Bundaberg Storm 7/11/17

[IslandHopper]

Bundaberg got hit with a freak storm about 3 hours ago, two Cats got blown of the end berths, one was lost but managed to beach it with the help of small boats and a gang of people to pull it in, the poor owners only just bought it recently....

[Seaslug Caravan]

Any more info on the damage to the 2 cats?

I take it the mooring lines parted and were grounded and holed?

Gusts to 50 knts.

[Paul L]

We clocked 67kts max while tied to the dock in the same marina. Impressive.

[IslandHopper]

Both tied up on the same end berths, one behind the other. The one upwind had her head sail unfurl in the blow, broke her lines and cannoned into the one in front (Felix) and breaking her lines, both landed on the end of the next line of finger berths and the aft end of a mono tied up there, with Felix sandwiched broadside in between, she ended up with a fairly big gash down her starboard side from the stern of the mono and/or the end of the finger berth.

The one with the unfurled head sail disappeared into the torrential rain but managed to anchor on the other side of the river with minimal damage, Felix managed to get her engines going and moved away from the mono but started foundering as soon as she got clear, the owner managed to drop the anchor to stop them drifting out of control while help arrived, the stern of the mono suffered significant damage.

It was a pretty wild storm...

Category: | The Courier Mail

[theway]

Here's a video I took shortly before the wind and rain started. The wild cloud formations seemed to indicate a very unstable situation.

https://youtu.be/5Jjvitk8eRo

Definitely one of the strongest storms I've seen.

[Tetepare]

Thunderstorm?

I wonder if the two cats were hit by a massive downdraft. We have those in our area, the damage is typically very localized (e.g., a couple boat area) but severe.

[a64pilot]

In 1989 Ft Hood Tx was hit by a meso scale microburst with winds to 95 mph and it did 600 million dollars of damage mostly to Apache and Chinook helicopters.
The sky looked a lot like the photo posted here, it looked like a science fiction movie, then it hit.
http://articles.latimes.com/1989-05-...rs-john-chapla

[IslandHopper]

Damage is to wide spread across the region for a microburst, these where sustained winds over a very wide area..

Bundaberg storm leaves thousands without power, Ergon calls in reinforcements - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[clownfishsydney]

Terrible to hear. We had a thunderstorm hit us a few weeks ago in Coffs Harbour, over 48 knot winds, luckily it only lasted a few minutes. Quite a few boats lost through sails going up or unfurling, shows the need to make sure they are properly secured at all times.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

Damage is to wide spread across the region for a microburst, these where sustained winds over a very wide area..



Bundaberg storm leaves thousands without power, Ergon calls in reinforcements - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Read here about meso convective systems and or a derecho

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/s...rstorms/types/

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Read here about meso convective systems and or a derecho

Severe Weather 101: Thunderstorm Types

Thanks for that, studied the same when going for my Masters.

As it states this was more like the straight line (derecho) wind with reports of high wind damage over 200 kilometres away from Bundaberg, although the Bundaberg region seems to have borne the brunt of the storm.

[deandavis1]

Here's a video of the storm from anchor as she passed.

http://www.facebook.com/findingdino/...9634011615038/

[Heg]

Originally Posted by deandavis1

Here's a video of the storm from anchor as she passed.

http://www.facebook.com/findingdino/...9634011615038/

Good God , that is raging.. Were you at anchor or tied to the dock?

[deandavis1]

Originally Posted by Heg

Good God , that is raging.. Were you at anchor or tied to the dock?

At anchor with 50m down at the towns reach. All the boats came out ok. I think we were very lucky that it was top of the tide. If it had have been a lower tide with wind against current it probably would have been a different story.

[double u]

...one can't be too careful with a boatname...