Weather News

Severe storms batter northern Australia

Bob Neil, Sunday January 13, 2019 - 13:23 AEDT

Late last night, northern Australia felt the impact of a large low pressure system as heavy rain, strong wind gusts and thousands of lightning strikes hit the region.

An intense low pressure system has been residing in northern Australia's tropics for some time now, bringing almost daily storms; typical for the wet season. However, last night's thunderstorms were particularly energetic.

Over 275,000 lightning strikes were recorded from the single cell over the Kimberly, with 9.2mm of rain falling in 10 minutes in Truscott and a wind gust of 89 km/h measured at Wyndham.

In the Northern Territory, 7mm of rain fell in 10 minutes at Lajamanu Airport just after midnight and Darwin recorded a wind gust of 89km/h.

Parts of Queensland did not manage to escape the severe weather either, with Normanton Airport receiving a deluge of 18.8mm in 10 minutes.

Looking ahead, thunderstorms should continue to affect most parts of northern Australia today and as the wet season continues, however, severe thunderstorms such as this are a rare occurrence. To stay up to date with severe weather warnings visit weatherzone.com.au.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2019

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