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STORMPLANET - Severe Event Reports
Some sensational weather was forecast to
end the non existent stormy summer that everyone had hoped for. High
moisture from weeks of active monsoonal rains and persistent maritime
air surging in from the east had taken its toll and was finally being
absorbed by upper level features and frontal boundaries.
Tuesday through VIC was a ranges day,
ranges meaning that the thunderstorm and shower activity was going to
be a feature around the hills of the state. Temps for the day were
warm, in the high 20s in the south, low 30s in the north, with very
high humidity, DPs ( Dew points ) around 17-20 across the state and a
weak upper feature which had lingered after the strong rain event the
weekend before.
Low cloud and drizzle had ruled out any
chance of thunderstorms and showers getting close to Melbourne during
the day. Once it had cleared plenty of middle level cloud was present
indicating some form of instability lying through the state.
Towers began building across the hills
east and north east of Melbourne as a sea breeze front developed
across the inland regions south of the ranges. This built up activity
way out east, causing some isolated falls. Melbourne on the other hand
was left with some AccAs during the late afternoon which produced a
sensational sunset through the region.
Wednesday was the marginally quieter day
through the western regions, however some thunderstorms did develop
out across the eastern ranges which produced about 35mm in isolated
areas of the Alpine districts during the late afternoon. Towers were
seen across the alps from the Melbourne region as thunderstorms grew
to about 38,000ft. These storms sheared on the northwest flank and
were slow moving due to the lack of upper level winds, hence the heavy
rain totals. Some thunderstorms also developed around the Macedon and
Ballarat areas, with Ballarat receiving just on 8mm. Highest fall was
at Mt Hotham Airport and Mt Buller, both on 41mm in 60 minutes.
Reports from those regions hit were flash flooding and the loss of a
fire appliance on the slopes of Mt Hotham which has recently been
under threat from fires.
On the Thursday, several severe storms
occurred in the Northern Country with unconfirmed reports of golfball
hail near Seymour, 2cm hail near Shepparton, 1 funnel cloud was
sighted near Dookie and several wall clouds were reported from storms.
Friday was the in between day for
Melbourne and southern VIC with the expectation of the first cold
outbreak of Autumn on the way 24 hours later. Showers were rather
widespread through the morning and this later broke up allowing for
that summer sunshine to warm up the ground. As the upper air temps
cooled this allowed for a mixing of atmospheres and destabilisation
period to commence. This led to some more afternoon heavy showers
(isolated) and some interesting lowerings to also occur. Two
confirmed reports of funnels were received although neither were seen
to touch down.
Saturday was quite a day, a strong front
moved in early morning, shifting winds to a more familiar westerly.
This dragged showers and thunderstorms (coldies) across the
metropolitan area. A rotating lowering was observed and two
funnels were seen over Port Phillip Bay near Dromana. Many chasers were out including Jane
O'Neill, Macca and Stormplanet's David Simpson, and these pics indicate the
great day of weather unfolding across the Melbourne area.
By morning, the south of the Melbourne
area had already received many storms, some which carried hail and
lightning, more so around the Mornington Peninsula near Frankston
where one of the big showers of the day passed through.
During the afternoon, the colder air
contracted north eastwards slowly, combining with fairly warm sunshine
to turn showers more thundery. Some storms were severe, which
prompted an Severe Thunderstorm and Squall Warning for metropolitan
Melbourne. 2cm hail was reported across Rowville and Lysterfield and
flash flooding across Dandenong. Highest rainfall totals were in the
NE with the Yarra Valley picking up 25mm in the 12 hour period.
David's photos indicate the storms cold
air appearance.
It was a fantastic week of weather to
round out a dismal summer performance. These photos and video is
something to look back on later this year, as it was one of the events
of 2003.
Karl Lijnders
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T a k i n g A u s t r a l i a b y
S t o r m ! 
