Hi all,
We've had an unbelievable week of weather here in Northern Australia, particularly in the last 24 hours.
I posted a few days ago that we were expecting rainfall of between 300mm (12 in) and 500mm (20in).
So far here my station has recorded 798mm (31.41 inches) for this rain storm event.
With 314mm (12.36 inches) of that all falling today. From Midnight this morning to 10:30pm (current time) we've had 314mm of rain here from a fiercely active monsoon trough combining with a tropical depression inland and a firm ridge along the coastal areas caused by a high pressure system to the south.
This rain has been falling anywhere from Cairns (about 1000km/620 miles) north of me, right down to about St Lawrence (about 150km/95 miles) south of me.
And this morning the most extreme thing of this whole event occurred in the city of Townsville, which is about 400km (250 miles) to my north.
Yesterday afternoon the Bureau of Meterology issued a warning for the Townsville area and areas inland for the potential for damaging wind gusts up to 90 km/hr due to the proximity of the tropical depression. Little did the people of Townsville know what was coming.
At 4:42am this morning the pressure was reading 1002.0hPa and winds were gusting to 43 km/hr at the Townsville Airport.
At 5:00am the pressure had fallen dramatically to 999.9hPa with winds gusting to 46 km/hr.
At 5:02am the pressure had fallen further to 998.6hPa, wind gusts to 54 km/hr.
At 5:05am the pressure starting rising to 999.6hPa, with winds gusting to 59 km/hr. Then, one minute later.
At 5:06am the pressure increased to 1000.2hPa, winds started gusting to 91km/hr.
And at 5:07am the winds started gusting to 111km/hr with the sustained 10 minute average of 76km/hr. That's 69mph gusts, 47mph 10 minute average.
As no doppler radars are installed in the area the Bureau of Meterology just shrugged it off as enhanced winds from a rain storm cell.
It has been discovered since then that a tornado started spinning up right over the top of the Townsville Airport and started moving directly south towards suburban areas of the city.
Within minutes it had ripped the roofs off 40 houses and caused widespread severe damage through the suburb of Vincent at its peak, it then seems it kept heading south as it quite deteriorated and disappeared.
The media quickly jumped on saying that it was a "Mini-cyclone" that went through the area quoting winds of 111km/hr as ripping through the area, though some other parts of town were completely untouched. The media over here tend to try not to frighten people by saying what actually occurred instead saying "Mini-cyclone" every time a tornado occurs here.
Since the event this morning looking through aerial pictures and photos of the area it is obvious that this damage was caused by a tornado.
Local storm chasers from the area who had just returned from Western Australia after chasing Severe Tropical Cyclone Lua examined the area that the tornado occurred in and found debris blown in different directions on the each side of the road and confirmed they are confident it was a tornado.
Tropical Cyclone Yasi also caused damage through the area last year and had recorded gusts to 165km/hr in the city (102 mph). Though the damage in the photos is much, much worse than anything from Cyclone Yasi last year, the residents from the area also report the conditions as being far worse. I was speculating that the winds in the area were likely about 200km/hr (125 mph) and the local storm chasers from the area believe that the effects from the tornado match that of an EF2. And I believe looking at the damage it was definitely either a strong EF2 or a weak EF3 that struck the area.
Typically, the Australian Bureau of Meterology have said nothing other than that a Severe thunderstorm went through the area overnight, they won't confirm or deny the reports of a tornado although it is obvious.
Meanwhile in my area today, we've had 314mm of rain and every single road is closed due to flooding around my small town, we can't get out in any direction. There is absolutely insane amounts of water everywhere.
There is a water height gauge on our local creek and it is currently reporting just under 12 metres (39.4 feet). I've never previously seen it go beyond much more than 10 metres (32.8 feet) and the local roads are usually flooded whenever it is above 8.5 metres (27.9 feet).
We are expecting further heavy rain and the potential for some damaging winds overnight tonight and into tomorrow as that tropical depression comes within the local vicinity (albeit a fair way west).
Although the local BOM won't confirm or deny the tornado in Townsville, they seem pretty worried about cells near the local area, as the main part of the system has been moving down here from the Townsville area.
Earlier tonight there was a small "round"ish cell on the radar and satellite moving towards the local city and they issued a "Very dangerous thunderstorm warning for the potential for destructive winds", the cell disappeared before it got here though thankfully, but it shows they are worried about it.
Amazingly though typical of Australian TV and Radio despite that warning of Possible Destructive Winds and with a possible tornado, there was absolutely no warning given to any locals via TV or Radio, the only people who knew about the warning were those who follow the weather and those who posted it on Facebook.
The Australian media never broadcast any warnings in local areas unless it is for a Cyclone, most warnings are briefly mentioned in news bulletins if they are current at the time of the broadcast but are never mentioned again.
Anyway, I'll post some pictures of Townsville area's tornado destruction shortly.