| My First Storm Chase of 2001
Andrew McDonald 5/01/01 Melbourne - Holbrook. I’d been planning a weekend chase like this since getting back from TDU2K although I’d had to wait a while for the weather to co-operate. A weak frontal system and associated trough extended down through North Eastern SA, through Western NSW and into Victoria on the 4th January and it was obvious that this system was going to move very slowly through Southern NSW and probably stall in SE NSW along the western slopes of the ranges. Thunderstorms developed in NE Victoria and along the western side of the ranges of SE NSW on Thursday. This trough was expected to produce thunderstorms over the next three days as it moved eastwards and stalled in E NSW. I got home from work at about 6:00pm and was on the road by 6:30pm with the hope that I’d be able to get a bit of a lightning show. I’d had reports all afternoon of strong storms in E and NE Victoria and I knew that I’d have to be in SE NSW for tomorrow so I headed up the Hume Hwy with the mattress and pillow in the back of the station wagon. Strato Cu covered the sky until about 5km S of Seymour where a clearly defined clearing edge showed blue sky and AcCas on the ranges to my E and N. Patchy AcCas was visible all the way to Albury and the sunset was nothing short of perfect (but I didn’t get any photos - sorry). I spoke to Anthony Cornelius on the way up and he informed me that everything had died off and not much was happening. I stopped for a quick food stop in Albury before continuing N. I stopped at a rest area between Albury and Holbrook (now in SE NSW) that had OK views from the NW to the SW and also a bit of a view to the NE and S. I set up the bed in the back of the car and made a few phone calls to get an idea of where I needed to be for tomorrow. While I was on the phone to Anthony I happened to be looking at a small TCu (lit up by the moonlight) and I saw a distant flash of lightning. The trough was sitting just to my W and weak storms were popping up along the trough and moving towards me. For the next two hours I watched as half a dozen small cells produced infrequent lightning from the N all the way around to the SE. I took a very brief bit of video and managed to catch a distant CG (better than nothing I guess).
6/01/01 Holbrook - Orange After a somewhat restless night thanks to one mozzie that managed to find its way into the car, I awoke at 6:30am to see some nice AcCas but upon realising the time I went back to sleep. I woke again at 7:30am and the entire sky to my W was covered in AcCas and AcCj’s. I took some photos while the sky continued to look good but I retreated to the car for some food and to write some of this report. I left the rest stop at 9:15am and picked up some fuel in Holbrook before heading out towards Wagga for some food which I ate at a lookout in Wagga. It was hot and somewhat dry with DP’s in the area of 12C. After speaking to Anthony again I kept heading N towards Junee. The sky was still covered in AcCas and it looked unstable even though it was still fairly dry.
Spectacular AcCas. Looking SE from Junee At about 12:00pm Anthony told be of a line of storms which had developed well to my N near Blayney which ran N-S for about 80km. I had to race N to catch this line and I got to Bathurst with the cells just to the N and E. I headed up towards Sofala to try to catch this line but to no avail. I saw some OK lightning and a nice lowering but by the time I got close enough these cells had weakened significantly. I had the choice of heading further N then W to Dubbo or heading back down S to Bathurst. I decided to head S as phone reception was closer. When I got back into phone reception, Anthony told me they had been red on radar for quite a while but as I approached from the S and Matt Smith (who was chasing from Sydney) approached from the E they had weakened considerably. Anthony told me of another line of storms to my W out near Parkes which was lightning active and looked nice on radar. It was obviously forming along the actual trough and in much clearer air as it had become quite cloudy from the left over storms in the Bathurst area. I could see a small Cb ahead of this line out near Orange so I headed W. I soon realised that this small cell wasn’t going to last but I could see the line to the W and nice strong development to the SW. I took the back road to Blayney and then down to Mandurama so I could cut across W towards Canowindra. I raced along, knowing that the Canowindra police were attending about 5km out of town.
The cell ahead of the line near Orange. Taken looking W from Dunkeld. From what I could see, my best bet would be to head towards either Cudal or Cargo with a nice developing rain free base (RFB) to my W. Some extreme CG’s were popping out of this RFB so I stopped about 4km away and took some video and photos. The bases were relatively high at about 5000ft. I watched this cell produce spectacular lightning until I felt the cool outflow from the rain shaft that was just to my SW.
Some of the CG’s looking to the W of Canowindra. I packed up my stuff and made plans to head back into Canowindra and then NE to Cargo and then onto Orange. Instead of taking the main road, I saw a sign that pointed to Cargo and without really thinking, I tore off down it. It turned to dirt within 400m and I soon found myself partly lost in a maze of dirt tracks. Luckily the roads kept me in good position very close to this cell’s RFB. I came around a bend and out of some trees to be greeted with a nice lowering to my NW. I stopped for a few minutes and took some photos and video before continuing on as I didn’t want to get caught in the heavy precipitation on the dirt road.
Hello Boys!! The first lowering. I finally found my way to Cargo and then raced towards Orange in an attempt to beat the core of the storm. The road led me perfectly around the edge of the rain curtain and I came face to face with the second wall cloud of the day. It was a perfectly circular, bowl shaped wall cloud. I stopped for a quick bit of video and a few photos before racing on as I could hear the roar of the rain as it marched up the road behind me. Rain curtain and developing wall cloud on the left - you can just make out the circular bands as it wraps up
Round she goes!!! Wall Cloud SW of Orange with precipitation off to the left Lightning was ripping off with flashes every few seconds and some close thunder - the adrenaline was really pumping. Unfortunately the road swung back towards the precipitation core and I was confronted by a wall of rain. I hit it and within 100m I couldn’t see. The drops were massive with tennis ball sized drops hitting the windscreen and hail became a concern (as I was in my mum’s car). I pulled over wondering if I should continue on to try and make it to Orange or if I should turn back. I sat there for 30 seconds thinking and soon water was running like a river down the sides of the road and it was soon apparently that going on would be a mistake. I turned around and drove back to Canowindra and back up to Bathurst as this cell cleared off to the N. I watched as it produced a nice lightning show on dusk but it weakened rapidly but still gave a nice sunset
The sun sets behind a tornado-looking rain curtain. The last rays of sunlight catch the anvil of the decaying storm. I eventually made it back to Bathurst and the lightning had eased to 1 flash every few minutes. I made another call to Anthony and he told me that Dubbo had been SMASHED by a big storm with golf ball hail, 42mm of rain in 20 mins and winds up to 120km/h. I was a little annoyed as I was going to head out that way earlier but I guess it was good for mum’s car! hehehe. I grabbed a drink in Bathurst and some petrol before heading up to Sofala for the night where I had seen a nice place to park for the night. I set up my bed and was getting ready to sleep when I saw some lightning to my SW. It became more frequent rapidly so I packed up my stuff and raced back towards Orange. I watched this cell reach its peak as I drove towards Orange and by the time I found somewhere to stop again at Orange it was totally dead. The drive through Orange was interesting with some serious foliage damage from hail earlier in the day. A service station attendant described hail between marble and golf ball size had fallen at about 6pm. This was the cell I had been chasing near Cargo earlier on. I was glad (for mum’s cars sake) that I had turned back because I hate to think of the mess that would’ve created. It was now 1:30am and I had driven 1120km and I was soon asleep. 7/01/01 Orange to Melbourne The sky in Orange when I woke was again very nice and if I didn’t have to work on Monday I would’ve stayed and chased in the Orange - Bathurst - Dubbo area as the trough had stalled in the area and it was looking primed for more severe storms. My initial plan was to head straight home but upon hearing the forecast I changed plans. Thunderstorms with squally winds, locally heavy rainfall and hail were forecast for many districts of NSW. I decided to head down to Cootamundra where I could watch the situation for a while. At Cootamundra I slept for a while and at 12pm it was looking boring so I headed S again. I stopped at Henty, just 1 hour N of the Victorian border and watched some Cu attack a cap that was holding a little too nicely for my liking. I videoed a small dust devil that persisted for 3 minutes but that was it.
The only spin-up of the chase. I called Anthony to see if anything had developed anywhere and he told me of 4cm hail and severe winds hitting Bathurst (DOH!!!) but also of more interest was the storms in NE Victoria which were looking like hitting Albury. I headed S again and I had a quick fuel and food stop in Albury before heading further S. Just 5 mins out of Albury I saw a thick anvil to the SE in the Beechworth direction. Static on the radio wasn’t overly frequent indicating a weakening stage of the storm that had seemingly been kicked up by a weak front crossing Victoria. I got myself under the updraft region of the cell just NW of Beechworth and followed it back to Albury. It was obvious that this was going to be the last pulse of the cell so I made the most of it and sat underneath it as it dumped its last load of precipitation. I wasn’t overly worried about large hail as it was a relatively weak cell but I was surprised when it dropped some smaller hail to 1cm. It was a nice way to end the chase. Overall I covered 2400km and saw some great storms and had a great time. BIG Thanks to Anthony Cornelius, Matt Smith and Jane ONeill for their updates throughout the weekend. |
