High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by NZ Thunderstorm Soc »

mikestormchaser wrote:
Anyways cool start today in chch wind has been S-SW all day i think, saw a nice bit on convective stuff towards BP way this afternoon around 3pm maybe abit of convergance going on there. Also looked bit unstable towards TC this afternoon John :lol:

cheers
Yes, Mike. Looks a bit better than yesterday. :smile:
My wife was out collecting up horsey poo before and she reckoned she heard a rumble in the TC direction but I think it was probably a jet aircraft flying over the region.

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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by zl4plm »

there was thunder across towards the ranges this arvo.

I was out the paddock around three and there was a heavy shower with low cloud base across towards oxford -waddington .... black as hell .... def a couple of rumbles from that .

no lightning that I could see but sat and watch a while from the porch with a coffee

on the west coast rd just along from west melton heading towards sandy knowles junction

rgds

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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by MoorfNZ »

zl4plm wrote:there was thunder across towards the ranges this arvo.

I was out the paddock around three and there was a heavy shower with low cloud base across towards oxford -waddington .... black as hell .... def a couple of rumbles from that .

no lightning that I could see but sat and watch a while from the porch with a coffee

on the west coast rd just along from west melton heading towards sandy knowles junction

rgds

Simon
That would have been when the hail storm hit us in Waddington... black as... didn't hear any thunder though :?:
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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by tich »

Quite heavy rain out here now, after showery periods from late morning. Gusty southerly at times today - alot colder than normal for time of year.
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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by DT-NZ »

Vertigo posted some AWESOME information last year re: lightning descriptions over on the Lightning in NZ topic/threads, now archived.
Lightning in NZ
The right terminology lends a hint as to the nature of the different forms.
A Vertigo Quote.
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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by Nev »

Report of a "mini-tornado" about 30km ESE of Omarama (google-map) on Sunday...
'High country campers gone with the wind' - Stuff
Last updated 05:00 12/01/2010

...Otematata Holiday Park manager Tara O'Reilly estimated that half of the campers had left because of the weather. ... At Waitangi a mini tornado had split a big tree in half and it had fallen on a tent, she said. Sunday saw thunder and lightning hit the area.
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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by Chris Raine »

I drove past that camp site yesterday . Definitely a big tree branch down in the aformentioned campsite but there were other trees missing branches as well as if a SW wind squall had come through
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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by Weetbicks »

What exactly is a "mini tornado". If I had to guess I'd say most of those kinds of reports are gustnados ?
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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by tgsnoopy »

Weetbicks wrote:What exactly is a "mini tornado". If I had to guess I'd say most of those kinds of reports are gustnados ?
Wash your mouth out young lady! #-o

That term has to be our most hated term that the media uses. ;)

No such thing! Enough said, nothing to see here, move along :-w
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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by Weetbicks »

I hope you mean mini tornado :)
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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by tgsnoopy »

Yes, it's often the cause of a reaction in here. I was very surprised to see a moderator post it without commenting.
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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by Michael »

Weetbicks wrote:I hope you mean mini tornado :)
The m word.Theres worse phrases I hate than that to me but not weather related.
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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by Weetbicks »

lol
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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by dogmelon »

"Mini Tornado" is just a catch-all term used by a poor excuse for a journalist.
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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by Nev »

tgsnoopy wrote:Yes, it's often the cause of a reaction in here. I was very surprised to see a moderator post it without commenting.
:?: #-o

Here's a personal comment. To be fair, the journalist was simply reporting what a member of the public had said, so I don't really see a problem with that.

I've also noticed a remarkable decline in the use of the 'm-word' over the last year or so, which I think might partly be attributed to a couple of Philip Duncan's blog/articles (even though he's not quite as passionate about the issue as most others here are and did seem to take some initial convincing ;) ), partly attributed to the publicity surrounding the launch of MetService's new 'Severe Thunderstorm Warning Service' last July, with the words 'tornado', 'weak-tornado' or 'small-tornado' frequently used, but no sign of the 'm-word' (Joe Bloggs probably thinking, 'gee... so we really do get real tornadoes in NZ') and partly due to the very few members of this forum that actually bothered to take the time and try to politely educate some of our reporters.
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Re: High Risk of Thunderstorms - SI, Sunday 10 January

Unread post by Lacertae »

Reminds me of a deadly EF3/F4 tornado in the north of France 2 years ago, and the whole storm chasers community (and it's a big one) fighting really hard for days against the use of the "mini-tornado" by the medias ... they didn't succeed and people remember it as being "only" a mini-one, though people died and houses were smashed to pieces ... :rolleyes:
So may be here in NZ the use of the m-word is decreasing, but in Europe or at least France it's the opposite ! >_<
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