Auckland T/S today

Manukau heads obs · Tue 22/06/2004 21:33

just having another nasty squall
equal highest gust of the day...(47 knots),and equal highest average too (39 kts at the coast and 35 kts here on the harbour side)
so its not quite over!

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Tue 22/06/2004 21:55

Exciting action up north - but any tornadoes/waterspouts reported? Seems to be the ideal weather situation for their formation. Seems pretty cold up there as well (by northern standards, alot warmer than what we're getting); temps in the low teens, I wonder what the freezing level would be like.

Gary Roberts · Unread post by **Gary Roberts** » Tue 22/06/2004 22:31

Excellent shots, guy! Simply excellent!

Manukau heads obs · Wed 23/06/2004 06:34

I did see some whirlwinds on the manuakau harbour, lee of Pupanga point (which would create them)...they were easily noticable from a distance of some 5 km away (i.e lots of spray on the water, and moving real fast!).
The dew point was quite low yesterday though, and the cloud base was quite high....and the cloud tops were real cold, and didnt get too much height....i.e there was not alot of vertical height in the showers....so not very conducive, i would think, to tornadoes, etc. But the bit of damage done would have been from the squalls/down bursts associated with the cb's
just my thinking

NZstorm · Unread post by **NZstorm** » Wed 23/06/2004 07:17

i was thinking of taking some photos the showers, but they were not all that impressive

Tops quite low, around 5-6000m. Thunderclouds must have been a bit higher though.

Manukau heads obs · Wed 23/06/2004 07:21

You make any cloud look good steven!
LOL

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Wed 23/06/2004 16:24

I second that!

When watching the video of that hail it looks quite cool as it moves along and spreads out a bit. The lightning is great also as it seems to just sit there on the sky tower for a second, that's why I metioned it strobed in my other post before this one.

Interesting thing though when watching that video you instantly here the thunder for that lightning bolt when it strikes even though the guy videoing it was across the harbour. I would've expected a slight delay in the thunder after the bolt truck which is normally the case. I reckon TV one edited the sound to make it more dramatic sounding (looking). I have another funny feeling that the guy videoing it was inside behind a window videoing it so that would've made the thunder even more quiet. Maybe the thunder they added for that story wasn't even from that bolt at all? I'll have to have a look at the vid again but he looked to be inside.

NZstorm · Unread post by **NZstorm** » Wed 23/06/2004 19:18

Re the Skytower
There is a gold ball on top the tower to attract lightning strikes, to ensure the strike is safely earthed.

Todays photo is a wintry cb over Auckland area yesterday.

spwill · Unread post by **spwill** » Wed 23/06/2004 19:37

Aaron, Television usually puts the Thunder and Lightning together with no time delay for good effect.
When Lightning is very close and the Thunder is almost instantaneous it tends to be a quick loud bang noise and not the rolling noise of distant Thunder.

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Wed 23/06/2004 20:30

Exciting action up north - but any tornadoes/waterspouts reported? Seems to be the ideal weather situation for their formation.

Apparently, there were small (news media reported them as 'mini') tornadoes near Tauranga yesterday. I found out from the Bay of Plenty news from the Stuff website - http://www.stuff.co.nz

Gary Roberts · Unread post by **Gary Roberts** » Wed 23/06/2004 20:31

NZstorm wrote:...There is a gold ball on top the tower to attract lightning strikes...

Let it be known by all that I, Gary Roberts, do volunteer all my sites for the purposes of lightning research, specifically that of attracting it. Please begin sending me objects fashioned from gold immediately in order that we may begin at once! Ah, science! A more noble cause has yet to be discovered!

Manukau heads obs · Wed 23/06/2004 20:39

the wind comming down off the kaimai /coromandel range can be pretty wicked in Tauranga at times...so maybe the ranges set up small whirlwinds/microbursts, associated with the Cb's

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Wed 23/06/2004 21:00

Yes, that seems right spwill, I'm still yet to have another look at the vid to see if what I said was right or not.

Great find Ben! Here's the artical for future references as I've sometimes noticed the stuff website chucks articals that are a few days old. Great read for the weather enthusiast although the people affected will not feel so great.

Mini-twisters tear through Western BOP
23 June 2004

Two mini-tornadoes ripped haysheds, uprooted trees and snapped a power transformer when they whipped through the Western Bay of Plenty on Tuesday.

Tauranga and other areas were also hit with pea-sized hailstones and strong winds.

Kevin Jones, of Welcome Bay, said two of his haysheds were ripped apart and 300 bales of hay scattered across a paddock during a two-minute storm.

He was in a third hayshed at the time - which managed to hold together.

"I could hear the lightning and thunder coming at 5pm. At two minutes past five the rain hit, the hail hit and the wind hit. Then it was all over."

He stayed in his hayshed while the storm passed but could see the roof "bulging, bending and bowing". He closed a door in the hayshed and waited.

When the skies calmed Mr Jones could see the damage to his other haysheds, which had all but disappeared.

One open-ended rectangular hayshed now has only two walls in place.

All that was left of the other damaged hayshed were eight poles and one rafter across the roof.

The 300 bales of hay were scattered up to 70m away from the shed.

"The wind just blew it up like a balloon and blew it to bits. There was tin and debris everywhere. It was a very interesting two minutes."

The wind also snapped a power pole at its base, leaving the Jones family to endure a cold, dark night without power.

The storm vanished as fast as it appeared.

Mr Jones said the storm seemed to be "localised" and left a line of destruction in its path with the haysheds, a power transformer and trees bowled across their property and neighbouring properties.

A similar tornado ripped through an area near Te Puke last night.

Residents near the Te Puke Quarry Rd and Rocky Cutting Rd intersection spoke of strong winds that uprooted large pine trees and blocked the road.

Manukau heads obs · Wed 23/06/2004 21:11

hard to tell if it was a tornado or a microburst from the CB....
which gets helped alone by the wind going down the leeward side of the kaimas/coromandal range too...(i.e it rushes down like water down rapids, especiualy cold air like that)
just my thoughts

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Wed 23/06/2004 21:14

Thats true Brian. It doesn't seem to have an eye witness account of a tornado (FC?), something was really windy though!

GraemeWi · Unread post by **GraemeWi** » Wed 23/06/2004 21:16

The 6pm radar shows quite a large cell just to the north-west of Tauranga, so maybe it was that cell that did the damage.

NZstorm · Unread post by **NZstorm** » Thu 24/06/2004 07:01

I agree with the microburst theory. Met Service forecast on the day was for gusts to 120km/h near thunderstorms. Thats around 70knots.

Please begin sending me objects fashioned from gold immediately

Sorry Gary, only Skycity who happen to own all the casinos in NZ can afford the Gold ball. Everybody else has to use Copper.

Manukau heads obs · Thu 24/06/2004 07:15

65 kts (divide by 1.85)

I was watching the Qucik Scat that day, and off the SI west coast, there was 50 knot winds average on the sea surface...
but the trough moved too much on to the southern alps, and some of the punch was lost....and the windspeed on the water, as observed with the quick scat image, was decreasing as it moved closer to the NI....also becuase the high over australia was not moving as quickly as the trough was moving, and so the pressure gradient weakened as the whole trough of cold aloft got closer to the NI...i.e the marine forecast for the auckland area was dropped to gusts to 55 knots, from gusts to 60 knots , at the next forecast....
i.e its been worse...the SW blow in february was far worse....much higher average....but then it didnt have the squaly cb's as much....
also, the heating on the land over the waikato int he afternoon would have helped to make the cb's more active by the time they got to the BOP..maybe...
sorry for the ramble!

03Stormchaser · Unread post by **03Stormchaser** » Thu 24/06/2004 08:15

Its not weather but some of you might be interested:

GEOLOGICAL & NUCLEAR SCIENCES
GeoNet Data Centre, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
http://www.geonet.org.nz

The following earthquake has been recorded by GNS:

Reference number: 2252479/G
Universal Time: 23 June 2004 04:28
NZ Standard Time: Wednesday, 23 June 2004 4:28 p.m.
Latitude, Longitude: 42.82Â°S, 171.36Â°E
Location: 20 km north-west of Arthur's Pass
Focal depth: 15 km
Richter magnitude: 5.1

Felt in Greymouth, Hokitika, Aruthurs Pass and the surrounding region.

Manukau heads obs · Thu 24/06/2004 08:23

time to stop flogging a dead horse in other words?

Gary Roberts · Unread post by **Gary Roberts** » Thu 24/06/2004 10:11

NZstorm wrote:Sorry Gary, only Skycity who happen to own all the casinos in NZ can afford the Gold ball. Everybody else has to use Copper.

The greedy swine! Mind you, when it gets really cold down here, I might find a few brass ones lying around the place.

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Thu 24/06/2004 12:57

Just thought I'd put up pictures from the 22nd here in Chch:

There ya go.

Michael · Unread post by **Michael** » Thu 24/06/2004 13:08

Good photos.I wouldn't be suprised we get TS today(Am kidding as its too shallow) but netherless its still rather changeable

Manukau heads obs · Thu 24/06/2004 13:48

there was a suprisingly heavy shower here before 6am, and there has been some quite good sizes showers running up the coastline michael, so nearly!
at least its much warmer, 14.4oc

NZstorm · Unread post by **NZstorm** » Thu 24/06/2004 17:18

Yes, plenty of showers around AK today. Weak cb tops to about 3500m.
Unother unstable high!!! Baromenter today was 1022hpa.

Aaron, some interesting convective cloud there, but it looks very shallow, tops around 2500m.