Chase NT/Darwin Dec 2010

[Richard]

Thats it,ive got get up that way in the next few years,thanks you guys for your photos,ive even got one of them as my screen saver now

[03Stormchaser]

Monsoonal type storms here so far today. local chasers love them, way to messy for me.

[Tornado Tim]

Monsoonal type storms here so far today. local chasers love them, way to messy for me.

I agree with you Steve! Far too much muck around!

Isolated storms are the best as you can get good structural shots

[03Stormchaser]

Big Bust last night, drove 90 km south to Adelaide river to "Hulk Hand Hill" as there were storms firing right thru to kathrine, byt the time we got down there there was only a few distant flashes. Currently in Darwin airport on my way home!

[Orion]

Happy landings!

[tgsnoopy]

Ick, my QF flight from Sydney to Auckland has been delayed significantly (It may have the designation QF321 it's actually LA800, an airline that seems to be late on a regular basis) and will miss my Air NZ connecting flight down to Tauranga.

QANTAS is trying to get me to Auckland in time. Fingers crossed.

On the flight out of Darwin I was able to observe the area the others were chasing in, sadly by then it was down to just 1 flash about every 2 minutes, mainly CC in the distance, I'd estimate them as being about 50,000 feet high.

[spwill]

A few interest photos, first two are of florence falls at Litchfield National Park with the popular swimming hole, no crocs here and lower photo shows a termite nest.

[03Stormchaser]

Back in CHCH now, roughed it at melb last night just slept in the airport. will go thru my photos over the coming few days and post more up.

[Weetbicks]

I came to this thread late, but spent the last hour reading through it all, I thoroughly enjoyed the photos and daily reports, amazing coverage. We are really fortunate on this forum to have such dedicated folk who take the time to write posts so great for the rest of us.

[Willoughby]

I think the time window that the guys came over in was perfect. It is now cloudy, showery/rainy with the monsoon trough developing as the week progresses. Would have been almost a waste of time if we were chasing now.

I will also add some photos over the next few days.

[Orion]

Foggy - did I miss an update about your misplaced camera-bag?

[Willoughby]

Oops! Yep, luckily it was still there as we drove down in the morning to get it. HUGE relief. A bit damp in the front pocket as there was a storm the night prior, and had to shake off a bit of stuck on sand/dirt from the water.

[spwill]

I think the time window that the guys came over in was perfect. It is now cloudy, showery/rainy with the monsoon trough developing as the week progresses.

Yes I had noticed also the big temperatures last week were a bit of a novelty for us.

[kelhb]

Have only just read through this post, awesome pics guys, sounds like you chose the right week to be there!
Good to hear that your camera bag was still there Foggy!

[tgsnoopy]

Wow, Willz and Jacci (Whom with Foggy were our guides over there) had a very close call with a huge positive CG yesterday...


First Positive CG dogleg about 1km away.


Willz photo, over exposed unfortunately.


Jacci's photo, as luck has it, perfect except for the tree in front. Click on the image for a larger picture.

But the best thing! Willz caught it on HD video!
Watch this Youtube video in 720P with the volume up!

[Orion]

Crumbs!!

[tgsnoopy]

For those of you that aren't familiar with dogleg positive CG's, here's one of Willz images that shows it. The close one above went through low level skud cloud but is a freak out of the blue when they were photographing normal stuff from the CB which is further away.



As you can see, they can come down 15 to 20 kilometers from the CB.

[Orion]

Now I'd like to know why?? seems like a rotten trick, sneaking out sideways like that!

[tgsnoopy]

As the updraft in the cloud collides with moisture it generates a charge. The base of the cloud gets a negative charge and the top a positive. Most lightning is negative bolts which reduce the charge at the bottom relative to ground, but at the same time they cause the positive charge at the top to increase (relative to ground). Eventually the top can get high enough in voltage that it punches out sideways then down. Once the air in the area (of the lightning bolt) is ionised it'll often pulse numerous times. The voltage is much more than a negative strike and the current carried is typically 8 to 10 times more than a typical negative from the same storm.

You don't generally see them here as our storms aren't big enough to generate sufficient charge at the top (for it to be able to punch out). Over there we got to see a number in a row out of one of the big CB's.

[Orion]

Very clear explanation - thankyou!

[Richard]

thanks tgsnoopy,i understand how it works now also

You can see why its bit risky being out in the open near those types of storms,you think you are far enough away but ya not really.

[tgsnoopy]

I said to the guys I was with, that the positives were the only thing I was concerned about. While we were there 3 of the 4 of us were standing on top of a rock outcrop that was the highest point nearby. Not long after leaving that location for a different view, we had one come down very close to the car while we did a U-turn. It had the same after glowing spot syndrome that you see in the video.
I can definitely recommend a visit to Darwin to experience the storms there. I liked it that much, don't be surprised if i move there one day in the future. I'll be back there, it's only a matter of time until I go.

[Manukau heads obs]

wow,that close strike is amazing, and you can see the smoke at the ground zero afterwards!!

[tgsnoopy]

It hit a termite mound. I expect it's dust from an explosion of said termite mound.

[tgsnoopy]

Bugger. We had a good day today but not much to show for it unfortunately (though spwill might have some good photos) except being really ticked off with myself for being forgetful. I'll get to that in a bit.

Spent a good 3 hours at Litchfield to start the day, then convection was underway NE of Darwin (looked good initially) and to our south. Headed N first but then turned around near Acacia to target the developing cells east of Pine Creek. As we got there they were propagating on the Kakadu Highway so headed up there about 20 km and struggled to find a lookout in time before the rain hit. Quite a number of close CGs. Would've been ideal to keep going straight to Jabiru but that would've been too big a drive back to Darwin. Had dinner in Pine Creek with a good light show.

Now, silly me... just got dropped home and wondered where my camera bag was in the boot. Uhhhhhhhhhh..... It's back in flipping Pine Creek!!! Around 2.6k worth of lenses (two L glasses, and a 50mm 1.4) in my blue crumpler bag sitting next to a gas compression station just NE of Pine Creek. Easy to forget when you're focused on the thunderstorm trying to capture the lightning, it's pitch black... and you normally don't take your camera bag with you out of the car. Arrrgh. Certainly a nervous wait tomorrow morning to see if it's still there and not damaged by the storm that rolled over it after it (est. 20mm at PC). Luckily it wont be visible to passing motorists.

Would be right here: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie ... ce03e29a95
There goes the thought of doing the spectacular jumping crocodile cruise tomorrow lol.

By the way guys that are here... that OFB that was pushing through did actually afterall create a line of heavy showers/downpours just off the coast. Luckily for us they didn't reach high enough to discharge any lightning action.
Here's a screenshot of the 12AM radar. In just two frames they popped up like that.

I should have posted this a long time ago...

IMG_6458a.JPG

I missed his jump for joy cause I wasn't expecting it.