Her beauty and her terror - February 2009

19 February, 2009 – 7:39 pm

Clinging to the fertile edges of our continent, away from the extremes of the interior, Australians enjoy their climate.  At times we could be mistaken in believing that we even have it to some degree under control.  At its warmest and coolest, in the dry and wet we have increasingly been able to tuck ourselves away in our homes and cars. “Aircon” on, windows closed.  As February unfolded we were starkly reminded that sometimes that is not enough.

Heatwave and Bushfires in Southern Australia

The heatwave conditions in Southern Australia that had commenced at the end of January continued into early February. Records, both in terms of temperatures reached and consecutive days of heat, fell across large areas in Victoria, South Australia and Southern NSW.

The heatwave culminated in the worst bushfire tragedy in Australian history on the the 7th of February as the heat, low humidity and strong winds of the day combined to produce in Victoria some of the most extreme fire conditions every experienced.   The loss of life and property has been well covered in many locations, the key weather resources as well as links to the major news services are included below.  Donations can be made at the Australian Red Cross.

Flooding North Queensland

While Southern Australia suffered through heat and fires the Monsoon became extremely active in North Queensland with major flooding occuring as a result of a tropical low from ex Tropical Cyclone Ellie.

Flooding NSW North Coast and Far West

Heavy rain from a low pressure system brought heavy rain to the NSW North Coast as well as Far Western NSW. Reports to follow.

By Rhett | Posted in Storms | Comments (0)

January 2009

8 January, 2009 – 7:43 pm

Lightning North of Tamworth, NSW - January 24th 2009. Photo: Rhett Blanch

Early January saw the severe weather just keep coming in Queensland with storms and floods.  Meanwhile in SE Australia it was either cold, with record breaking cool temperatures in Victoria, or hot which is more to be expected at this time of year.

Floods in North West Queensland

Monsoonal rain in North West Queensland brought rain to the drought declared North West of Queensland, cutting roads into the Northern Territory and isolated Mount Isa and Cloncurry.

Remainder of the month

The rest of January was relatively quiet on the storm front with the storm activity waning in SE Queensland. The monsoon trough was still bubbling in North Queensland. Temperatures were on the increase in the South East with heat wave conditions in the SE in late January.

By Rhett | Posted in Floods, Storms | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

December 2008

14 December, 2008 – 2:56 pm

Isolated thunderstorm West of Tamworth, NSW - 26th December 2008

Isolated thunderstorm West of Tamworth, NSW - 26th December 2008. Photo: Rhett Blanch

The great or bad (depending on your perpective) storm season in North East NSW and South East Queensland continued into December.  A low pressure system in the South East brought the challenging conditions with strong winds and flooding in Victoria.

December 23rd - Tornado at Nimmitabel

December 23rd featured a Tornado at Nimmitabel near Cooma, NSW resulting in one of the most impressive photos of a Tornado in Australia.

Rest of December

By Rhett | Posted in Floods, Storms, Tornado | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

November 2008

21 November, 2008 – 2:42 pm

The storm season kicked into full gear in November with a series of devastating storms hitting South East Queensland, and significant events in other areas:

Early November Storms

16th November - Brisbane Storm

This was one of the most destructive storms to hit a major Australian city in many years. 4,000 houses were damaged.  85 houses were declared uninhabitable.  The damage bill is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

19th November - South East Queensland

Still cleaning up after the storms on the 16th November, a storm on the evening of the 19th dumped up to 250mm of rain in some areas of SE QLD resulting in flash flooding, evacuations, rescues and unfortunately a death.

22nd - 23rd November - Cold Blast

With only a week until Summer a front and an intense low off the SE Australian coast plunged Victoria and much of NSW back into Winter. Snow, hail, heavy rain and strong winds caused havoc:

28th November onwards - Peel and Macdonald/Namoi River Flood, NSW

Falls of up to 164mm in the catchment of the Peel and Macdonald (Namoi) River on the evening of the 28th November resulted in flooding on the 29th November in the Tamworth District.  The flooding was the first test of Tamworth’s new levee bank on the western side of the Peel River flood plain.  Many businesses were saved from the flooding.  Others were not so lucky - a railway embankment washed away due to the heavy rain flooding parts of Taminda. Elsewhere the flood waters resulted in a number of rescues from people stranded in trees and cars.

Note: Up until now the order of storms posted has been in reverse date order with the most recent storms being at the top of the post.  Why I was doing it that way is one of life’s little mysteries, but it has worked well for the most part.   When faced with a series of events such as those in Brisbane this month it made any sort of narrative a little difficult.  From now on I will try going in the opposite direction and see how that goes.  Cheers R

By Rhett | Posted in Floods, Storms | Comments (0)

October 2008

22 October, 2008 – 9:17 pm

Storm from near Macquarie University, Sydney NSW 3rd October 2008

Storm near Macquarie University, NSW - 3rd October 2008. Photo: Rhett Blanch
By Rhett | Posted in Storms | Comments (0)

September 2008

22 October, 2008 – 8:50 pm

Some spectacular stuff to kick off the season with amazing lightning and storm structure shots in this collection.

By Rhett | Posted in Storms | Comments (0)

Winter 2008

18 October, 2008 – 7:52 pm

There were a few notable cold outbreaks this Winter with plenty of snow on offer for the snow chasers.  Guyra, NSW must do good business from its regular mid winter visitors from SE Queensland and the Northern Rivers.

By Rhett | Posted in Cold, Floods, Snow, Storms | Comments (0)