Chase Reports
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Sunday 6th of January 2008
On Sunday evening I chased storms that formed near Esk down to the area near Boonah. We stopped at the Boonah lookout for about an hour and watched the lightshow over the ranges. The storm we were looking at had split and was weakening as it moved south east but still provided a few clear air lightning strikes. Some structure was visible. Click Read More to see the best shots of the evening. |
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Monday 8th of October 2007
On Monday a trough triggered thunderstorms from Western QLD to North East NSW. After a good lightshow the night before, I decided to chase in the area southwest of Brisbane. The previous day large storms had formed in this area, and the forecasts and models were quite similiar. GFS showed strong instability and good moisture inland in the Lockyer Valley. I chased in the afternoon, beginning near Ipswich |
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Saturday 15th of September 2007
On Saturday night a line of storms arrived from the Darling Downs at about 11pm, providing a good lightshow from Ipswich through to around Archerfield. I took some time exposures from Clontarf as the storm started to die out. |
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Friday 15th of December 2006
On Friday 15th, several lines of severe storms developed on the Darling Downs along a trough line. These moved northeast throughout the afternoon, just missing Brisbane. They produced some damage in Toowoomba. I didn't finish work at Fernvale in the Lockyer Valley until after 4pm, but when I did right outside the customer's place I was greeted by an impressive gust front arriving on the first. I chased from there north up the Brisbane Valley Highway to Kilcoy, then back home, enjoying the lightshow along the way |
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Sunday 3rd of December 2006
On Sunday afternoon a squall line developed in the Eastern Downs and Brisbane Valley, crossing the coast between 5 and 6pm. I watched the line from Clontarf. Unfortunately it was rather dark and my camera doesn't handle dark conditions that well. The squall line wasn't particularly severe near me, but other chasers did get severe flash flooding and winds. There were lots of clear air lightning strikes as well. An interesting feature was a cell that travelled north embedded in the squall line and which brought heavier rain and stronger winds about 30 minutes after the main line reached me. |
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Wednesday 29th of November 2006
For the previous two days large cells with lots of lightning had been developing each afternoon the Northern Rivers of NSW. After completing work on Wednesday at around 1pm I decided to go for a chase in that area. Shear was not all that good, but the instability was quite strong. A trough line was acting as a trigger in the area to produce severe thunderstorms. I headed down the Pacific Motorway, crossing the border not long after 2:30pm. Over the following hours I chased a massive supercell that formed near Glen Innes, and eventually crossed the coast near Tugun. |
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Wednesday 15th of November 2006
After early morning storms in the Wide Bay and Burnett Districts that produced large hail and damaging winds, we headed to Gayndah chasing cells forming along a dry line. We saw some spectacular updrafts, large hail and lots of lightning. Strong winds upwards of 100km/h were experienced in the area. |
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Wednesday 8th of November 2006
A large area of strong instability and a weak to non-existant cap brought about an afternoon of storms going all directions in South East Queensland and Wide Bay. Two HP supercells developed, one tracking through the Gold Coast and another going from west of Brisbane to cross the coast near Tewantin. I chased the Sunshine Coast cell from the northern suburbs of Brisbane to Maroochydore. |
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Saturday 4th of November 2006
A large band of rain and storms came through South East Queensland over the weekend producing lots of storms on Saturday in the eastern Darling Downs. I chased in the area between Kingaroy and Dalby. I met up with numerous other chasers during the day and we all got some very nice pictures. I began the day leaving Redcliffe at 9:30. |
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Wednesday 27th of September 2006
I started work on Wednesday early in the morning out near Lowood. Already the temperature was quite warm and Cu's were going up everywhere. Throughout the day there seemed to be a buildup of cloud to the southwest. At lunch time I got reports of a large band of storms moving in from the southwest. By 2pm the band had reached me near Laidley. Due to the rain and lightning I knocked off work and started chasing. Good excuse I think! The day produced a spectacular gust front! |
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Sunday 28th of May 2006
Sunday's forecast on GFS showed a pool of instability over the South East Queensland area, centred on Brisbane. Just west of this there was a trough, producing good convergence along a line from Boonah and further south, through to Kilcoy and north, parallel the coast. In the early afternoon towers began going up along and east of the trough line. Hail was reported in most of the cells during the afternoon, with heavy falls especially on the southside. I began my chase shortly after lunch at around 1pm leaving Redcliffe. |
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Saturday 27th of May 2006
Low offshore LI's and good convergence and shear came together this evening to produce a line of storm cells parallel the coast about 50km offshore. They were moving southeast, but I was able to get some reasonable photos of them from Woody Point on the Redcliffe Peninsula. |
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Friday 31st of March 2006
On Friday 31st of March, a trough through South East Queensland produced thundery rain all day and several very nice isolated cells that came off the ranges in the early evening. The forecast models showed excellent shear for supercell development, but it appears that none formed, possibly due to not quite enough instability. I began my chase after knocking off from work at around 6pm and chased through the southside. |
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Sunday 19th of February 2006
On Sunday I went for a day long chase in the Northern Tablelands and Northwest Slopes of New South Wales. The forecast models indicated a marginal day, with resonable instability but little shear. There was a convergence line along the Northern Tablelands. I began my chase early in the morning, heading to Glen Innes. The action started shortly after lunch time. |
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Wednesday 15th of February 2006
The coastal shower and storm activity on Wednesday parked itself over the Redcliffe area for more than 2 hours, dumping torrential rain that caused minor flash flooding, and dropping CG's everywhere. Every few seconds for more than an hour there were loud bangs and rumbles. Snook St at Clontarf was half flooded, and the drains everywhere turned into raging torrents. |
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Tuesday 7th of February 2006
Winds from a high pressure system have battered South East Queensland this evening. We took a quick trip down to Redcliffe Jetty to see if anything interesting was happening. There's some funny pics and a video of us leaning into the 70km/ph winds. Yeah ok so we're bored at the lack of storms recently around here.... |
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Friday 6th of January 2006
Friday had an interesting setup with a band of good instability and moisture along the coast of South East Queensland and North East New South Wales. Shear was reasonable with steering winds towards the ENE. I wasn't able to travel far on my chase, but just stayed around the Redcliffe area. Despite this I still had a great day with good views of several different cells including one that may have been a supercell. In the evening there was an incredible lightning show, with 13000 strikes in 4 hours. |
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Monday 26th of December 2005
Today had an interesting setup, with a long confluence line crossing through the south east corner near Toowoomba and quite good instability and moisture. However there was quite a strong cap in place and this halted development until later in the afternoon. The best convergence was to the south near Gatton early in the morning, with higher instability to the north in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. I chose to go for the best convergence, because that often produces the best action. |
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Sunday 25th of December 2005
Storms developed around midday, starting west of Brisbane, then forming a wide band throughout South East Queensland. Some cells became severe and 3cm hail was reported west of Brisbane. The storms were quite embedded and cells were going in all directions, with not much structure visible from where I was. Due to other committments I was unable to chase until after dinner tonight, so I went down to the coast of Redcliffe after the storm had past to take lightning photos. The sunset was spectacular and the lightning was incredible. There will be more video to come later! |
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Friday 23rd of December 2005
After a week of dry conditions produced by a blocking high, Friday the 23rd had reasonable low and mid level moisture, along with reasonable instability in an area around the the border ranges. Storms developed near the border and moved very slowly northwest along the ranges. The lack of shear and steering winds meant that all motion of the storms was due to propagation. It also meant that storms didn't last as long as they otherwise might have. I went for a chase in the eastern Darling Downs area. |
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Saturday 17th of December 2005
Saturday 17th of December was a great storm day. This report is an example of how a great storm day can easily turn into a bust chase with a few wrong turns and a lack of accurate information. The day produced a massive gust front through Brisbane, and three supercells in NE NSW, yet we only got a weak cell near Gatton, and views of distant cells offshore from the Gold Coast. Overall it was a bust chase for us, yet some people chasing not far away had one of the best chase days ever. |
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Wednesday 14th of December 2005
Just got back from a chase on the Gold Coast this afternoon, with heaps of interesting cells, including one which had multiple prongs and a corkscrew rotating updraft. The BOM had predicted only a chance of showers for Wednesday. A south-easterly change was moving up the coast from NSW and passed through the Gold Coast during the afternoon. Around lunchtime some cells developed on the border ranges east of Rathdowney and moved mostly east. They were mostly scattered and not very well organised but various cells produced severe weather. At least one became a classic supercell with a corkscrew rotating updraft visible. Other cells formed on the Sunshine Coast including one supercell spotted by Ben Quinn. |
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Thursday 8th of December 2005
I've just uploaded some images and a video taken on Thursday 8th of December. I took some video and images from Pelican Park at Clontarf, but unfortunately had to leave due to committments before the cell arrived. Shortly after I left Ben Quinn and others took awesome photos of the gust front that came through. From home I managed to get some video as the gust front came past me, with strong winds and swirling clouds. |
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Sunday 27th of November 2005
Storms developed all over South East Queensland during the afternoon. One dropped golf ball sized hail over Redcliffe. Due to personal circumstances I was unable to chase until after dinner. Around 6pm a cell developed just off Redcliffe, then moved north east. At around 7:30 I went to the park at the top of Scarborough, and started shooting video and 15 second exposures on this cell. For about an hour it produced 1 or more lightning flashes per second. |
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Sunday 20th of November 2005
The storms developed over the border ranges and moved north throughout the day. The storms produced strong winds, widespread hail on the southside of Brisbane and an impressive gustfront. We began our chase departing Redcliffe at 1:15pm. We used two vehicles in convoy, communicating by UHF CB radio. By this stage the storms were already well developed just south of Rathdowney and Killarney, moving slowly north. The line extended from near Canundra in the east to Killarney in the west and was already visible from Redcliffe. |
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Tuesday 15th of November 2005
On Tuesday severe storms developed over the south eastern Darling Downs and moved north-northeast throughout the afternoon, eventually heading through the Sunshine Coast and Gympie. I intercepted the first major cell near Caboolture and followed it north. For chase report, photos and video click below. |
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Sunday 13th of November 2005
Today was marked by lots of pulse cells from Redcliffe north all the way to Hervey Bay. Because of the weak cap, activity got under way very early in morning. The only severity was on the Sunshine Coast at Maroochydore and in the Wide Bay - Capricornia region. I chased a cell that approached Redcliffe from the northwest but died in deception bay. I will post a chase report tomorrow morning sometime. Click below to see my photos. |
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Thursday 27th of October 2005
A trough moving through the south-east corner combined with the unstable conditions and moist seabreeze, produced a large slow moving cell which moved north-east over Brisbane's northern suburbs. Lightning was pulsing at a rate of 1-2 per second before it arrived. Unfortunately, we were not able to chase until after 9pm, by which time it had moved overhead and reduced in strength somewhat. However we still managed to get some interesting lightning footage. Much of this still needs to be processed, but a few screencaps have been loaded into the gallery. |
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Monday 24th of October 2005
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Friday 21st of October 2005
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Tuesday 27th of September 2005
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