16th August 2006 Winds

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One WIndy Day

Its been a dry winter, so when an approaching front had "gale force northerlies and unseasonal high temps" on the forecast, nerves began to jangle. The sypotic looked ominous as did the satellite pic from the morning. (see below)

Left: Satellite Image Below: Synpotic

The Bureau issued a warning.

TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST
SOUTH AUSTRALIA SEVERE WEATHER WARNING
For Widespread Damaging Winds.

For people in the West Coast, southeast of Ceduna, Lower Eyre, Eastern Eyre,
Flinders, south of Quorn, Mid North, Kangaroo Island, Yorke Peninsula, Adelaide
and Mt. Lofty Ranges, Murraylands, west of Swan Reach to Coonalpyn, the Upper
South East, west of Keith and the Lower South East district.
Issued at 9:35 am on Wednesday 16 August 2006

Damaging winds with mean winds of 70km/h and gusts to 110km/h are possible
today.

By 1:30pm temps were ridiculously warm for August. 25.2 in the city(Kent Town) and 26.6 at Parafield! Up in my location it made 19.8 at 1:33pm. Time for some stats... This was my warmest 16th August yet recorded at this location. The previous was 15.8 at 1:31pm (hows the time correlation!) in 2002.
The average max for August 16th here is 12.9 degrees. Average maximum for the month of august is 12.4 degrees
It is not however the hottest August day. That record goes to August 25th 2004 when it made 20.9.

Winds were quite fierce also. My top gust was 82km/h at just after midday. Winds averaged around 50km/h for a short time covering roads and driveways with sticks, debris and in many places downed trees. Winds in excess of 100km/h were observed in many locations statewide. Some serious damage was also seen in thirsty cereal crops where the winds "sandblasted" the already thirsty crops. Raised dust blanketed many areas in a brown haze. This all happened in August for goodness sake! See vid below of the 80+km/h gusts as they ripped through the trees and garden around my place. Adelaide Airport was down to just one runway for a short time and a few flights were delayed due to the winds! Some of the reported damage is listed below.

TIME - DAMAGE - SUBURB/TOWN
11.14am - Tree collapsed - Kudla.
11.30am - Veranda damage - Encounter Bay.
11.38am - Tree collapsed - Strathalbyn.
11.38pm - Tree collapsed - Pasadena.
12.09pm - Garage damage - Inman Valley.
12.10pm - Roof damage - Stansbury.
12.17pm - Roof damage - Munno Para West.
12.18pm - Tree collapsed - Hindmarsh Valley.
12.19pm - Powerlines, tree collapsed - Rose Park.
12.27pm - Tree collapsed - Port Vincent.
12.30pm - Tree collapsed - Rose Park.
12.42pm - Tree collapsed - Victor Harbor.
12.46pm - Tree collapsed - Clarence Gardens.
12.50pm - Tree collapsed - Port Augusta.
1.07pm - Tree collapsed - Windsor Gardens.
1.11pm - Tree collapsed - Mallala.
1.13pm - Veranda collapsed - Para Hills.
1.21pm - Tree collapsed onto house - Maylands.
1.36pm - Roof damage - Goolwa.
1.41pm - Roof damage - Paralowie.
1.44pm - Roof damage - Pooraka.
1.51pm - Tree collapsed - Fairview Park.
1.55pm - Garage damage - Salibsury East.
2.02pm - Fence collapsed - Clearview.
2.04pm - Roof damage - Kensington Park.
2.08pm - Roof collapsed - Payneham South.
2.18pm - Tree collapsed - Aldgate.
2.23pm - Tree collapsed - Meadows.
2.41pm - Fence damage - Rosewater.
2.46pm - Roof damage - Balaklava.
2.57pm - Tree collapsed - Ashton.

Rain started to all in the early evening. It was steady for a relatively short time only. Some isolated heavy showers followed up in the WSW airstream, mostly over the ranges and by the morning of the 17th my total was 9.4mm. Highest falls in the ranges were no more than 12mm and restricted to the usual spots around Mt Lofty and surrounds. A moist westerly airstream the following day bought a further 5mm to my spot and a welcome 12mm at Acklands Hill which was the highest fall for the 18th. A few further showers in the southern ranges dropped another 3.8mm at my house giving a total of 18.3mm for the 3 days.

We were the lucky ones though. In the Mallee where the situiation is somewhat desperate for many only 0.5mm rain fell. Massive crop damage was sustained from the winds which was only compounded by the ridiculously warm temps.

Video

Video Below is of 80+km/h winds rpping through the trees and gardens around my place. If the embedding of the video does not work then follow the link to launch it directly in the player.( ~ 1mb)

Launch in external player