Well it's that time of year again. Last day of March today and while it's possible there might be a few more storms in April, I think the storm season is pretty much over (hope I am wrong). I thought it would be good to have a discussion of the better storm days of this year. Ideally I am after days with large hail, damaging winds and/or tornadoes.

For what it's worth, the storm season in SE Qld was an absolute shocker. There was one day (15th of October, 2011) where I thought there was great potential for supercells with large hail but that day didn't quite produce with a more linear system moving through SE Qld (though hail to 4-5cm was still recorded near Brisbane I believe). Further north had more descrete supercells and Hervey Bay was hit by quite significant damaging winds.

13th of November also saw a severe storm in SE Qld-

This storm caused extensive damage to one house, I suspect it was a case of straight-line winds but I know there was some discussion of a possible tornado. Not sure what the conclusion was there.

Best storm day I think would have to be Christmas day in Melbourne.

Over to you, I am sure there are plenty of days to discuss!

Dreadful storm season for SE Qld. At least in 2010/2011 we had those incredible rain events and the storm season ended with a big bang with hailstorms every week in late April/May. And to think that we were all predicting an excellent storms season back in August/September.

NSW/Victoria had a great storm season though! The Christmas Day storms come to mind among others.

Great idea for a thread!

Only really followed the Victorian season myself, apart from a passing glance at a few days in other states, so my comments on best days will be skewed.

Personally, didn't get to chase as much as I would have liked this season due to more work commitments than other years and mother nature not co-operating by landing events on wknds.

The few times I did get out were pretty enjoyable though.

First was a doozy of a storm back on October 22nd that ripped through my area (Nth Central Vic), hail, damaging winds and very photogenic...











As I said before hail and damaging winds were a feature, hail and leaf litter everywhere after the storm moved through. Was worse further up the road but I didn't get out for pics due to the road conditions...




Apart from that the only other days that are worth mentioned from my own point of view were Xmas Eve when Victoria got a lightshow for the ages. I just happened to be down the coast holidaying at the time so was in a perfect spot for photos!...





Missed all the action Xmas Day, undoubtedly the most severe day of the year. Why of why did it have to be Xmas day though?!?! I think Brad was probably the only chaser who managed to get a pass and go out for a look. Hopefully he will add to thread. But was certainly an incredible day, couldn't believe my eyes when during Xmas lunch I bought up BoM on my phone and saw "Tornado Warning for Vic"!

The only other day I managed to get out and see a decent storm was the last real storm day here in Vic, back on March 15th, when a nice line made it's way across from the west...



Only other day that stands out for Victoria was November 9th when there was some pretty severe storms that went through the state. Was one of the few days where there was some genuinely clear air to work with at the right time of day and storms just exploded. Didn't see much of it first hand myself due to it being a weekday, but there was some great photos and reports to come out of the day.

Overall an average year in terms of quantity of storms, but with some amazingly severe days thrown in. Personally, I'm looking fwd to an end to the La Nina pattern, as I think we get much better "clear air" type storms when we're not in a La Nina, but then we also struggle for moisture.

Nevertheless, can't wait for next season, shattered this one is over, but will make do with following the US season on YouTube in the meantime.

Nice photos Meso, yes, 9th of November, 2011 was certainly an impressive day in Victoria. Here is the radar loop from that day-
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR022-melbourne/2011-11-09-00/2011-11-09-10

Storm that moved through Albury which I believed produced a tornado-
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR493-yarrawonga/2011-11-09-00/2011-11-09-03

The day before that there was the Bombala tornado-
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR402-canberra/2011-11-08-00/2011-11-08-10

Definetly Christmas day for Melbourne :), also September 27-29th ish.

TheAnt, can you refresh my memory on what happened around September 27-29th? The Melbourne morning sounding on the 28th shows a solid elevated mixed layer-
http://soundings.bsch.au.com/skew-t.html...ndow=on&hodo=on
What a change 12 hours later!-
http://soundings.bsch.au.com/skew-t.html...ndow=on&hodo=on
Obviously a very strong system.

http://forum.weatherzone.com.au/ubbthreads.php/topics/1013485/4 Here was the topic when it started, cant find a loop yet.

For southern parts of NE NSW (south of Coffs/Barraba, east of Gunnedah, and north of Port/Murrurundi), overall the storm season has been kind of below average for this area (though tending closer to average away from the coast). It has certainly not been terrible but there's room for improvement.

The storm season was decent through Spring, especially between mid October and mid November. However, after a heavy rain event in late November, the storm season became more subdued during December and January (especially so along the coast). There was a revival of storm activity during February but March has been absolutely woeful.
Hoping that April might spring up a few surprises.

The highlight of the season was the mid November storm outbreak:
Part One of the mid November storm outbreak across the MNC, NT & NWS&P on the Namoi 512km Composite radar:
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR691-namoi/2011-11-12-00/2011-11-13-18
Including a storm (with a possible hook echo) that BOM singled-out as being a 'particularly severe storm', south of Curlewis around 3:30pm on the Namoi 64km radar:
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR694-namoi/2011-11-13-00/2011-11-13-09
Part Two of the mid November storm outbreak across the region on the Namoi 512km Composite radar:
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR691-namoi/2011-11-15-00/2011-11-17-16

Honourable mentions too for:
August 30th storms were a late winter surprise, not overly severe, but impressive for August (Namoi 512km), across areas of the NE:
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR691-namoi/2011-08-30-00/2011-08-30-10
October 25th/26th was good outbreak of storms across parts of the NE (Namoi 512km):
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR691-namoi/2011-10-25-00/2011-10-26-12
October 30th was a good stormy day as well (Namoi 512km):
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR691-namoi/2011-10-29-22/2011-10-30-15
February 20th was probably the highlight of a subdued summer (Namoi 512km):
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR691-namoi/2012-02-20-00/2012-02-20-20

There were quite a number of other stormy days of course, but I think these were probably the pick of the season.

Hi Guys,

Im not going to say what we didnt get and winge but post up a few of my favorites for the season.

First of all the 15th of October fantastic squall line type system as MC mentioned. Super low LCL's, condensation lowerings, lots of vorticity along the front as expected with this type of system producing vortices in the gustfront. I managed to capture a very well organized lowered vortex something I will surely never forget.





Gustfront Formation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv642QEDf2s

In at Second is a superbly sculpted Anticyclonic cell on the 11th of December, which managed to last quite a long time for a right mover.



Here is another ripper from the most recent setup on February 13th. Cell started off in Beaudesert and made its way up through the usual storm highway to rip through Jimboomba and logan areas etc. Had some crazy greenage, thats not Photoshop straight off the camera.

Perhaps I was a bit too emotive with my previous post but I still would say the frequency and severity of storms in SE Qld (and NE NSW) was below average. For example, I am unaware of any reports of hail larger than 5 cm (please correct me if I am wrong). On the otherhand, Victoria has done particularly well this season as noted above.

I might as well add the Townsville tornado to the list on the 20th of March. Certainly deserves to be mentioned.

I did not come across any mention of hail larger than 5cm either in this half of NE NSW, during a search of newspapers from this area (Macleay, Port, Taree, Nambucca, Coffs, Armidale, Guyra, Walcha, Tamworth & Namoi Valley newspapers).

Unfortunately, this article only refers to 'massive hail' falling, rather than specifying a size or size range. A conservative guess would be that the 'massive hail' was between 3 to 5cm:
http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/story/2011/01/21/nambucca-valley-cyclone/

A storm chaser from Sydney (Ben) on October 30th, reported and photographed hailstones 4 to 5cm in diameter at Coolongolook on the far southern MNC: http://forum.weatherzone.com.au/ubbthreads.php/topics/1025172/8
(the brief newspaper mention: http://www.portnews.com.au/news/local/news/general/weather-warning-issued/2340566.aspx)

There were a few mentions about 'golf ball sized hail' (about 4.3cm diameter, so probably anything from 3.5 to 5cm, depending on the person):
http://www.manningrivertimes.com.au/news...er/2358170.aspx
http://www.nvi.com.au/articles/n17-keepit.html (Security camera footage of hail at Lake Keepit: http://au.prime7.yahoo.com/n3/news/a/-/national/11729172/still-repairing-damage-video/)
http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/story/2012/02/13/storm-devastates-banana-farms/

Also copious amounts of small hail falling, including the following:
http://www.macleayargus.com.au/news/loca...ow/2252458.aspx
http://www.macleayargus.com.au/news/local/news/general/hail-hits-before-storm-season/2278740.aspx
(similar reports from Port, Coffs and Tamworth)

I do wonder sometimes what goes unreported around here, especially when it comes to hail (large hail is often very localised, and usually melts overnight). This area has among the highest annual average number of thunderdays outside of the tropics: http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climate_averages/thunder-lightning/index.jsp
Aside from the coastal strip and regional towns/centres inland, the area is sparsely populated. Especially when compared to the far NE corner of NSW and SE QLD. A decent swathe of the region is national park and the Armidale/Walcha area is primarily sheep/cattle grazing land.

Chasers do not usually venture into the MNC, NT & NWS&P for a number of good reasons. The distance involved to come from Sydney or far NENSW and Brisbane, makes a day of chasing tiring and expensive (petrol, possible accommodation). The road network of the NT and MNC is not good for storm chasing (probably more conducive to 'intercepting/corepunching' rather than the usual 'following/observing'), and aside from the river valleys/floodplains the MNC is heavily forested (poor views and dangerous in strong storms). Usually a good storm day on the NR and even SE QLD, is also a good storm day elsewhere in NE NSW, so there's no real need to risk travelling down here from further north when the potential is basically as good (or better) nearer to yourself.

i haven't chased as far this season (have only chased south coast/south west slopes/central tablelands/hunter areas - no interstate chasing) and haven't been watching models like a hawk either, but have generally been out and about whenever there has been a chance of a storm within a few hours drive. Keeping that in mind i think it's been a reasonable season for these areas. I haven't seen too much structure or any large hail but i have seen some great lightning, particularly towards the end of the season. I would have filmed the 2 best CG's i have recorded in 6 years of chasing, unfortunately the second one got affected by rolling shutter making it look a bit annoying.

There should be more storms today so here's hoping the season has one last hurrah

Well, it was a substantially quieter chase season this year compared to the extremely hectic 2010/2011 season for us - The comparison:
30 Chase Days (Severe Storms occured)2010/2011 vs 11 Chase Days 2011/2012 (every day a rotating storm).

However, while the quantity wasn't there - the quality was ridiculous. Here just some pics of various days I have on hand.
Lake Boga - Late September (Microburst whiteout, crazy CG barrage at close quarters and severe hail to about golfball size).


Near Bendigo and Lake Corop - Mid October (Incredible 6 inch drifts of hail 2-3cm in diameter).



A major outbreak event - 9th November (and some severe on the 8th) with two areas of supercells - in western Vic discrete SCs (around 5) formed and moved eastwards over southern vic and Melbourne, while in Southeast NSW crazy SRH drew us up near Urana - Cricket balls occurred east of Gunnedah and several storms tried the tornado game. I have better shots, but a massive backlog in photos due to work.


Towards the end of november - how about supercells near Nyngan moving down through towards Parkes (8 cm recorded hail, large volumes above 5cm).


Oh and after all the fun:


Then in the two weeks leading up to christmas we had a couple of nice events, storms west of Melbourne...and then the ridiculous Chingapook- Hay day a week before. I've only processed the two shots - but full on Beaver Tails, at least one Tornado and many attempts on just the one cell we chased (around 4- 5 formed on the boundary in 50knots of DLS + nice CAPE) - we chased that cell for four hours to east of Swan Hill...then dropped it to hop on the Haymaker - a monolithic mothership HP near Hay (see brads shots over the plains). I am really really wanting to get onto processing these photos now that cricket season is over - will post when I get round to it.




I had the heartache of missing Christmas day and watching nowcasting for Brad from Sydney, but again...an epic chase day there....but Boxing Day I was travelling north hoping to get something to chase and scored out near Narromine and Dubbo with this beauty:


Since then though Victoria only offered one chase day, and its been pretty slim pickings in 2012 so far. All in all i would say not a busy season, but one that offered fantastic quality over quantity. I will say, our 2011/2012 Hunters of Thunder DVD is in full production and we should be shipping by Mid-May, so those of you needing your storm fix and to keep away those SDS blues over winter keep your eyes peeled. Its all action - timelapse, images and high quality DVD footage - Not your usual Australian chase DVD.

Well, Adelaides storms this summer, we've had some good easterly dips, these favored the ranges and the mallee more than Adelaide but we had one storm drift over, we had some good frontal storms on the 14th of March, some convective storms early afternoon with the main line of storms slamming in to Adelaide at around 530-600 with some faboulous flangs and very thin CGS and then some faboulous nocturnal cooling action slamming some bolts into the gulf, an okay season i would say, now to look forward to winter with the chilly cold fronts and the coldies .:P

there has been a storm season??????

Amazing shots ST!!

Following on from John's post above, here is a selection of my fav pics of our 2011-12 season down south. As John said, the chase day numbers were down but the structure fest and shear (pardon the pun) number of rotating storms we scored was simply awesome.


Sept 28 Lake Boga, Vic


Oct 7 Sunbury, Melbourne (local lunchtime intercept)



Oct 22 Elmore-Rusworth, Vic



Nov 8th Temora, NSW

Nov 9 Urana, NSW


Nov 29 Nygan, NSW

Dec 1 Werribee, Melbourne



Dec 18 Chingapook, Victoria

Dec 18 Hay, NSW



Dec 24 Mangalore, Vic

Christmas Day Supercell Outbreak, Melbourne

Supercell #1



Supercell #2



Supercell #3

Supercells #4 and #5

Feb 27 Mystic Lake, Vic



Mar 15 Melbourne (local intercept)

Note :
La Nina = less storms but more rain
Neutral = More storms and less general rain
El Nino = less rain but more intense storms

paulcirrus
You say:

"Note :
La Nina = less storms but more rain
Neutral = More storms and less general rain
El Nino = less rain but more intense storms"

I wonder, can you back that up with data?
For my site, I have made a graph that compares monthly rainfall with the record of swings between El Nino and La Nina, based on NINO3.4 ocean temperatures
Monthly rainfall matches the southern oscillation after a fashion, usually (but not always) fitting best when the oscillation is strong.

It should be quite simple to compare data on storm intensity with NINO3.4 in the same way. Has anyone done that yet?

The comparison might also show that our stormy weather tends to be ahead of NINO3.4, as seems to be true for rainfall.
If so, NINO3.4 cannot be used to predict either rainfall or storms.

I believe this generally true for SE Qld/NE NSW but not every where in Australia. In fact, it would seem reasonable to see an increase in storm frequency/severity further inland/south under la nina.

I think there is a paper looking at the SE Qld storm season vs SOI so it might be worth digging that (hope I am right there). Unfortunately, storm reports (ie. strong wind gust/large hail) are heavy biased towards eastern Australia, in part due to the greater population density. This likely throws a major spanner in the works when doing statistical analysis on observed severe weather phenomena. Might be worth giving this a read-

Title: A severe thunderstorm climatology for Australia and associated thunderstorm environments
Author(s): Allen John T.; Karoly David J.; Mills Graham A.
Source: AUSTRALIAN METEOROLOGICAL AND OCEANOGRAPHIC JOURNAL Volume: 61 Issue: 3 Pages: 143-158 Published: SEP 2011

There is quite a substantial spatial modification of storm environment frequency due to La Nina and El Nino (and neutral conditions) - Unfortunately you will have to take my word for it, I have a second paper coming on this topic, its just in review atm. Funnily enough over the whole of Australia there is not a huge difference in the frequency of severe thunderstorm environments in any ENSO phase - its just one aspect of the complex tapestry of severe thunderstorm occurrence. I will say anecdotally that inland and southern areas tend to do well storm wise during La Nina thanks to the additional moisture which is advected over the Southern Plains.

The paper regarding SOI you are looking for MC is by Clair Yeo (2005), while other notable papers on this matter have looked at Sydney regionally (Leigh and Kuhnel 2001, Kuhnel 1998). To quote a little review from my work:
"In Southeast Queensland the number of severe thunderstorm days were found to be 60% more likely in neutral ENSO years than La Nina years, while El Nino was found to be the second most favorable pattern for severe thunderstorm occurrence"

Might be of interest ; From "Trove"

The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Thursday 13 February 1896

Not sure why you have posted this here ROM - It has little to do with the 2011/2012 Storm season? Sure you haven't got the wrong thread?

Just thought it might be of interest as an example of what has happened in the past in the way of severe weather of various types.
Not trying to prove a point or anything like that. Just posted it for interest sake, thats all.

My highlight for the 2011/12 season was the hailstorm on the 15th of October 2011. The season in general was a mixed bag of hit and miss, mainly miss, along with some teasing of what could have been some brilliant storms only to die along the ranges.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=3ona23Te5bU

My storm Season was largely a frustrating one, with many miles put down, but no great chases to show for it.Dont get me wrong there were a couple of good/exciting moments, but overall it quite dissapointing,and all of my chases were in the poor to ordinary range . My best chase of the season scored a 6/10, which makes it my poorest season ever. There were a couple of brilliant storms in SE and E NSW,but the convergence line often sat over no mans land,making these storms unchasable.




(above) My first storm of the season,and probrably one of my best. And only 4kms from home.





A spectacular dryline supercell near Bathurst- November 30 2011. This could've been one of my best ever chases, instead it was a what could've been chase, where we witnessed several great supercells,but never quite got into position for them. The barber pole storm near Parkes after dark revealed some insane structure as it was flashing like a strobelight,and it produced hail close to cricketball size.




This is a storm I got near Ulladulla on Boxing day. Riding the southerly change.



A severe storm approaching rapidly. Oberon NSW. This storm produced 100-110km/h winds in which I was in the middle of.



The no mans land supercell near Nerriga. This storm contained one of the biggest black cores I have ever seen on Sydney radar.



Another no mans land supercell,this time near Braidwood.

no where near as good as some of the footage the pros capture,, but likely to be my best experience of the poor season just gone.. enjoy.

almost fried..

taken on sunday night 08-04-2012 at 650ish pm at hexham shell servo near newcastle..

Nice, pingtang! Some great structure on the fourth pic there!

May as well add in my pics from the line that made its way through the south west coast on Good Friday. I just happened to be holidaying down there and got a good view of the shelf cloud as it moved in from the ocean...

nice catch Greg! and Michael (Ping) I feel for you with those no-mans land storms, but a few keeper shots nonetheless.

The November 30 2011 event is certainly up there. Seems like I called the storm season over a bit too early. Another event worthy of inclusion-

8th of April, 2012- Asquith-North Turramurra: probable tornado. Hail to 5-6 cm report was reported further south.

Some places had a really good season like ballina then others had a shocking season, it was annoying for me to see so many awesome set ups that just had one thing missing or miss timing of a change, it was a fail season for storms awell always next year

i cant decide my favourites out of these 2 shots lol
feb 21 super cell as it reached logan (was a weak little thing when it hit)

or
october 15 2011 (it weakened as it reached logan and then got stronger again after it passed)

Great shots by people here. VIC certainly had a great season. NSW and QLD people had an average one.. so not a high quantity this season. That said, quite a few quality days mixed in just so far away, with me myself bagging the highest number of SC's I have had since the 04/05 season.


8th August - Offshore lightshow

20 September - Offshore lightshow Ulladulla


30th October - Highlight of season 4-5cm hail near Coolongolook from a big HP supercell

7th November - Supercell in Western Sydney

17 November - Massive day this, couldn't chase very far due to work, but huge supercells on MNC. Got an ok storm near Cessnock that had strong winds and small hail and a huge RFB



Dec 11/12 - Big chase out to NWSP then to NR. Got a beastly guster on the 11th near Gunnedah, and the backend of a supercell on the 12th near Coraki with 3-3.5cm hail.

A couple of decentish days in Jan and Feb with 3cm hail and strong winds near Toukley, plus a nice guster at the Entrance the previous day, but no pics..A couple of nice lightshows in Jan but stuck at work mostly..




8th April - Another highlight. Big classic SC near Singleton, with amazing lightning show at night, strong winds and small hail. Got home to find a tornado had gone through my suburb at night, damage was amazing, with a clear damage path.

Speaking of the storm season in review, Brad and I have finally got around to finishing a chase DVD for the 2011/2012 season! Preorders are now open.

The trailer has just been released and can be found here:

Bloody awesome preview ST!

Totally awesome pics here, and I love the video clip ST!

Well what can I say... the 2011-2012 Storm Season is by far my best-ever, I've lost count of the number of days on which I saw at least 1 thunderstorm (even if it was off in the distance) most of the activity has been here in Melbourne, particularly the southeast suburbs and Dandenong Ranges (unless otherwise stated)

Part 1 - July-December 2011

July & August
Nothing overly exciting apart from sporadic hit-miss heavy showers/storms on July 4th, a weakish squall line late on August 1st, and a sudden heavy storm around 2-3PM on August 6th.
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-07-04-00/2011-07-04-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-08-01-00/2011-08-01-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR024-melbourne/2011-08-06-00/2011-08-06-23

September
An amazing cold outbreak on September 9th with frequent heavy hailshowers and even occasional thunder (good thing I had glandular fever so I could watch and photograph the show from the warmth of my home)
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-09-08-00/2011-09-09-23

Missed out on the activity on September 17th (it occurred way down near Wilsons Promontory and late in the evening ) but got treated to some very dangerous lightning late on September 19th (my girlfriend in Fiji was having an electrical storm at her house in Suva at the exact same time lol ).
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR022-melbourne/2011-09-17-00/2011-09-17-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-09-19-00/2011-09-19-23

The reat treat was on September 28th, when I was able to head for Upper Ferntree Gully and film an insane CG-fest as storms ripped into Melbourne from the northwest!
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-09-28-00/2011-09-28-23

October
Snatched up a thundery showers in Rowville, Clayton, and the Dandenongs on October 6th and 7th, not much in the way of lightning though http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR024-melbourne/2011-10-06-00/2011-10-07-15

The squall line that brushed Melbourne on October 22nd was largely hidden behind a stubborn layer of fow and low cloud, so very few pics , on the plus side at least I had thunder, lightning and heavy rain at my house http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-10-22-00/2011-10-22-23

No fog to spoil my view of a couple of lone cells over Geelong and Tooradin while I was in Dandenong & Berwick on October 23rd
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-10-23-00/2011-10-23-23

Like September, the best for this month was saved until October 28th... I was down in Berwick and got to watch an impressive squall line surge into Melbourne from the southwest (a solid wall of darkness from southeast to northwest basically), no lightning detected until after at 4:30PM when it arrived at my house I heard no thunder during any of the coldies that developed in the wake of the front on October 30th
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-10-28-00/2011-10-28-23

November
I lost a lot of sleep on the morning of November 8th, but at least I managed to film a bit of forked lightning at around 3AM http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-11-07-12/2011-11-08-02

November 9th is by far one of my best storm days ever, I could not believe the size, structure and power of the supercells that ripped across Melbourne late that afternoon, good thing I acted on instinct & snatched up the camera before heading off into the City early in the morning; the wall cloud from the second supercell passed right overhead while I was in Narre Warren North at around 6PM, I was so worried a tornado might drop down on top of me and my family as we raced home; it was as pitch-dark as midnight at the time! http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR024-melbourne/2011-11-09-00/2011-11-09-23

I was able to catch some lightning on the evening of November 13-14th; lightning struck barely 500m from my house just after midnight! http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-11-13-00/2011-11-13-23

I wasn't disappointed when a nice squall line swept into Melbourne late-afternoon on November 18th, with a few embedded storms to follow during cloudy, rainy conditions on November 19th, but I wasn't terribly excited with high-based cell activity on November 29th, and not much good structure with pre-frontal storms at around 8:30AM on November 30th (just happy I heard thunder though)
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-11-18-00/2011-11-19-12
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-11-29-00/2011-11-29-23

December
I got to watch a few storms over near Noojee and Thompsons Reservoir on December 8th while out in Dandenong to get my Learner's Permit but I nearly got struck by lightning while outside my house on December 9th (a dangerous mistake I never want to repeat) I returned to Berwick around midday on December 11th to catch a glimpse of the cells over Queenscliff and Geelong at the time and caught a sudden downpour at my house around 6:30PM, followed by some good lightning at around midnight on December 12th while hoping to see the lunar eclipse
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR022-melbourne/2011-12-09-00/2011-12-09-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-12-09-00/2011-12-09-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-12-10-00/2011-12-10-22

Nothing much to speak of around mid-December, bar a few distant cells near Marysville on December 16th, a couple of brief locally heavy thundery showers late on December 17th around the Dandenongs and Yarra & Upper Yarra Valley (some very nice updrafts though), and a surprise late thunderstorm while watching movies at home with my Fijian girlfriend on December 18th
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-12-16-00/2011-12-16-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-12-17-00/2011-12-17-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-12-18-00/2011-12-18-23

The Christmas period (December 22nd-26th) was truly wild, humble pickings on December 22nd with only scrappy thundery showers near Marysville, some more decent convection to the north over the Yarra Valley and along the Great Dividing Range (especially near Kinglake), and then all hell gets ready to break lose on Christmas Eve with sea-breeze thunderstorms (including supercells) erupting to the north, northeast and east during the afternoon, followed by a vicious CG-fest around midnight here in the Dandenongs... then the Christmas Day supercell outbreak and tornadoes around Melbourne (no repeat of the March 6 2010 Hailstorm thankfully, just torrential rains and insane lightning)
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-12-22-00/2011-12-22-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-12-23-00/2011-12-23-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-12-24-00/2011-12-24-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-12-25-00/2011-12-25-23

Part 2 - January-May 2012

The other half of the season wasn't so great (with the exception of February)... during Janaury much of the activity I picked up was in Northeast Victoria and NSW/ACT;

January
Nothing to speak of on January 3rd except for a late high-based/low-topped shower/thunderstorm with a rainbow near Albury/Wodonga around 7PM; the storms in NSW/ACT on January 5th were only just visible from Corryong
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR493-yarrawonga/2012-01-03-00/2012-01-03-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR402-canberra/2012-01-05-00/2012-01-05-23

I was in Merimbula when the mid-January 2012 cold outbreak slammed into SE Australia; we had some massive storms, including squalls on January 11th as the cold front charged through, that was the real January 2012 Storm treat for me!
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR402-canberra/2012-01-11-00/2012-01-11-23

I was glad when storms returned on January 18th (especially at sunset) and January 19th (while returning from Merimbula to Corryong), but couldn't stick around on Janaury 20th as I had other committments back in Melbourne
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR402-canberra/2012-01-18-00/2012-01-18-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR402-canberra/2012-01-19-00/2012-01-19-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR402-canberra/2012-01-20-00/2012-01-20-23

I was happy to be able to catch a storm out in the Forbes/Parkes/Cowra/Bathurst region while flying with my girlfriend to Sydney on January 27th (approx 4:30PM)! I sighted a bit of convective activity over the Central Tablelands, Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley while aboard the Manly Ferry around 12:50PM on January 30th, but didn't catch any storms
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR711-sydney-terrey-hills/2012-01-27-00/2012-01-27-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR712-sydney-terrey-hills/2012-01-30-00/2012-01-30-23

February
No storms during my time in Sydney (a few convective showers/storms developing over the Blue Mountains as we were flying home on February 4th), but I arrived home in time to catch the fast-moving squall line moving throught Melbourne on February 5th
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR713-sydney-terrey-hills/2012-02-04-00/2012-02-04-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2012-02-05-00/2012-02-05-23

I was out in the City with my girlfriend on February 9th, so I got to see the storms near Warburton/Noojee and Pakenham/Korumburra from Princes Bridge at 6PM and the activity between Anglesea and Cape Otway from Docklands between 7:30-8:30PM (the Cape Otway cells looked magical, framed by the Bolte Bridge at sunset and later after dark with some insane clear-air CGs)... good thing I had the camera! http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2012-02-09-00/2012-02-09-23

I saw more activity over near Kinglake and Healesville at about midday and again near Yan Yean, Whittlesea, and Wallan at around 3PM while in Narre Warren on February 10th; some impressive coldie-style showers and storms around while in Doreen on February 11th, particularly near Werribee and Geelong http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2012-02-10-00/2012-02-11-23

Nothing much on February 14th (a storm near Noojee around 5PM which I saw while in the City for Valentine's Day with my girlfriend), and a couple of potentially thundery showers at 7:30PM on February 15th (I got engaged during the evening), but my ultimate highlight for February 2012 was while I was out around Dandenong and Endeavour Hills when a squall line hit Melbourne on February 16th, some very nice lightning when it hit (mostly CCs)
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2012-02-14-00/2012-02-15-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2012-02-16-00/2012-02-16-23

I got treated again with a couple of storms near Broadford and later on near Kinglake/Flowerdale on February 19th, and a couple of squall lines late on February 26th (much of the lightning ceased after nightfall unfortunately), followed by rain periods with imbedded storms on February 27th
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2012-02-19-00/2012-02-19-23
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2012-02-26-00/2012-02-27-23

March
I was out in the City when storms built up to the north on the afternoon of March 14th, but I had to wait until March 15th to catch some lightning, a storm just sideswiped my area at about 4PM, but I was far more successful with some good CCs at around 9PM
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2012-03-14-00/2012-03-15-23

The only other storm day in March was March 29th, when I sighted a few storms near Wallan approx. 1:35PM from Glenferrie, and at around 5PM towards Lilydale from the City
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2012-03-29-00/2012-03-29-23

April
A few potentially thundery coldie cumulonimbus developed around the Australian Alps on April 9th while I was in Corryong, but I didn't encounter any thunder or lightning http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR492-yarrawonga/2012-04-09-00/2012-04-09-23

The best storm event for me in April was April 22nd, apart from being able to catch a few distant cells to the south and southwest in Berwick and a couple of brief storms around early-mid afternoon, I caught one serious downpour at about 5-6PM, with blocked gutters and lightning striking nearby!
A few nasty squall lines while I was in the City on April 23rd, followed by a couple of thundery coldies on April 24th
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2012-04-22-00/2012-04-22-12
http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2012-04-22-12/2012-04-24-23

May
Had a quick thunderstorm at about 10PM on May 2nd, just for about 10-20PM, only 1 or 2 bursts of thunder & lightning with heavy rain http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2012-05-02-00/2012-05-02-23

Sadly, the storms that hit Melbourne's southern regions and outer east late on May 9th just missed us, but it was nice to see some cumulonimbus clouds around, plus a rainbow, and some lightning after dark... was so hoping to catch some lightning down at St. Kilda later that evening but the storms had gone by then still not entirely disappointing http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2012-05-09-00/2012-05-09-23

Very Impressive and professional John. Looks like you had a good season. Well done. Love the preview.

Cheers

Col

Hey Guys,
As part of the wrap up of the season. If anyone is interested, an article I wrote on the Melbourne Christmas hailstorm has just appeared in the June edition of BAMOS (Bulletin of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society). It can be found on pages 47-51 and can be found at: http://www.amos.org.au/documents/item/626 (PDF download)

Should also note the cool season tornado season is in full swing, with 1 tornado reported the other day near the Black Ranges in Stawell, Victoria, and at least two confirmed in WA today, pictures cropping up can be found here: http://www.waweathergroup.com/forum/view...e1713&start=140

Indeed it is, John.

Some YouTube footage of the tornado...



Had a read of your article, too. Interesting read. Nice work.

Well, after a successful 3 weeks in the USA with some monster supercells and tornadoes we are back home and beavering away on the final production of the epic Aussie Season 2011/12 DVD in preparation for release in the next week.

So just a reminder we are taking orders now and if you want to ensure you are among the first to receive a copy and see our previously unreleased footage from a remarkable storm season in a high quality fully edited 4-hour production you can order by visiting the following page: http://www.emanatephotography.com/hunters.html

Check out the youtube preview video which has got rave reviews here for a sneak peak of whats in the DVD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2vhnHBbPEw

Regards,

Brad.

I've put together a short writeup on the Black Ranges tornado near Stawell on the 24th of May. It can be found below if anyone is interested:
http://www.huntersofthunder.com/2012/06/on-may-24th-there-was-tornado-observed.html

Just wanted to let you all know that our 2011/2012 Australian Chase Season DVD is now shipping. First orders will be dispatched Friday 29th June for delivery next week!

The DVD is a awesome smorgasboard of photography and video highlights from our very active chase season,
together with nearly 4 hours of high quality (Dual Layer DVD) chasing footage from around the Southeast of the continent.

We also have just released a second trailer for the DVD. It includes a look at the menus and just some of the stuff you will see if you get your own copy:


To Order yours now, Visit www.emanatephotography.com/hunters.html or contact me via PM and I will sort you out with a copy. International orders may take a little longer but will be dispatched via airmail upon receipt. Price of the DVD is $30 AUD shipped anywhere worldwide. Payment is via Paypal, Credit Card (using secure paypal service, no account required) or by Direct Deposit upon request.

Hi all,

Following the release of the initial trailers and our 4-hr DVD we have received many queries asking how much supercell timelapse video is included..........the answer is HEAPS - and so, this 3rd and final trailer for the DVD just had to be made to showcase the quality and the quantity of the supercells we captured in HD video timelapse!



Brad.