Near hurricane force winds in Melbourne (recorded, storms, cities, season)

[§AB]

TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST
VICTORIAN SEVERE WEATHER WARNING
for Widespread Damaging Winds
For people in all Victorian districts.
Issued at 10:30 am EDT on Wednesday 2 April 2008

A strong cold front will reach western Victoria by midday, reaching Central
regions mid to late afternoon and the far east at night. An intense low to the
south of Adelaide will move southeastwards and deepen over the next 6-12 hours
then move rapidly southeastwards overnight.

Northerly winds will average 55 to 80 km/h over northern areas and Gippsland,
and 70 to 100 km/h over remaining southern and mountain regions. Widespread
gusts of 90 to 110 km/h are expected with localised gusts to 130km/h over
southwestern and central parts of the State, moving into West Gippsland by
afternoon. Maximum gusts around 150 km/h are likely over Alpine regions.
West to southwest wind squalls to 100km/h are likely following the front.

In the interests of community safety the SES suggests some simple precautions:
Secure any loose objects in the vicinity of your house, beware of fallen
powerlines and, if you are boating, then return to shore as soon as possible.

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As per the above warning, Melbourne is located in the Central/Southern districts.

Winds only 100m/300ft above Melbourne (Tullamarine) Airport have reached 150km/h, forcing the closure of airport.

Here's the Airport METAR
ATIS ATIS YMML OSCAR 020109 RWY: 34 +APCH: EXP VOR APCH OPR INFO: TXWY CLOSURE AS PER NOTAM +WND: 350/30-45 G55 500AGL 350/80 +VIS: 10KM RED 6KM IN DUST +WX: BLOWY DUST TMP: 23 QNH: 1001 +SIGWX: WIND SHEAR WARNING ACFT REP MOD O/SHOOT WINDSHEAR AT 500FT ON DEP RWY 34 TIME 2355


Wind gusts over 100km/h are now being observed in parts of Melbourne (at midday). Warnambool, in SW Vic, has recorded 120km/h with damage to houses. Numerous car accidents have been recorded and trucks and caravans have flipped. One construction worker has been killed by scaffolding collapsing on top of him.

Reports of a massive dust storm across western Victoria, with people in Melbourne noting rapidly reducing visibilities. They are saying Melbourne is expected to recieve heavy dust storms in the next few hours.

Despite these winds, temps are very pleasant, with the overnight min at 18ºC and current 1pm temps ranging from 22-25ºC across Melbourne.

[AnthonySA]

I know exactly what you are going through. When I went to Monterrey, Mexico a couple weeks ago we ended up having a duststorm with the same wind velocities (150km/hr). After 18 hours of wind, it got boring real fast!

[§AB]

Oh my god it is getting seriously bad out there - just had leaves slamming against my window with audible thuds.

[§AB]

latest pic of dust approaching Melbourne's western suburbs





dust storm in western Victoria:





Computer has now reset twice in the matter of seconds


Both Airports and 2 of Melbourne's major hi-rise freeway bridges have been closed

VISIBILITY DOWN TO 3m / 10 FT IN BALLARAT!!!!

Reports of blown out windows now from places in Melbourne. Winds now to 107km/h at the airport and 117km/h at coastal suburbs.

[recycled]

This is very similar to the seasonal "Santa Ana Winds" in southern California that blow very dry air from the Mojave Desert into the inland valleys and coastal plains of our metro area. The humidity during Santa Ana wind events drops into the teens or single digits, and combined with the wind makes it very uncomfortable. What is your humidity in Melborne now?

[§AB]

it's 35% which is unusually high for this type of storm-force northerly wind set-up. We can get very strong northerly winds but they are usually accompanied by humidities of 10% or less. This situation is caused by an approaching cold front and low pressure system, forcing humdities up. I never actually seen winds of this intensity in Melbourne, so this could be considered a stand-out event here.

[§AB]

Storm winds unleash chaos

By staff writers
April 02, 2008 01:50pm
Article from:
[list][*]People told to head for home as weather gets crazy[*]Two major bridges to close, hurricane warning issued[*][url="http://weather.news.com.au/index.jsp?site=news.com.au"][color=#0000ff] Moderator cut: copyrighted material removed.
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Motorcycles, high-sided vehicles and cars towing caravans have already been urged to seek alternate routes.

A Vicroads spokesman said further traffic restrictions could occur if winds reached 100km/h and the bridge could close if winds approach 120km/h.





Windy conditions may also have been a factor after a scaffolding collapse killed a building site worker in Melbourne's southeast.





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200,000 Melbourne people are now without power and at least 2 have been killed.

[§AB]

Reports of MUD raining from the sky, caused by rain falling through the layer of dust.

ALso 2 trains have been struck by lightning.

this is just 1 example of the damage done here today:

[dxiweodwo]

man, i've been thorugh that type of wind when i lived in South Florida, it's not fun.

hope everyone is allright down there. when i lived in South Florida Hurricane Wilma ripped right through, we had winds of 130 mph(210 km/h) at my house.

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by dxiweodwo

man, i've been thorugh that type of wind when i lived in South Florida, it's not fun.

hope everyone is allright down there. when i lived in South Florida Hurricane Wilma ripped right through, we had winds of 130 mph(210 km/h) at my house.

Ditto!!! I hope everything is ok there.