Small funnel (tornado) SE Australia

[Michael Thompson]

It would only rate as a EF0, and I cringe at the word tornado , but it is on the ground.

The first clip was taken by a non chaser with a mobile phone and gets interesting from about the 30 second mark. You can see that the funnel is on the ground and there is some twigs, etc, in the air.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG23LHDexHc

This next clip is taken by an experienced Aussi chaser ( me) just 30 - 45 mins earlier to the one above and of the same storm, again the clip starts fairly boring, but gets interesting towards the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOFwOxfEx_M

I still maintain that the storm was NOT a supercell, but I have my critics.

And while I am posting I may as well chuck in a timelapse clip for a storm earlier our miserable El Nino season.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8InKCeOUSV0

 

[Larry J. Kosch]

Risky Driving in Hilly Country!

Now I can see why the storm chasers in the US absolutely abbors chasing storms in hilly forest areas like what we have in Arkansas and Missouri. You never knew that funnel cloud had come down until you were driving up to it!

Would have been nice to pull over and stop to film the funnel. But it looks like you were on a strech of highway with no places to go. What if that funnel was right in the middle of the road?

Regarding the second flim clip, I would say it was a nice storm structure, but it seems to lack a few things to really qualify as a supercell. At one point, it really looked like a huge wall cloud, but I didn't see any "rotation".

Great clips, matey!

 

[Jason Bolt]

The last time a chaser on here was going the wrong way down an interstate it turned into a 16 page thread.

 

[Scott Weberpal]

I'd most definitely call it a supercell from what I can see. At the very beginning of the amateur video, you can see the mesocyclone "barrel" underneath which that small tornado is happening. Seeing the entire storm would be great, but from what the video shows it definitely looks supercellular. Also looking at your video, it looks like a supercell. What about the storm make you think it is not a supercell?

 

[Skip Talbot]

I agree with Scott. Non-supercellular tornadoes take on similar appearances and are usually of a similar weak intensity, but the funnel does look its anchored to some sort of updraft base (barrel shaped as Scott pointed out). The structure in your video is really nice. It looks like a nice rain free base there. That kind of updraft/downdraft separation usually only forms and persists in a strongly sheared environment that would promote supercell development

 

[Karla Dorman]

Tor or not a tor? THAT. Is the question. Doesn't matter - there was defo rotation in that.

The second clip: supe or not? To my untrained eye, especially from about 1:00 on, it sure looks like one.

AMAZING captures, though. Well done!

 

[Scott Weberpal]

No question its a tornado.

Tor or not a tor? THAT. Is the question. Doesn't matter - there was defo rotation in that.

The second clip: supe or not? To my untrained eye, especially from about 1:00 on, it sure looks like one.

AMAZING captures, though. Well done!

 

[Shane Adams]

You can tell it's a tornado before you see debris just based on the angular momentum and upward motion. You can also tell the person shooting the video has no idea the danger they're putting themselves in. I also agree this storm was definitely a supercell.

 

[Bryce Hawkins-Fisher]

I was in Sydney, unfortuantly i was held up with other commitments so this image is the best i could do when i finally got out and chased!
This picture is of the north west edge. If anything severe happens in the southern hemisphere it happens on the north west edge usually.

I might add the storm was text book looking for the southern hemisphere! the main updraft and flanking line towers were knuckly and beautiful.
The picture was taken at Pensurst, i was driving along stoney creek road and i knew i couldnt catch it. I looked to the south and the cloud was scraping the ground. Remarkable structure.

 

[Bryce Hawkins-Fisher]

I might add, the dew poitns were really high that day for sydney along with fairly warm temps, almost felt like i was in darwin still!

 

[Michael Thompson]

OK, my arguments for why it was not a supercell.

The cell first developed inland in drier air and higher altitude outside the coastal seabreeze. This is pretty normal here as the seabreeze is most often a convection killing inversion - however this day the temperature difference between the coast and hinterland was marginal.

The cell developed rapidly about 20 miles south of the tornado clip. It become an outflow monster in very quick time and a massive gust front bored up the coast with storm development just behind the guster. The guster became detached and part stalled about 7-8 miles south of the clip and began convecting upwards - this is the last part of my clip. It was only 15 mins later that the tornado occurred. To me 15 mins from convection to supercell is pretty dubious. Extreme dewpoints (around 25C surface / 22C dewpoints) and lifting (road that footage was taken is mountain pass) led to all sorts of amazing but mostly benign cloud features. The tornado occurred on a shear boundary between humid NE seabreeze and the outflow S wind. I do not believe there was any deep mesocyclone, only base rotation.

Regardless of arguments it was good to see some coastal action for a change.

 

[Michael Thompson]

Here is a full sized picture taken 15 mins before the tornado. Looks impressive but it is not a mesocylone or wall cloud it is stalled guster convecting upwards.

There are some other pics really worth a look of the same storm at:

http://forum.weatherzone.com.au/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=811937&page=11

These second lot look more like a shelf cloud - take about 5 miles after tornado

http://forum.weatherzone.com.au/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=811937&page=15

 

[Bryce Hawkins-Fisher]

Nice shots michael! I couldnt really see what was happening at the base level, I was to far away, the structure of the storm looked nice from where i was anyway! I havent see cloud that low so close to the coast before. I was driving along stoney creek road in penshurst and could see the cloud dragging accross the ground almost. I tried a right hand turn and was hoping for a lookout around Lugarno, but as your probably aware its very hilly and populated around the Georges River.
Anyway i wish i could have gotten out earlier to chase that day, it was still a great storm!