Notes on thunderstorm activity in 2006 - September to October
Mon 25th:
Storms to moderate intensity developed on the Border Ranges after 3pm near a SE change. My daughter and I went down to the Jimboomba area around 5.30pm to see storms decaying near Beaudesert. I photographed a storm develop near Boonah, which produced some nice single-pulse CG strikes. This, and other storms to the NW weakened soon after. Kalbar had 13mm.
Wed 27th:
A cluster of storms formed around 3am near Moree in the NSW NW Slopes. These produced a high number of lightning strikes - believed to be up to 3000 in the hour after 4am in the Moree area.This band of storms steadily moved NE, and intensified after midday into SEQld, prompting warnings. Several bands of storms developed, but the initial band was the most intense, producing areas of severe wind gusts and hail. Gatton was in the path of this band, with about 30mm and wind gusts to 91km/h. There was a report of hail damage to a car in the Toowoomba area while golfball sized hail was reported in another storm at Warwick at around 6.30pm. All up, Gatton received 42mm, while Kalbar received 54mm and Wivenhoe a very welcome 35mm. The storms were most intense inland, so coastal areas generally received only 10-25mm.
Saturday 30th:
With temperatures in many centres up to 30C and 500hpa temps as low as -19C, it looked like storms could've gone off. But, as often happens early in a season, things didn't quite work out. A cap just above the 500hpa level meant that storms couldn't climb past that level, and couldn't sustain themselves adequately. As a result, the cold upper temps couldn't be 'tapped' and only isolated very weak low-topped storms developed over the district. Rainfall amounts were minimal, up to 5-10mm at best.Monday 2nd:
A few weak showers and storms developed in the Beaudesert to Boonah area. These limped towards the Logan area with infrequent lightning before dying. Isolated rainfalls up to 9mm.
Tuesday 3rd:
While initial development at about 3pm was much better than the day before, storms soon became very similar, with low tops (though a better anvil) and a nature of being short-lived. They occasionally pulsed on radar to show possible hail, before 'falling over' within twenty minutes. As a SE change spread inland, so did the storms, before weakening into nothing around sunset.
