Two Days of Monster Supercells Leave Trails of Destruction Around Brisbane

Written by Team Morecast

 

An extremely unstable weather pattern has taken hold over southeastern Queensland, Australia this week. Intense supercell storms roared across the region around Brisbane each of the past two days. The supercells have brought giant hail and destructive winds to many communities, smashing cars and house roofs. In some cases the same towns have seen damaging hail on both days.

 

 

Sunday’s round of severe storms included a long-lived supercell that travelled over 60 km from near the border of Queensland and New South Wales all the way up to the eastern suburbs of Brisbane. Hail stones of 7-9 cm (2.75 to 3.5 in) fell along this path, peaking just southeast of Brisbane in the towns of Eagleby and Loganholme. Other isolated supercells dropped baseball-size hail in Silver Spur to the west and Glen Innes in northeast NSW.

 

 

A larger cluster of supercells developed on Monday near the Gold Coast and raced up the coast through Brisbane and Hervey Bay. Even more destructive hail was generated with these storms with many reports of stones exceeding 10 cm (4 in) in diameter. The largest stones struck Chandler, just east of Brisbane, measured at 13-14 cm (5-5.5 in) in diameter, not much shy of the national record of 16 cm. Needless to say, the damage to roofs and car windows has been catastrophic, especially in towns like Loganholme that have been struck twice. As the storms moved north, the threat transitioned to high winds. Possible tornadoes struck Wallu and Bribie Island with wind gusts at least 150-180 kph (90-110 mph) flipping cars and knocking down trees and powerlines.

Cyclone Fina Lashes Darwin, Australia with High Winds, Torrential Rains

Written by Team Morecast

 

Slow-moving Cyclone Fina will continue to scrape the coast of Northern Territory in north-central Australia. The storm is small but intense, currently a Category 3 cyclone with sustained winds up to 140 kph (85 mph). Fina has already made two landfalls in NT, the first over the Cobourg Peninsula and the second on the Tiwi Islands. Although the city of Darwin has escaped a direct hit, significant wind and flooding damage is still being reported. It’s the earliest cyclone on record to hit Northern Territory.

 

 

 

Fina developed earlier this week just off the NT coast and has been making very slow progress to the southwest. This sluggish motion has allowed for persistent bands of tropical rainfall to dump 200-350 mm over a widespread area. Some measuring stations have reported in excess of 450 mm. These prodigious rains have resulted in serious flash flooding. A partial roof collapse at Darwin Hospital is probably due to water overloading. The storm has also brought widespread damaging northerly winds over 100 kph. A few locations have reported gusts up to 120-130 kph. These winds have brought down trees and powerlines and resulted in thousands losing power. Conditions will gradually improve later today in Northern Territory as Fina crawls west-southwestward. However, the warm, open waters of the Timor Sea could allow the cyclone to gain strength before threatening northern portions of Western Australia later this week. Lead photo courtesy Wikipedia contributor Flickerd

Typhoon Kalmaegi Slices Through the Philippines and Vietnam, Killing Hundreds

Written by Team Morecast

 

Category Four Typhoon Kalmaegi rolled through the central Philippines, particularly the province of Cebu, on Tuesday into Wednesday. The storm than reintensified as it crossed the South China Sea and pounded central Vietnam Thursday into early Friday. Kalmaegi has claimed a total of 188 lives as of midday Friday in the Philippines alone. Severe flooding and fallen trees account for most of these fatalities.

 

 

 

The typhoon developed last weekend over the open Pacific and intensified quickly as it approached the Philippines. Gusty winds knocked down numerous trees and powerlines but the most devastating impact has been flooding. Rainfall amounts well in excess of 200 mm combined with storm surge have resulted in widespread inundation. At least half of Cebu City, home to nearly a million people, was reportedly under water after the Butuanon River exploded out of its banks. The mayor reported over 200,000 homes damaged there, forcing hundreds of thousands to relocate. The mud-choked floodwaters have left behind masses of debris that will take months to clean up, complicating efforts to locate the 136 still reported missing. Unfortunately another intensifying typhoon will threaten the Philippines early next week, although it is projected to more directly affect the northern islands.

 

 

 

Kalmaegi is one of the strongest cyclones on record to hit Vietnam, boasting 200 kph (125 mph) sustained winds at landfall. The storm prompted evacuation orders for at least 350,000 residents of Gia Lai province alone. Numerous reports of roofs blown off of houses and downed trees and powerlines have been received. The death toll has been limited to five so far in Vietnam. This number may rise as the cyclone winds down and cleanup efforts begin.

Hurricane Melissa Blasts Jamaica, One of the Strongest Atlantic Hurricanes Ever

Written by Team Morecast

 

Category Five Hurricane Melissa ripped through western Jamaica on Tuesday. Landfall occurred around 1 p.m. local time near the town of New Hope after days of rapid intensification. Just before landfall, Melissa’s sustained winds had risen to 185 mph (300 kph), making it one of the strongest hurricanes ever to make landfall in the Atlantic Basin.

 

 

 

Melissa was slow to develop, traversing the Atlantic as a weak disturbance a few weeks ago. As it entered the Caribbean last week, the disturbance slowed to a crawl and began to intensify. Rapid intensification occurred over the weekend and by Monday Melissa was a maximized Category Five on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The storm was so strong in fact that Hurricane Hunter research aircraft were forced to turn away from the eye at one point due to severe turbulence. Conditions rapidly deteriorated on the western side of Jamaica on Tuesday with trees and houses flattened and widespread power outages. The roof came off of a hospital in Black River and the St. Elizabeth Technical High School reported severe damage.

 

 

 

Melissa was close enough to Hispaniola and Jamaica to push torrential rainfall into the islands days ahead of landfall. Rainfall totals have probably approached 2-3 feet (610-915 mm) in some areas, leading to numerous landslides and rivers surging out of their banks. Many communities report being underwater due to the severe fresh water flooding and storm surge. The capital city of Kingston was mostly spared the highest winds and flooding, but communities in the west have been devastated. This is particularly true given the relatively weak infrastructure of poverty-stricken Jamaica. Melissa is now approaching eastern Cuba and will pass through the eastern Bahamas as well before heading into the open Atlantic.