..And some comm gear lol
Twisters cut a swathe.. front page news.
By STAFF REPORTERS
Twin tornadoes destroyed a garage and ripped out trees from Hamilton to Eureka yesterday.
Hail, heavy rain and gusting winds caused just as many problems in the city itself.
Eureka sharemilker Nick Jurgens was this morning counting his blessings, and his cows, after a pair of 40m-high tornadoes ripped through his property yesterday afternoon.
One missed his farmhouse by metres, tore the roof off a double garage and tossed it across three paddocks.
The other twister blew over a stand of poplar trees.
Mr Jurgens and another farm worker were in a paddock when they saw the tornadoes approaching about 1.30pm.
He had seen tornadoes before, but yesterday's were the biggest he had encountered.
"We had to hold our ground."
Mr Jurgens said there was nowhere to run had the twisters come toward them.
The farm house was left with a smashed window and a buckled ranchslider.
"Another couple of metres and we would've lost the side of the house," Mr Jurgens said.
Less lucky was his farm bike. "I turned around and my four-wheel bike and trailer was going for a skate across the paddock."
Further north, Ann Coster who lives on Greenhill Rd, northeast of Hamilton, was at home holding her "terrified" dog when thunder, lightning and strong winds hit about 1pm.
"It was incredible," she said.
"A 30 or 40-second storm and it was over."
"It was loud, banging and thumping, it happened so quickly."
A neighbour had seen a tornado go past her house as branches and debris flew through the air.
"There were waves of white rain hitting the paddock and the wind was gusting," Mrs Coster said.
She saw the top branches of a 30m-tall tree bend so far they were hitting the road below.
"I have never seen anything like it. I thought it (the tree) was going to go . . . the next second I heard something crash and the pergola was gone."
Another neighbour, Sharon Wrenn, arrived home to six fallen trees along her driveway.
"It has taken the row out; this is a mammoth clean up job."
MetService spokesman Ramon Oosterkamp said the small, localised storm that hit the Waikato was part of a messy broad trough from the Tasman Sea that moved across the North Island last night.
"The tornado was caused by a very active cold front bringing a burst of highly unstable air," he said.
Tornados occur during thunderstorms when an updraft of air moves very quickly, causing the wind to spin.
Hail forms when rain drops are blown high into the air and freeze. They become heavier and fall but can be blown up again, getting bigger each time until they are heavy enough to fall to the ground.
From midday yesterday Hamilton received 28mm of rain, 9.5mm of that between 1pm and 2pm. A further 11mm fell last night.
Te Kuiti got 23mm, the Kaimai Summit 26mm and Taupo 18.5mm.
The MetService said much of the bad weather had now passed. The forecast is for cloud and some showers today and tomorrow.
EUREKA!!
Oh??"The tornado was caused by a very active cold front bringing a burst of highly unstable air," he said.
The cold front arrived some 13 hours later.
Sort of like homer saying. "hmmm, open faced club sand-wedge". I like what homer said better.
