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Above: Hourly IR satellite
images from 15.30UTC (1.30am EST) to 11.30UTC (9.30pm) today, with a final
frame at 15.30UTC (1.30am Sunday). The cloud associated with yesterday's
SE QLD storms drifts east into the Tasman while a huge cloudmass moves
east with a surface trough over VIC, NSW and southern QLD. From the 01.30UTC
(11.30am) image, red blotches, marking expanding cumulonimbus cloud tops,
begin to appear over SE NSW, then proliferate northwards along the trough
over the next four hours as severe storms fire up the Great Divide into
southern QLD. Colour enhancement by Carl
Smith. BoM. (GMS-5
backup with GOES-9 operated by the joint effort of JMA and US
NOAA NESDIS over the Western Pacific)
Below: Combined lightning/radar
image for 08.19 UTC (6.19pm) shows a continuous line of storms from eastern
VIC to SE QLD. The blue and red fade-trails of lightning strikes suggest
storm cells were generally moving ESE at around 70km/h in the south. Weatherzone.
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Below: 20-minute image animation
from Letterbox Radar, north of Wollongong, from 01.40UTC (11.40am) to 07.00UTC
(5pm). The main storm line lies north from the ACT to Mudgee around 03UTC
(1pm) and moves ESE, with possible severe cells (deep red shading indicating
likely hail) east of the ACT and in the Hunter Valley. However, note the
rogue storm that develops over the Blue Mountains in the first frame, ahead
of the main line of storms. This intensified rapidly, with hail evident
in the 03UTC (1pm) frame when the storm was over Springwood. After this,
the storm exhibits classic supercell behaviour and turns left, moving ENE
across Sydney's northwestern suburbs, and slowing. The main storm band then
overtakes and briefly intensifies this cell south of Gosford just before
07UTC (5pm). BoM
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 Severe
storms, large hail hit eastern SE NSW
An extensive
line of thunderstorms developed ahead of a trough as it moved into warm moist
air over eastern NSW this afternoon. Several severe storm cells,
and possibly one supercell, brought large hail and flash flooding to scattered
locations in an area from Gosford west to Orange and south to Canberra and
the South Coast. Three people died in storm-related incidents, hail and property
damage was caused in W and NW Sydney, and nearly 50,000 homes lost power for
several hours or more.
The possible supercell thunderstorm developed over Blackheath in the
Blue Mountains west of Sydney shortly before noon. It rapidly intensified,
dropping 3.5cm diameter hail on Katoomba. Moving
east, the storm dumped hail 10cm deep on Hawkesbury Road, Springwood, stopping
traffic and stripping bark from trees. A man died when struck by a tree brought
down by the storm near Wentworth Falls.
Once in the Sydney Basin, the storm exhibited supercell characteristics
by veering to the left of its path, from ESE to ENE. This took it on a
line from
Penrith through Llandilo, Riverstone, Kenthurst, Berowra
Waters and Berowra
Heights, dropping hail of golfball size and larger. Hail at Riverstone
Oval was described as being "the size of tomatoes", and severe
roof damage was reported to several factories in the Riverstone complex.
Heavy rain around Berowra to
the north of Sydney caused flash flooding, stranding
cars.
Berowra
recorded
88.0mm and Glenorie 50.1 in the 24 hours to 9am Sunday. 70mm fell at
Berowra in one hour. Bringelly reported 24mm in the hour to 4pm, with
nearby Badgerys Creek receiving
9.2mm in
the 7 minutes to 3.51pm.
The SES answered over 200 calls in the wake of the
storms, with hail damage to tiled roofs, windows and
skylights. Many cars were damaged. An SES spokesman said that some homes
in Riverstone may need to have entire roofs replaced. Power was cut to about
22,000 properties in the Blue Mountains and in an arc through western and
northwestern outer Sydney suburbs, but most was restored by early Sunday
morning. Elsewhere in the state:
- Two people died in
a two-car collision near Huskisson on the South Coast at the height of the
storm.
- An 81-year-old woman was badly hurt when a tree fell on her car in the
Southern Tablelands.
- The SES received dozens of calls for damage management from Queanbeyan,
Captains Flat, Goulburn, Yass and Young. The ABC reported tennis-ball sized
hail at
Queanbeyan, while Majors Creek, 15km SSW of Queanbeyan, recorded 37mm in
the hour to 2pm. Power was cut to about 20,000 homes from Yass through Queanbeyan
to Braidwood, including
parts
of
Canberra.
- In Yass, a century old tree, 4m in diameter at the base, was uprooted damaging
vehicles and destroying a garage and carport. The Yass SES Controller described
the storm as the worst in his 10 years with the service.
- Wind gusted to 87km/h at Canberra
Airport just before 1.30pm. Several houses north
of the
city were
damaged.
- A 20-minute storm brought down powerlines and large trees around Orange,
Bathurst and Oberon resulting in 19 callouts for the SES. Wind unroofed
a home at Lewis Ponds, 15km east of the Orange.
- Storms this evening and again early on Sunday morning blacked out a large
part of Armidale for 3 hours.
 Hail,
heavy rain in VIC
In
VIC, hail and heavy rain closed a section of the main Western
Highway near Leigh Creek, 10km east of Ballarat, around 1.30pm. The hail
and
rain
coagulated to produce a 5cm coating of ice on the road, according to police.
A driver died when he lost control of his car in heavy rain and hit trees
about 4.30pm near Balliang, 20km SSW of Bacchus March.
East of Melbourne, flash flooding was reported from storms in the Latrobe
Valley. East Sale Airport recorded 16.8mm in half an hour to 3pm, while Koornalla,
12km south of Traralgon, recorded 55mm between midday and 6pm..
Severe
storms in
SE QLD
SE
QLD experienced widespread thunderstorms for the third
day in a row, again producing the heaviest falls in the Gold Coast hinterland.
In the hour to 10pm, flood alert gauges in the Lamington National Park on
the NSW/QLD border recorded 55mm at Foxley, 43 at Darlington and 37 at
O'Reillys.
A severe multicell storm brought large hail along the hinterland of
the Sunshine Coast. Tennis ball sized hail smashed car windscreens at
Mapleton and Witta, while hail described as golfball to mandarin sized
was reported farther south at Maleny. During the early evening, a supercellular
thunderstorm produced 2cm to golfball sized hail around Toowoomba, then
tracked through the Coominya, Lake Wivenhoe and Esk areas where hail
up to cricket ball size destroyed house roofs, smashed windscreens,
punctured rainwater tanks and stripped trees. Another severe storm produced
very large hail and brought down trees across the road between Proston
and Murgon around 80km W of Gympie, and destroyed 6 hectares of zucchinis
and damaged a silo at Cloyna, a little to the north. 2 to 3cm diameter
hail was reported in the Biggenden area farther north. Elsewhere, storms
brought down trees at Redcliffe to the north of Brisbane, destroyed
sheds at Swanfels near Warwick, and produced a 130km/h wind gust a Gatton. Dust
storms in SW QLD
Dust
storms were reported from SW QLD today as the troughline
that brought storms farther south passed through. Bedourie reported a dust
storm lasting from 7.30am to late afternoon, with visibility at the 3pm
observation reduced to 900m.
Bushfire
causes minor damage near Bundaberg QLD
A fire at Invicta, 23km WNW of Bundaberg, burnt out about 80ha of
bushland and threatened property. The fire destroyed a shed containing
a caravan as well as fencing.
AAP, Australian, Central Western Daily, Sun-Herald, ABC Riverina, Courier
(Ballarat), ABC, Weatherzone, Armidale Express, Hawkesbury Gazette, Yass
Tribune
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