jimmy Deguara's story on the Sydney hail storm of 1983 in Storm
>News - Winter edition, reminded me of a fantastic hail storm we had in
>the late seventies.
>
>I can't remember the year, although I know I was in high school at the
>time, (Maybe 1978 or 1979) and it hailed VERY heavily, such that we made
>snow men in the school grounds that morning (I think it was morning) and
>I remember seeing a guy removing hail from his guttering on the way home
>that day. I also climbed onto our roof and found hail still there the
>day after the storm! Maybe it was during winter, I can't recall.
>
>The park near our place in "Bevo" (Beverly Hills) was inches deep with
>hail and it really did look like a snow scene. The hail was probably
>five to ten cent piece size, going on memory, with maybe the odd bigger
>stone.
>
>Anyway, Jimmy's story reminded me of my own highschool hail storm
>experience. poufflkjsldjdljfdusiuf, oops sorry, my Jack Russell just
>jumped onto my lap and the keyboard!
>
>Blair, Don or others, any way of pin pointing the year/month etc, of
>that storm?
>Do others recall it? It was the best I have ever seen.
>
>
>Lindsay Pearce
>
> +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
> To unsubscribe from aussie-weather send e-mail to:majordomo at world.std.com
> with "unsubscribe aussie-weather your_email_address" in the body of your
> message.
> -----------------------jacob at iinet.net.au------------------------------
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
To unsubscribe from aussie-weather send e-mail to:majordomo at world.std.com
with "unsubscribe aussie-weather your_email_address" in the body of your
message.
-----------------------jacob at iinet.net.au------------------------------
009
X-Originating-IP: [203.35.254.2]
From: "David Croan" [wxbustchase at hotmail.com]
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Subject: Re: aus-wx: Hail Stories/Blasts from the Past
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 23:28:07 EST
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
I do remember this storm Lindsay (well I assume it was the same storm) even
though I was only around 7 years old. Can't remember the exact year or the
month just the vast quantity of hail (I would say most stones were smaller
than 2 cm) which fell in Padstow. We had a similar though more severe storm
during the early 80's which broke nearly all of our south and west facing
windows - hail was around golf ball size and again there was a huge
quantity. I recall hailstorms as being quite common, in that part of Sydney
at least, during the 70's and 80's with 3 seperate events taking out windows
of our house and damaging the roofing.
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
To unsubscribe from aussie-weather send e-mail to:majordomo at world.std.com
with "unsubscribe aussie-weather your_email_address" in the body of your
message.
-----------------------jacob at iinet.net.au------------------------------
010
X-Sender: jdeguara at pop.ihug.com.au
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.2.2
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 23:40:36 +1000
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
From: Jimmy Deguara [jdeguara at ihug.com.au]
Subject: aus-wx: Storm News
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Hi everyone,
I must say that when I received Storm News, I was impressed by the whole
package with logo. The Storm News newsletter was just as impressive with a
great variety of articles.
For those involved, a great job done!!!
Jimmy Deguara
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
To unsubscribe from aussie-weather send e-mail to:majordomo at world.std.com
with "unsubscribe aussie-weather your_email_address" in the body of your
message.
-----------------------jacob at iinet.net.au------------------------------
| Document: 000412.htm
Updated: 03 June 2000 |
[Australian Severe Weather index] [Copyright Notice] [Email Contacts] |