Thunderstorm pics from Reefton, 14/02/05

C-Nimbus · Unread post by **C-Nimbus** » Thu 17/02/2005 11:04

I was driving between chch and Reefton thru Arthurs Pass on mondee to do some work on a gold mine project down there (i work in civil engineering).

At about 1pm or thereabouts a well glaciated anvil was observed from Lake Brunner, but at this stage I was not to sure of my bearings, and wasn't overly confident of being able to 'chase' it due to time and work commitments.

Fortunatley, it was actually where I was going, and by 4pm at Reefton you could see the direction of the storm. My location at this time was at a place called the globe, which is a smallish mountain (if theres such a thing), I was on the peak and could hear thunder rolling in, so i decided it was best to move away as strikes can happen in this place, especially with numerous metal features nearby including a large radio antenna.

Once down in the town ship, you could really see it coming in, and by 6pm there was visible fork C-G lighning and rumbles 2-5 seconds later, and it was striking in the hills where I had been!.

Locals claim to only get a couple of T/S a year in Reefton because of its interesting location nestled between some hills....therefore I felt quite lucky to witness this!

C-Nimbus · Unread post by **C-Nimbus** » Thu 17/02/2005 11:08

C-Nimbus · Unread post by **C-Nimbus** » Thu 17/02/2005 11:09

C-Nimbus · Unread post by **C-Nimbus** » Thu 17/02/2005 11:11

C-Nimbus · Unread post by **C-Nimbus** » Thu 17/02/2005 11:12

C-Nimbus · Unread post by **C-Nimbus** » Thu 17/02/2005 11:14

spwill · Unread post by **spwill** » Thu 17/02/2005 11:42

Nice photo's C-Nimbus, Refton would probably have 15 to 20 days a year when Thunder is heard.

03Stormchaser · Unread post by **03Stormchaser** » Thu 17/02/2005 13:10

Reefton is situated in a great place for thunderstorms. Although I cant say theres much going for the town

C-Nimbus · Unread post by **C-Nimbus** » Thu 17/02/2005 13:46

spwill wrote:Nice photo's C-Nimbus, Refton would probably have 15 to 20 days a year when Thunder is heard.

I think the locals are stoned most of the time, so they probably think its a logging truck going thru!!!

Interesting place tho, theres alot of local scandal going on there, its seriously like coronation street sometimes.

At the time the locals referred to this event as a "West Coast Thunder Storm", god knows what that means!!

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Thu 17/02/2005 13:48

Nice pics C-nimbus!

Yeah, I would've figured Reefton would be a good place for storms begin close to the west coast etc. I guess just this year things haven't been that great for the west coast in terms of storms. As Summer/Autumn goes into winter I'm sure things will pick up for the coast for thunderstorms.

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Thu 17/02/2005 14:05

Many West Coast thunderstorms I guess come from unstable west or northwest flows - I wonder if the Paparoas act as much of a rainshadow (see my other thread on mini-rainshadows) to block some of the precipitation (and storms) from reaching Reefton.

Willoughby · Unread post by **Willoughby** » Sat 19/02/2005 00:07

Reefton huh? Probably NZ's most bizzare climate

NZstorm · Unread post by **NZstorm** » Sat 19/02/2005 08:45

I think Reefton would get most of its thunder activity on a strong moist NW'ester with a front. High season for that would be spring/summer.