Victoria: Cold Outbreak/Low Pressure. January 17-20 2010

[droughtbreaker]

Gee, well you can be surprised at times!

Huge downpour coming down horizontally and mist flying off everything with some modest squalls just easing back now. Possibly the best shower we've ever had here in a SW flow. Hopefully more areas in the west can pick up something decent. The chance is there now IMO. Heating is at a maximum and these showers are really starting to pack a punch over land.

[Luken]

Really coming down hard hear again, the showers geting heavier and more sustained. Looking at the sat there appears to be a nice plme of cloud heading straight up toward the heads which should see showers continue for the evening here. Be up to 40mm or so by now here.

[firestorm]

after a slow start yesterday last night cranked up with some pretty extreme weather plenty of wind and 11mm of rain which is very welcome only had an extra 0.8mm today with mostly overcast skies. definatly very winter like outside today

[Lily]

Whingeing post ahead:

Whinge 1: Damn it's frustrating when the radar isn't working, I can't work out exactly where I am on the Melb Airport one lol!
Whinge 2: My husband still hasn't set up my rain gauge for me so I've cracked it this afternoon and done it myself, however the end result, while workable, is not as good as what he could have done (if only he'd got off his bum and done it!). Let's just say me and power tools are not the best mix
Whinge 3: Why is it that Knoxfield is so wet (& Stud Rd), yet I deviate off Stud Rd to come home and things are all but dry? Go figure!
Whinge 4: I SLEPT THROUGH EVERYTHING LAST NIGHT!


Roight! Now that's over with, I can report that we haven't seemed to have had nearly the rainfall that other areas close to us have got. Sitting on 25.2mm for the system, far cry from what others have had, but still the ground's soggy and the puppies are horrendously muddy - bath time! Had a bit of thunder an hour so ago to the south and some small hail too. Drive on the M1 freeway this morning was very interesting, very, very heavy rain (must have been the downpour Tizza was talking about earlier in the thread) - loads of water lying around everywhere.

Oh, and welcome Sharon and to other new members, nice to have you all here

[droughtbreaker]

There could be a bit of localised convergence enhancing this shower band here with SE winds at the airport and S winds at Kilmore Gap, but SW winds to the west of that. Next shower coming over us now.

[Macedonian]

Just got soaked by a really heavy downpour in Macedon at the shops. Good to get a drop or two,nice and cold now as well, 11.4C at 450m in mid January is brilliant More please!

[johnno]

4.5mm here for this system might get to the dizzy heights of 5mm if the next line holds to my SW

[droughtbreaker]

Well, got to 5mm in the end which is as much as I could have hoped for, I'm really quite happy with that. Would love a few mm more but when night falls in the SW airstream the showers should disappear from here and the stream will set up again over the eastern suburbs. All I wanted with this system, once it became apparent we wouldn't get the major rain event statewide that models initially progged (right at the very start), was a half decent fall of rain, enough to keep the ground damp and soil a bit moist. Very long dry spells are just what we don't want at this time of year and if we had missed out completely with this system over here or only got a mm or two things would have been really dry after a week of warm to hot weather. In the end, EC and GFS did pretty well for the last couple of days progs. They stuffed up right at the start though with the big low right over the top of us. Still, that's to be expected I guess.

[Anthony Violi]

Yes i didnt have a chance earlier, welcome Sharon to the forum! Hope you learn lots about the beautiful climate that is Melbourne.

[Anthony Violi]

Andrew, Thursday/Friday looks good for a massive storm outbreak IMO as the uppers are freezing cold. Any heating and some moist air advection and i can see the best storms of the summer sometime in the next week.

[mick]

It really crancked up about 10.30 last night with continual savage squalls from the bay, I wasnt surprised to see the damage at edithvale. When you are lying in bed and the noise around you is blocked out by the roar of the wind down the road, you know its over 100kph.

With regard to the above complaint number one, totally agree. You would think in this day and age that an explanation and expected duration could actually be put on the web page. We all fund the BOM, so its bloody poor service.

Got an inch over the last 24 hours, but Id reckon I missed half an inch due to the angle of the rain. I went out and watched last night and sure enough a lot was missing the guage

[Sharon]

Yes i didnt have a chance earlier, welcome Sharon to the forum! Hope you learn lots about the beautiful climate that is Melbourne.

Thanks for all the welcomes

I found this forum after spending new years night camping during that big storm. That one that you guys were all excited about and I was huddling in my car terrified after getting out of the tent in case a tree fell on me. Wish now I'd been able to sit back and enjoy it.

[Petros]

Really coming down hard hear again, the showers geting heavier and more sustained. Looking at the sat there appears to be a nice plme of cloud heading straight up toward the heads which should see showers continue for the evening here. Be up to 40mm or so by now here.

Yep Luken, that a heap of cloud that stretches from SW Tassie right to Queenscliff. Surely a chance for 3-6 hrs of steady rain over Melb tonight.

Not bad for a "non Melbourne" event eh?

We here are totally dudded sitting in the lee the Tassie (as I've been banging on about for hours) so THATS IT. I'm undoing the anchor lines and relocating Tassie up to just off Sydney. The annual sailing race can now be a lap around and arrive back in Sydney, and central Gippsland will be able to get some rain from southerly events.

Has any area in SE Vic received the rain totals that NE Melb has got in the last 24Hrs??

Hmmm I'd better lighten up :hangloose: :hangloose: - now up with the telescope and looking for the next "weather event". I reckon its all over here, let me know if you dont agree please.

[edit] our event total is 7.5mm, temp bounced back from 15.8 during the little lunchtime coldie to 23 C just before. Heard Phil King say that the Genoa area should get 40-50mm rain overnight, so that (and Melb's evening tally which I reckon is going to be significant), is basically the outcome of the cut-off low event.

[Macedonian]

Woo Hoo! its still raining here. Who has the highest total for the event so far?

[Anthony Violi]

I have 48.2mm here so far for the event, which is exceptional considering when i left for work at 3.45am i was on 19mm and considered that was great too. Another 30 odd mm means it must have been seriously coming down all day here.

[norfolk]

Woo Hoo! its still raining here. Who has the highest total for the event so far?

Not me or anyone near me! lol Not sure of how much here actually, but I am guessing now with the afternoon showers 2-3mm tops. Only because the showers have been short, not lasting any longer than a minute really and nothing heavy at all.

[johnno]

That line to my SW southern edge has completly fizzed out suprise suprise another potential band/line dissapearing out this way once it approaches here.

4.5mm for this event expect nothing tonight. Next Please whenever that may be.

[Petros]

[quote="Sharon Thanks for all the welcomes I found this forum after spending new years night camping during that big storm. That one that you guys were all excited about and I was huddling in my car terrified after getting out of the tent in case a tree fell on me. Wish now I'd been able to sit back and enjoy it.[/quote]

Welcome Sharon, bet you'll always remember the start of 2010!!!!

[Petros]

Latest BOM Notes on the Weather for Victoria

THE BUGGERS DIDNT PROVIDE ANY EXPLAINATORY NOTES!!!!!!!! (I want a tax rebate).................

Issued at 1630 on Monday the 18th of January 2010

Recent Events
The passage of a cold front followed by an unstable southwesterly flow brought
showers and isolated thunderstorms to southern and mountain Victoria in the 72
hours to 9am this morning. Widespread falls of 10 to 25mm were recorded in the
East Central, West Gippsland and Otway regions of the State, with most of the
rain falling in the 24 hours to 9am today. Falls were generally 5 to 10mm in
East Gippsland and the Western District while totals less than 2mm were recorded
in the north of the state. The highest totals recorded were 44mm at Warburton
and Weeaproinah, 40mm at Mount Baw Baw and 39mm at Lilydale. Further showers
were reported across central and eastern areas of the State in the 6 hours to
3pm, with 16mm recorded at Noojee, 15mm at Mount Baw Baw, 14mm at Orbost and
13mm at Mount Wellington.

[Macedonian]

Yep not much on this side of the city but never mind. Its still green and not too hot, thats ok for January.
I dont know what i have received today coz i ran the raingauge over with my little tractor the other day

Its still trizzling here and the Mount is dissappearing into the mist, it is very beautiful.