SEVERE STORMS IN SE QLD AND NE NSW - OCTOBER 25, 2000

A surface trough caused showers and storms to develop in SE QLD and NE NSW on this day.  When the trough produced a huge area of electrically active storms in the Northern Tablelands district of NSW and southern inland QLD the day before, things were looking great for storm activity in SE QLD the next day, providing a rain band didn't develop.  It did develop overnight, but thankfully it moved off the coast early in the morning.  Storms developed throughout inland parts during the afternoon and evening, with several large and intense cells.  Hail up to 2cm in size was reported from Warwick, and winds to 80-90km/h reported from just east of Boonah.

A tornado struck the town of Glastonsbury (west of Gympie) on this day. With any luck damage footage stills and more information will be added to this report at a later date. In the meantime, a brief summary of the damage is provided below, courtesy of Carl Smith.

Several people chased on this day, and links to their chase reports or summaries are provided below.

Anthony Cornelius bagged 2 wall clouds and 1 funnel! Click here to see his report and pictures.

Jason Rainforest, Ben Quinn and Ross Portas chased on the eastern Darling Downs, and intercepted an awesome (and probably severe) storm SW of Warwick late in the afternoon.  Another severe storm was experienced just east of Boonah on the way back to Brisbane.  A chased report will be compiled in the next few days - in the meantime check out these pictures:

2 MPEG videos are also available.  The first (340k) shows some rapidly moving rain streaks (which may be a little hard to see on some monitors) and sucd movment along a developing gust front.  The second (1.34mb) is a pan of the storm we intercepted SW of Warwick.

Steve Baynham took the following lightning pictures from the Gold Coast during the evening.

After receiving 20 mm of rain in the early hours of the morning, my first inclination that there was definitely going to be a storm was at about 1 pm. From here I quickly moved to the Warwick lookout which has a great 360 degree view. Perfect for spotting storms. With my trusty camera and notepad, I arrived at 1.15pm A heavy shower that had passed over Warwick at about 12.50 pm was now building on the ranges and I noticed another storm to the South which as I arrived, may have had a decent funnel. It disappeared over the next 10 mins and was obscured by a hill, but I still took a photo and watched nature unfurl. I also noted a developing system to the North West And wind seemed to be moving from the NW to SE, sometimes fairly strong.

1.30PM

At this stage I could see 4 main areas of development, all having rainfall visible and 2 having anvils. The storm to the NW was now NNW and had reasonable development. Also noted was the significant build up in the west, but obscured by fast moving lower level clouds.

1.45PM

Significant build up to the NE occurred with pretty much more distinct development seen. After all morning being overcast, now there was lots of blue sky and more defined build up. Things were looking good with Nth storm producing good anvil, but this system stabilsed for a time. Unfortunately I had to go back into town and I awaited to see what would happen.

By 2PM build up was been seen everywhere. And at 3pm a large area of anvil was seen starting to move towards Warwick. At 4pm the storm was coming into view and it hit at 4.30PM. Two definite wall clouds were seen side by side, but no rotation and lasting only short time. However, storm produced torrential rain, gale force winds and hail in places. Reports of hail up and above 2cm but mostly pea sized. Wind and rain combined made this storm bad, if not severe. 15mm or rain was recorded at my home, however, I may have seen more at the other side of town, closer to 20 mm in 15 mins. Rain rate at one stage was over 100mm/hr and ground water accumulated very quickly and lasted for sometime. Some spectacular lightning was observed, a lot of being massive CG's and thunder was intense. Storm seemed to be still growing in strength as it approached and passed over.

Over all, a heap of photos taken and an early evening lightning show was to follow with some beautiful bolts seen.

NE NSW also had a great day, with a MASSIVE line of storms developing mid afternoon.  A summary of the events is provided below courtesy of Michael Bath (co-webmaster of Australian Severe Weather).

What an afternoon! As well as SE QLD firing, NE NSW has also. The most spectacular shelf cloud formation spread in slowly from the west after forming SW of Lismore. Awesome laminar banding along a 20-30km long gust front, lowerings and swirling scuds touching the ground, intense precipitation and lightning, and the beautiful green tinge in the boiling updrafts. I suspect some areas have been hit with large hail, but awaiting reports. I took off just before the precipitation hit the area around 5.30pm

Another large shelf cloud developed towards dusk and has passed through during the past hour or so. CGs and CCs every second or two and some moderate rain, but no hail or significant winds in it.

Michael has a report up on his website for this day. Click here or on the thumbnails above to see it.