Weather News

Wild storms lashed central NSW

Rob Sharpe, Saturday October 22, 2016 - 14:54 AEDT

Destructive winds unleashed significant damage in Parkes on Friday evening, possibly due to a tornado.

On Friday afternoon a series of thunderstorms spread across northern and central New South Wales, with a few severe supercells forming near the middle of the state.

Parkes was the worst hit, with the grandstand of the racetrack getting torn and twisted as several large trees crashed to the ground. The town also experienced plenty of large hail ranging 2-3cm diameter.

The radar data provides evidence that it was a supercell thunderstorm that affected the area, with reports of a tornado. Regardless of whether there was a tornado or not, it seems likely that wind gusts would have exceeded 120km/h.

The worst of the weather clearly missed the nearby airport, which merely saw 10mm of rain and wind gusts reach a relatively pedestrian 57km/h.

Other storms in the area were also severe, with Young experiencing hail ranging between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball.

These storms weakened later in the evening and no further wild storms are expected in New South Wales until at least mid next week.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2016

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