Buffy
30-11-2003, 05:34 PM
I can hear thunder rumbling faintly at the moment, and I can smell that green scent that hangs in the air just before a thunder storm.... they have to be one of the most spectacular (http://www.chaseday.com/PHOTOSHP/lightning/okcltg-2.JPG) shows nature puts on.
Best storm I've witnessed was after a big night out in Sydney, friends and I had driven down to Bulli Beach (http://libntserver.uow.edu.au/IllaIms/jsmall/P14/P14720.jpg) , near Wollongong, to watch the sun come up. While it was still dark we noticed lighting offshore, and as we watched it came closer and closer. The lightning was coming from this mass of black clouds that were rolling along like an avalanche (it looked like something from neverending story, i kid you not :p ). This cloud mass had lightning going off inside it constantly, and some struck out too, it made *so* much noise I had to block my ears as it circled over our heads and back out to sea again.. So we thought we'd jump in the car and get higher to see if we could still catch it. Driving up to Sublime Point (http://www.walkabout.com.au/graphics/images/CD210824.JPG) , to get a better view of the surrounding areas, the sky was getting lighter as the sun came up, and the black cloud was still out there. It had switched direction again and was rocketing down the coast, then it turned back and hit Bulli Beach once more. It circled around this location at least 4 times before pushing right out to sea after a good 2 hour performance and finishing just about the time we were thinking about breakfast :D
Worst storm I can remember is the Hail Storm (http://www.esb.act.gov.au/firebreak/photo-storms.html) (forget the fire guys, look at the holes in that table! :eek: ) that hit Sydney:
"14 April 1999 - Enormous hail in Sydney
An intense, long-lived thunderstorm moved over Sydney's eastern and city suburbs during the evening hours producing hail measured at 9cm diameter, although larger hail would certainly have fallen in the more severely-damaged areas. This hailstorm was of a magnitude seldom seen in Australia, or the world. It stands as Australia’s most costly natural disaster (in dollar terms) to date, with insurance claims expected to exceed $1.5 billion dollars. Over 20,000 properties and 40,000 vehicles were damaged in the storm..." - Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology (http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/nsw/sevwx/9899summ.shtml)
I was sitting in a pub on Oxford St at the time, and we had to sit and watch as my sisters car got bashed by these hail *boulders* across the street, then some windows at the front of the pub got smashed in from ricochetting bits of jagged ice. Oxford St flooded because all the ice blocked the drains, there were accidents and cars couldn't drive, windows were smashed, we saw a man holding a hankerchief to this bleeding gash on his forehead... it was pretty scary! :aah:
Its definately hitting that time of year again here in Sydney.. hot humid weather leading to big ear shattering thunderstorms, and I love it! What about you guys? I want to hear other storm stories, good pics too if you have them :)
Best storm I've witnessed was after a big night out in Sydney, friends and I had driven down to Bulli Beach (http://libntserver.uow.edu.au/IllaIms/jsmall/P14/P14720.jpg) , near Wollongong, to watch the sun come up. While it was still dark we noticed lighting offshore, and as we watched it came closer and closer. The lightning was coming from this mass of black clouds that were rolling along like an avalanche (it looked like something from neverending story, i kid you not :p ). This cloud mass had lightning going off inside it constantly, and some struck out too, it made *so* much noise I had to block my ears as it circled over our heads and back out to sea again.. So we thought we'd jump in the car and get higher to see if we could still catch it. Driving up to Sublime Point (http://www.walkabout.com.au/graphics/images/CD210824.JPG) , to get a better view of the surrounding areas, the sky was getting lighter as the sun came up, and the black cloud was still out there. It had switched direction again and was rocketing down the coast, then it turned back and hit Bulli Beach once more. It circled around this location at least 4 times before pushing right out to sea after a good 2 hour performance and finishing just about the time we were thinking about breakfast :D
Worst storm I can remember is the Hail Storm (http://www.esb.act.gov.au/firebreak/photo-storms.html) (forget the fire guys, look at the holes in that table! :eek: ) that hit Sydney:
"14 April 1999 - Enormous hail in Sydney
An intense, long-lived thunderstorm moved over Sydney's eastern and city suburbs during the evening hours producing hail measured at 9cm diameter, although larger hail would certainly have fallen in the more severely-damaged areas. This hailstorm was of a magnitude seldom seen in Australia, or the world. It stands as Australia’s most costly natural disaster (in dollar terms) to date, with insurance claims expected to exceed $1.5 billion dollars. Over 20,000 properties and 40,000 vehicles were damaged in the storm..." - Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology (http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/nsw/sevwx/9899summ.shtml)
I was sitting in a pub on Oxford St at the time, and we had to sit and watch as my sisters car got bashed by these hail *boulders* across the street, then some windows at the front of the pub got smashed in from ricochetting bits of jagged ice. Oxford St flooded because all the ice blocked the drains, there were accidents and cars couldn't drive, windows were smashed, we saw a man holding a hankerchief to this bleeding gash on his forehead... it was pretty scary! :aah:
Its definately hitting that time of year again here in Sydney.. hot humid weather leading to big ear shattering thunderstorms, and I love it! What about you guys? I want to hear other storm stories, good pics too if you have them :)