Low/NW flow ... 23th-25th Aug

[Manukau heads obs]

had a prolonged power cut here , in the district...not sure why..back on now...

[NZstorm]

Sunny here now with temp 17C, dp 15C. Some t/cu weak cb thru the west to northwest of here.

[ricky]

looks like a thunderstorm incoming.. getting strikes on the detector from the NorthWest and a very heavy rain cell on the radar!

[NZstorm]

This photo taken about 15mins ago but cb's looking a bet better now. Brian, you might get a good soaking shortly!

[GraemeWi]

Just got pounded at Waimauku, very heavy rain with some hail, plus lightning and thunder as well

[edit - 10mm from that 'burst' ]

[NZstorm]

Distant thunder here now.

[jamie]

Blardy hell... check out outside in auckland... i think there was a shelf cloud form just as it wen over us and there was a visable hail core to it. Awesome. Photos to come

[Razor]

Whats a shelf cloud?

[David]

Yeah j-me-h I saw that too, tried to take some pictures of it after finding some charged batteries, but the pictures turned out blurry

Went right overhead and quite dark too, but nothing of any interest happened. Cloud not see any hail shafts.

[jamie]

im not sure exactly.. i remember reading on wikipedia and in books and roger telling me.

Its when the front of a gust front or thunderstorm or cold front becomes very outflow dominant and forms a low hanging cloud. Maby someone with more knowledge can elaborate.

The reason i wasnt sure if this was a shelf cloud was it had already gone past when i think it formed so i could not see from the front. It just looked like it was hanging very low compared to the already low cloud just before the heavy rain started, and stretched a long way over the skyline.

I have lost my camera cable so will have to find that before i can put pics up.

[NZstorm]

yes, a shelf cloud is an outflow feature. That storm dropped south of Auckland and got quite active. Would be interested in Brians report on it. Looks dark to NNW now with another cb heading our way by the looks.

[ricky]

Looks like another thunderstorm incoming over much the same path.. temp and dewpoint a lot lower here now though...

Looks like Brian had a grandstand seat with all those strikes over the harbour there

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Very moist here in West Melton all day. Overcast and raining all day.
Not much wind, if so from the WSW?

JohnGaul
NZTS

[jamie]

Yes, looking very dark to the NW but no wind now . Looking at the tattered flag on the construction crane that was pretty much torn to pieces earlier today, it is now hanging and not flying at all.

[Cameo2]

can hear distant thunder now to the nw

[Inny Binny]

Woah, look at this temperature trend on the wind shifts...

http://weather.northcott.co.nz/index.ph ... &Itemid=41

[jamie]

can hear distant thunder now to the nw

I thought i could too but wasnt sure if it was actually thunder or not. Must have been thunder though.

[Cameo2]

yeah I think it was eh, but its stopped now:(

[ricky]

Nice sharp clap of thunder near grey lynn

[ricky]

All reasonably weak intercloud lightning overhead, seen a couple of flashes now, but just heard a report of part of the harbour bridge hit by lightning and smoking!

[Nev]

Yeah, winds have dropped right off now after that brief surge of gusty winds around 1pm; must've have been caused by the downwind activity from the main fronts rear flank (good ingredients for a downburst or waterspout).

Can't wait to see these 'shelf-cloud' looking pics ...

[Vertigo]

oooh, lovely cracks of thunder overhead right now

[jamie]

Can't wait to see these 'shelf-cloud' looking pics ...

They are not that good as it is looking at it from behind. I cant wait to get them onto the computer for a better look.

just heard a report of part of the harbour bridge hit by lightning and smoking!

i can see the harbour bridge.. no lightning caught my eye and cannot see any smoke or steam... would be interesting if it has been hit.

Has been alot of lightning so it could have been.

[ricky]

This little thunderstorm is very slow moving for a change, the most active part is out to my east.. may yet move over you Nev Have seen about 7 C-C flashes now

[David]

Have heard 9 peels of thunder now...getting louder with each one
Very dark but no rain yet.