Edit Thu 19 Nov 2009: Looks like we made the Channel 7 news up on Mt Coot-tha! I'm not sure how long the link will stay valid, but check out the brief glimpse here.
It seemed
today hung on a knife edge. High
CAPE values meant heaps of
potential, but a large cap on
convection also meant a good
chance of the potential never
being realised. Fortunately,
around 2pm, thanks to high
temperatures, the cap broke and
warm air was allowed to freely
rise 10 kms into a relatively
cold atmosphere.
Once
activity appeared on the radar I
headed out and was shocked to
find a huge anvil to the south
over the Gold Coast.
Radar
at 4:06pm
Storms were
moving NE so I headed to Purga,
just south of Ipswich, in the
hope of intercepting something
from the SW. Here's the view of
the Gold Coast cell:
Shortly
after, cumulus was developing to
its NW closer to me.
Radar
at 4:42pm
This new
development to my SE really took
off producing some lovely
updrafts and eventually appeared
on radar just north of
Beaudesert.
Here's a timelapse of the above cell:
Meanwhile
just near Harrisville to my south
a new cell was forming. It
initially looked very weak, but
this would eventually join
another cell to become the
spectacular lightning show over
Brisbane in the evening.
Radar
at 5:06pm
Thunder was
now audible with brief lightning
crawlers visible above. As it
passed just to the SE it
strengthened and huge CGs became
visible (but tough to photograph).
I now had a
decision to make. There was a
long line south of the border
on its way to me. Do
I try and get ahead of the
current cell and battle
Brisbane's peak hour traffic or
sit tight and wait for the new
line which wouldn't arrive for a
couple of hours, if at all?
Eventually
I headed north with the intention
of watching lightning from the
back of the current storm as the
sky darkened, but with the
ability to slip easily south
again.
Radar
at 5:48pm
Radar
at 6:18pm
Well,
this storm was now intensifying, joining another cell north of Ipswich, and becoming lightning
intensive. So an easy decision
was made to head to Mt Coot-tha
to watch one of the best
lightning displays I've seen! I
was rapt to be watching lightning
striking the ground in the
surrounding suburbs!
I arrived at Mt Coot-tha at 6:40pm and left at 9pm. What a reward for the last week or so!
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Comment Script
Comments:
Phenomenal shots Marty! Well done
#1 - Lem - Wed 18 Nov 2009 - 2:43pm
Another great bunch of shots Marty. I was only up at Mt Cootha on Saturday admiring the view from there. I'll have to visit when there's a storm on, amazing stuff
#2 - Anthony - Wed 18 Nov 2009 - 4:12pm
This is amazing
The shots are excellent, it was a good storm, nice strikes i saw too.
#3 - Jacob - Wed 18 Nov 2009 - 4:17pm
I see why you say it's the best lightning show you've seen! You captured it perfectly
There are no words Marty. I thought "breathtaking" but even that doesn't come close to doing this set justice. Perhaps a heartfelt "thank-you" for sharing them with us will do.
Regards
Neil
#5 - Neil - Wed 18 Nov 2009 - 7:29pm
Every time I think I've picked out the photos I want to order from you Marty you go and get even more fantastic shots that make the choosing so hard :)
Must have been one of your better chases in recent times Marty! So much activity last night. Absolutely fantastic photos! Love them.
#8 - Jenson - Wed 18 Nov 2009 - 9:09pm
Awesome Marty... Nice timing heading up to Mt Coot-tha just before the show started. You have a real eye for the spectacular. :)
#9 - Neil - Wed 18 Nov 2009 - 9:45pm
Great fun!
I didn't give chase as much as you did (damn work keeps getting in the way) but I spent a bit of time at Kangaroo Pt and then headed up the mountain to try to catch the tail end of the show. There were a whole heap of stunning CG's as you've so spectacularly captured! (Though a couple of 'em looked a little too close for comfort - not sure how much of a faraday cage that gazebo-thing would actually be :))
Definitely one of the better light shows - and hopefully a good start to the season! :)
It's all very well for you all to sit here and praise Mr. Pouwelse for his "great" work. I bet you live in Brisbane.
Meanwhile, us deprived lot down in Melbourne (who can dreeeeeeem about such an event) sit here on our spotty behinds, whiling the hours away on our little computers, and then unsuspectingly see ourselves fronted by the "welcoming email" that brought us here, containing an oh-so-lovely cumulo-nimbus that the average Joe on the street would just devour coz it's so yummy.
Yes that's right, all of you, heap your praise, but down here there's a very bitter and twisted nob that's just praying and praying for a teleporter to be invented...
Hellfire and damnation to all of you living in SE Qld and NE NSW...
#11 - Joffa - Sun 22 Nov 2009 - 10:37am
...
...ahh, that's better.
#12 - Joffa - Sun 22 Nov 2009 - 10:38am
Ahh!
Jealous Jeff speaks! Forgive me for not caring a tinkers cuss about the struggling storm chaser (you excrement)! I bet you wouldn't become a storm chaser now if I got down on my filthy stinking knees and BEGGED YOU!
If you'd like to forsake culture for weather, I know about some land going cheap...
Marty, the images here are amazing mate. Friggin awesome actually. Jealous as hell actually, have not a storm even half that chasable over here for years, quite literally.
Comments:
Regards
Neil
Definitely one of the better light shows - and hopefully a good start to the season! :)
It's all very well for you all to sit here and praise Mr. Pouwelse for his "great" work. I bet you live in Brisbane.
Meanwhile, us deprived lot down in Melbourne (who can dreeeeeeem about such an event) sit here on our spotty behinds, whiling the hours away on our little computers, and then unsuspectingly see ourselves fronted by the "welcoming email" that brought us here, containing an oh-so-lovely cumulo-nimbus that the average Joe on the street would just devour coz it's so yummy.
Yes that's right, all of you, heap your praise, but down here there's a very bitter and twisted nob that's just praying and praying for a teleporter to be invented...
Hellfire and damnation to all of you living in SE Qld and NE NSW...
...ahh, that's better.
If you'd like to forsake culture for weather, I know about some land going cheap...