Jason Paterson and Michael Bath, a pair of Lismore storm chasers, managed to
take a photo of a tornado above the small NSW Northern Tablelands village
of Ben Lomond yesterday afternoon.
Wow! That touched down alright. We seem to be getting more reports lately. I remember being caught up in a bad hail storm in the corner of the great western hwy and Cumberland hwy in Merrylands in the late 90s on a summer afternoon. It was getting so bad that we couldn't drive so my mate and I parked the car quickly on the kerb under an awning on the side of the road and looked up to check where all this junk was coming from. You could see a lot of clouds coming down and spinning faster and faster. We didn't worry, being in an urban area. You'd never think tornadoes form here in Sydney suburbs. In insight it could have been the start of one. Luckily it dissipated within minutes and sky clear out like nothing happened .
I have seen storms start swirling about 5 years ago in suburban Sydney. It looked like the precursor for a tornado. I thought at the time give climate change another 10-20 years and we'll start having tornados in Sydney.
I remember driving home on the M4 back in 2000 & seeing the path it cut through Greystanes. Trees just snapped in two on both sides of the M4 for about 50meters & roofing material all over the road. Then the next day I drove down an adjacent road a few hundred meters away & you could clearly see the path it cut. Trees & scrubs, some tree trunks a few feet wide, just snapped like twigs.
It was a great capture. As a chaser I have seen a few storms which are severe enough for tornado formation. Unfortunately, never seen a touchdown on land. Seen a few waterspouts and funnel clouds though.. Lucky enough to capture this Funnel Cloud near Laura, South Australia, is dissipated after a little while and I never saw it touch ground..
