A few weeks ago i started a thread about the wierd Perth weather. Well, I can officially confirm that things have become even more bizarre, hence my comment in this title.
So much to tell, we will start with last Saturday, a day that was meant to be dry with partly cloudy skies and around 29c. Pretty standard for Perth in late November. I woke up to plenty of cumulus cloud and the sky had that thundery look, and the humidity was very high. It was pretty clear the trough had not moved through as was expected and was laying off the coast. So the forecast during the morning changed to thunderstorm risk.
During the morning the sky cleared and the typical strong Freo doctor sea breeze developed. Despite the strength of the wind it still felt very warm with dew points of around 17c. In the early afternoon severe thunderstorms started to develop inland and as the afternnon wore on they began to very unusually move towards the coast. So the clear skies gradually disappeared as this huge storm slowly moved in.
You have to be a local to guage how rare this is, and a couple of guys who i was with said that at this time of year they had never seen anything like this in 40 years. The sea breeze was really howling by now, gusting upto 65km/hr. Usually the sea breeze kills these storms, but this time it just seemed to be fueling it. As the storm arrived, so the wind dropped completely. It was quite clear this was now a left moving supercell with plenty of lightning and some beautiful mammatus. Absolutely awesome skies with the low sun towards the west.
Then there was a huge clap of thunder and then a silence (very eerie, i cannot remember ever a sensation like it) , but in the distance came a roar. I can remember saying 'what the hell is that' and then an almighty bang on the tin roof, a huge noise and arrived the hail stones. These were around 1.5-2cm across. Everyhting was white over in minutes, and the rain accompanying it was torrential, we recorded 28mm in less than 10 mins in that storm. Fortunately we only caught the edge. Afterdark another huge storm went out over the ocean from the North and this gave the most amazing lightning display i have ever witnessed. What a day!
And now check out this latest weather warning.
Severe Weather Warning
for damaging winds and abnormally high tides
for people in the Central West, Lower West, South West, South Coastal and Great Southern forecast districts
Issued at 3:34 pm WST on Tuesday 27 November 2012.
For people in parts of WA southwest of a line from Jurien Bay to Northam to Albany. This includes people in, near or between the following towns: Jurien Bay, Perth Metropolitan area, Mandurah, Bunbury, Busselton, Margaret River, Bridgetown, York, Narrogin, Katanning and Albany.
Weather Situation
A deep low pressure system is expected to move along the southwest of the state during Wednesday.
Abnormally high tides which may cause sea water flooding of low lying coastal areas are forecast for the Lower West forecast district and parts of the Central West and South West forecast districts.
WIDESPREAD DAMAGING WINDS to 100 km/h are forecast for the Lower West and South West forecast districts and parts of the South Coastal and Great Southern forecast districts. DANGEROUS GUSTS in excess of 125km/h are possible in localised areas.
These conditions are highly unusual, especially for this time of year, they are more typical of a strong cold front during winter.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services advises that people should:
- Store or weigh down loose objects such as outdoor furniture.
- Have an emergency kit with a battery operated radio, torch, spare batteries and first aid kit.
- Ensure pets and animals are in a safe area.
- Move vehicles under cover.
- Boat owners should securely moor their boats.
- Campers should find shelter away from trees, power lines, storm water drains and streams.
If your home or property has significant damage, like a badly damaged roof or flooding, call the SES on 132 500.
The next warning will be issued by 11:00 pm WST Tuesday.
And there is a sevre thunderstorm warning with this too.
More updates to come.