Narrabri may have achieved a new, and unwanted, record.
Last Saturday’s massive hailstorm may have produced hail of record breaking size.
The front page photo of the huge hailstone in last Tuesday’s Courier, caught the eye of NSW Severe Weather Services manager with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Michael Logan, who contacted The Courier.
“We are very interested in trying to establish a firm estimate on the hail diameter in the photo accompanying The Courier story ‘Savage hail lashes area’” Mr Logan said.
Other photos of the same hailstone which may put it in context, can help better establish its size, Mr Logan said.
On first appearance the large lump of ice is bordering on being one of the biggest.
However, the record for this area is an 11cm diameter hailstone.
“It was a supercell thunderstorm which hit Narrabri” said Michael.
The hailstone pictured in The Courier may or may not be a record, he adds.
“The local area record of 11cm diameter is a huge stone.
“However it would still be very interesting to ask how close did the Saturday storm come to matching this record?
“Either way it will help to see what information is out there so a maximum hail size can be determined” he said.
The largest hailstone ever officially recorded in the broader Narrabri area is 11cm in diameter.
“This was produced by a supercell thunderstorm that impacted rural areas near Edgeroi on December 29, 2008” Michael said.
“The hail size was determined from a photo published a few weeks later in The Courier’s Border News insert.
“This hail is some of the largest ever measured in NSW, or Australia’s, history” Michael confirmed.
“The hail from the Edgeroi storm was similar to that of the recent Narrabri storm in that the stones were round and solid and not overly elongated or jagged.
“This roundness adds to the weight of the hailstone and makes it less likely to break apart on impact leading to such high degrees of damage.
“Information on historical maximum hail sizes is often based on a range of anecdotal reports, especially in the pre digital era.
“Some of these reports suggest hailstones bigger than 11cm in diameter.
“The recent outbreak of supercell thunderstorms produced giant hail in other locations across northern NSW and southeast Queensland.
“One of the towns hit was Chinchilla where a photo was taken with a hailstone measuring about 12cm in diameter, making it one of the largest ever accurately recorded in Australia.
(The photo is still online e.g. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-23/this-massive-shard-of-hail-crashed-down-in-chinchilla/6340826)
“Photos of the recent Narrabri hailstorm suggest many of the largest stones were at least 8cm in diameter” he said.
“This certainly puts the hail up into the historically significant category, especially for the Narrabri area.
“The Bureau of Meteorology is very interested in hearing other reports and reliable measurements of the larger hail from this storm so that an accurate maximum size can be recorded.”
He explained the particular phenomenon of a ‘supercell’ which struck Narrabri on Saturday, March 21.
It could have been much worse.
“Supercells are the most dangerous type of thunderstorms and are capable of producing extreme weather. “They are the storm type responsible for the giant hail that occurs in Australia and the tornadoes of the Great Plains in the United States and other parts of the world.
“There is a high chance of experiencing severe weather with any true supercell.
“Supercells are differentiated from other thunderstorms due to the presence of a deep rotating updraft at the core of the storm.
“This rotating updraft is called a Mesocyclone and is separated from the downdraft where all the hail and rain falls to the ground. The internal dynamics of these storms can become so strong that they can override the general winds steering the storms allowing them to move in directions that helps them to maintain strength.
“They form in an environment that will support thunderstorm development, but also has wind shear, characterised by winds of different speeds at the surface compared to higher up in the atmosphere.
“The more abundant each of the ingredients are the greater the potential.
“When conditions are right these storms can form anywhere on earth.
“Northern NSW and southern Queensland are two locations where the cocktail of ingredients comes together every storm season.”
In the case of last Saturday at Narrabri, everything lined up perfectly.
“The instability in the atmosphere built up through the middle of the day as the hot sun beat down before suddenly releasing in the afternoon.
“The resulting thunderstorm development was explosive and storms immediately interacted with the wind shear to quickly become severe.
“The setup on Saturday was one rarely seen in Australia which is fortunate given the destructive weather that was produced” Michael said.
“If people have extra information about the storm, we would appreciate if they contacted The Courier or the NSW Severe Weather team via nswstormspotters@bom.gov.au.”
Last Saturday’s massive hailstorm may have produced hail of record breaking size.
The front page photo of the huge hailstone in last Tuesday’s Courier, caught the eye of NSW Severe Weather Services manager with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Michael Logan, who contacted The Courier.
“We are very interested in trying to establish a firm estimate on the hail diameter in the photo accompanying The Courier story ‘Savage hail lashes area’” Mr Logan said.
Other photos of the same hailstone which may put it in context, can help better establish its size, Mr Logan said.
On first appearance the large lump of ice is bordering on being one of the biggest.
However, the record for this area is an 11cm diameter hailstone.
“It was a supercell thunderstorm which hit Narrabri” said Michael.
The hailstone pictured in The Courier may or may not be a record, he adds.
“The local area record of 11cm diameter is a huge stone.
“However it would still be very interesting to ask how close did the Saturday storm come to matching this record?
“Either way it will help to see what information is out there so a maximum hail size can be determined” he said.
The largest hailstone ever officially recorded in the broader Narrabri area is 11cm in diameter.
“This was produced by a supercell thunderstorm that impacted rural areas near Edgeroi on December 29, 2008” Michael said.
“The hail size was determined from a photo published a few weeks later in The Courier’s Border News insert.
“This hail is some of the largest ever measured in NSW, or Australia’s, history” Michael confirmed.
“The hail from the Edgeroi storm was similar to that of the recent Narrabri storm in that the stones were round and solid and not overly elongated or jagged.
“This roundness adds to the weight of the hailstone and makes it less likely to break apart on impact leading to such high degrees of damage.
“Information on historical maximum hail sizes is often based on a range of anecdotal reports, especially in the pre digital era.
“Some of these reports suggest hailstones bigger than 11cm in diameter.
“The recent outbreak of supercell thunderstorms produced giant hail in other locations across northern NSW and southeast Queensland.
“One of the towns hit was Chinchilla where a photo was taken with a hailstone measuring about 12cm in diameter, making it one of the largest ever accurately recorded in Australia.
(The photo is still online e.g. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-23/this-massive-shard-of-hail-crashed-down-in-chinchilla/6340826)
“Photos of the recent Narrabri hailstorm suggest many of the largest stones were at least 8cm in diameter” he said.
“This certainly puts the hail up into the historically significant category, especially for the Narrabri area.
“The Bureau of Meteorology is very interested in hearing other reports and reliable measurements of the larger hail from this storm so that an accurate maximum size can be recorded.”
He explained the particular phenomenon of a ‘supercell’ which struck Narrabri on Saturday, March 21.
It could have been much worse.
“Supercells are the most dangerous type of thunderstorms and are capable of producing extreme weather. “They are the storm type responsible for the giant hail that occurs in Australia and the tornadoes of the Great Plains in the United States and other parts of the world.
“There is a high chance of experiencing severe weather with any true supercell.
“Supercells are differentiated from other thunderstorms due to the presence of a deep rotating updraft at the core of the storm.
“This rotating updraft is called a Mesocyclone and is separated from the downdraft where all the hail and rain falls to the ground. The internal dynamics of these storms can become so strong that they can override the general winds steering the storms allowing them to move in directions that helps them to maintain strength.
“They form in an environment that will support thunderstorm development, but also has wind shear, characterised by winds of different speeds at the surface compared to higher up in the atmosphere.
“The more abundant each of the ingredients are the greater the potential.
“When conditions are right these storms can form anywhere on earth.
“Northern NSW and southern Queensland are two locations where the cocktail of ingredients comes together every storm season.”
In the case of last Saturday at Narrabri, everything lined up perfectly.
“The instability in the atmosphere built up through the middle of the day as the hot sun beat down before suddenly releasing in the afternoon.
“The resulting thunderstorm development was explosive and storms immediately interacted with the wind shear to quickly become severe.
“The setup on Saturday was one rarely seen in Australia which is fortunate given the destructive weather that was produced” Michael said.
“If people have extra information about the storm, we would appreciate if they contacted The Courier or the NSW Severe Weather team via nswstormspotters@bom.gov.au.”
