'Twisters Cut a Swathe' - SE Hamilton Tornadoes 12th

Weather Watcher · Unread post by **Weather Watcher** » Tue 18/07/2006 16:46

The storm moved over Hamilton about 1:30pm, then moved east-southeast, passing just south of Matamata about 2:30pm.

Manukau heads obs · Tue 18/07/2006 17:07

ah,ok,...same CB line, but the same CB then

NZstorm · Unread post by **NZstorm** » Tue 18/07/2006 18:24

Good to see verification. Waikato is now the new 'Tornado Alley'

KiwiWeather · Unread post by **KiwiWeather** » Tue 18/07/2006 18:34

NZstorm wrote:Good to see verification. Waikato is now the new 'Tornado Alley'

Count me in for any chases down to the alley from Auckland.

I may not be so good at predicting the wx but I'm in the top league of coffee and sammies

Manukau heads obs · Tue 18/07/2006 19:17

ops, i meant to say, same cb line...but different cb cell (i guess you meant what i said, LOL)
So, it would have been a F0 tornado ?

NZstorm · Unread post by **NZstorm** » Tue 18/07/2006 20:05

Interesting that the eye witness story said there were two tornadoes, a pair. The report indicates F1 damage.

Manukau heads obs · Tue 18/07/2006 20:20

Waikato is now the new 'Tornado Alley'

Seems to be!
(must be aucklands turn next!)
Yes, Ok, F0, thats only 65 knots...the picture on the start of the thread shows damage more than 65 knots I would have to agree

Willoughby · Unread post by **Willoughby** » Wed 19/07/2006 00:38

Manukau heads observer wrote:
Waikato is now the new 'Tornado Alley'
Seems to be!
(must be aucklands turn next!)
Yes, Ok, F0, thats only 65 knots...the picture on the start of the thread shows damage more than 65 knots I would have to agree

Only 65 knots??

Dunno about the windy heads up there but winds here start to become damaging over 35 knots.. so probably a border-line F0-F1.

Yep. The great Waikato Basin is the southern hemisphere's tornado alley.

Then probably followed by that Hokitika -> Greymouth channel.

Weather Watcher · Unread post by **Weather Watcher** » Wed 19/07/2006 09:44

Foggy Hamilton wrote:The great Waikato Basin is the southern hemisphere's tornado alley. Then probably followed by that Hokitika -> Greymouth channel.

I think it's the other way around (for New Zealand at least; not sure about the southern hemisphere bit!).

I'm guessing there are a lot of tornados or small 'twisters' on the South Island West coast that go unreported because of the sparser population. The West Coast easily gets more thunderstorms than any other part of NZ, and I would say the same applies to any thunderstorm related phenomena like tornados. Also the proximity of the Southern Alps and the local wind regime along the West Coast favours the formation of tornados more than any other area in NZ.

(BTW, I grew up in the Waikato, and I never saw a tornado there....

)

Manukau heads obs · Wed 19/07/2006 10:43

its the alps directing the NW flow as a NE along the coast that gives the windsheer that tornadoes like as an ingredient...yes?
same sort of thing happens on a smaller scale with the waitakere ranges, spawning tornadoes down wind of them...during a severe thunderstorm...
Mt Taranaki probably does the same thing?

Weather Watcher · Unread post by **Weather Watcher** » Wed 19/07/2006 11:50

Manukau heads observer wrote:its the alps directing the NW flow as a NE along the coast that gives the windsheer that tornadoes like as an ingredient...yes?

Yes, I believe so. The other place this probably happens (on a smaller scale) is the Kapiti Coast and Horewhenua due to the Tararua ranges. Paraparaumu seems to be a place that gets a fair few twisters in unstable northwesterly flows.