But seriously, Good luck to all those in FNQ.
As a former Cairns resident i feel for you guys.
Hope no one gets hurt!
TC Yasi is no laughing matter .(Ps i m not having a dig at the original poster) For anyone who experienced the pasha bulker storm Yasi has wind s tht are triple the pasha storm .Wind power actually doubles for the corresponding velocity increase so in other words it will be 6 times more powerful and the Pasha storm was frightening (I speak from experience the eye went right over the top of my house).I really fear for Nth QLD.All the best
Another measure:
TC Yasi wind near centre is ~300 km/h (might have been reforecast down now) which is close the the terminal velocity of a human (ie skydiving head-down).
just saw the forecast charts for Townsville, holy sh!t, thoughts are with you from everyone on the 'usually windy side".
To put it in perspective, winds at 300 kph = 162 knots
we went out on 4m kite in up to 60knts today in townsville. was pretty full on with big squall bullets coming through
we went out on 4m kite in up to 60knts today in pallarenda/ townsville. was pretty full on with big squall bullets coming through.
here is a little vid. most footage was taken when wind was side/offshore and low tide.
Wow, you guys are truly mad! The real danger can come from a micro burst where the average wind can increase by 40-50% in a period of 10-20 seconds.
Here is the current TSV TAF from about 2230 local. I'm really glad that you got away with it, but having been on the receiving end of a micro burst in a machine a lot heavier than a kite, I can only watch in awe at the power of a serious storm. You have probably seen that video of a guy in Florida trying to land his kite, when he gets hit by a microburst, lofted and flies over a road and hits a building!
TOWNSVILLE (YBTL)
TAF AMD YBTL 021102Z 0212/0312
11045G75KT 3000 RAIN SCT010 BKN016
FM021300 08075G90KT 3000 RAIN SCT008 BKN014
FM022000 05045G65KT 3000 RAIN SCT008 BKN014
FM030600 03030G50KT 5000 RAIN SCT010 BKN016
TEMPO 0212/0312 3000 SHOWERS OF RAIN BKN012
PROB30 TEMPO 0212/0308 1000 HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WITH RAIN BKN008
SCT020CB
RMK FM021200 SEV TURB BLW 5000FT TILL030800
FM030800 MOD/SEV TURB BLW 5000FT TILL031200
T 25 26 26 28 Q 997 995 997 1002
SPECI YBTL 021230Z AUTO 12039G56KT //// // ////// 25/25 Q0995
RMK RF04.6/047.2
Here is the current CNS TAF.
CAIRNS (YBCS)
TAF AMD YBCS 021224Z 0212/0312
28030G50KT 3000 RAIN OVC010
FM021400 35075G90KT 3000 RAIN OVC010
FM030000 36040G60KT 6000 RAIN BKN015
FM030600 02020G30KT 8000 RAIN SCT015 BKN020
TEMPO 0212/0312 3000 SHOWERS OF RAIN BKN012
PROB30 TEMPO 0212/0306 0500 HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WITH RAIN BKN005
SCT015CB
PROB30 TEMPO 0306/0312 1000 THUNDERSTORMS WITH RAIN BKN010 FEW020CB
RMK FM021200 SEV TURB BLW 5000FT TILL030600
FM030600 MOD/SEV TURB BLW 5000FT
T 29 25 25 26 Q 985 984 990 999
SPECI YBCS 021231Z AUTO 26016G30KT //// // ////// 27/21 Q0983
RMK RF00.0/015.0
Some pics from inside the eye, which is just south of Cairns. (file pics)
HA, some stuff in this thread! Cool pics of the inside of the eye (will have to google cyclone eye pictures), plus a vomitus looking sea in the first pics, and whats the go with the last 30 sec of the vid soundtrack... LOL.
All the best for you FNQ guys in the aftermath, I hope somehow, somehow, there will be no tragic news...
Just saw a kiter on the abc midday news!
was on a 12m blue black switch blade at mackay
he was called brave .
hmmmm... the media.... "brave".... morons!
Grant Denya this morning was the picture perfect asshole too.... sniggering at the houses that were torn in half.
My nephew and his wife and baby daughter live on the beach front in Mission Beach. They left town early in the day and drove south. They are OK, but just found this news article, which doesn't bode well for their house.
THE scene at Cyclone Yasi's ground zero is one of devastation, but even police who bunkered down at Mission Beach don't know just how bad it is.
"It was very quiet, eerie, we could see the stars, it was clear, just amazing," Ken Byce, hunkered down with his family in Mission Beach, waited for an hour while the eye of Cyclone Yasi passed over Mission Beach.
After experiencing hours of winds above 250km/h, the night suddenly turned quiet and serene at around midnight, Mr Byce said.
"Then it came back from the north. It had been blowing from the east and the south all through the first part, then she turned around and came from the north, that's what wiped out and flattened a few of the weaker houses."
Mr Byce was returning by foot to his own home at Mission Beach as he spoke to reporters.
"I'm picking my way along the main road, along Mission Beach, back to my place.
.
"It's covered in litter and there'll be lots of cleaning up to do, chain-sawing, for several weeks, I'd say.
"It's wild and woolly here. It's still blowing a gale, it's raining."
A veteran of Cyclone Larry which ravaged the area in 2006, Mr Byce said Cyclone Yasi was a worse experience.
"It's a mess, mate," he said.
"I just walked past a banana farm, everything's flattened on that.
"All the trees around are stripped bare, what ones are still standing.
"There's heaps of houses gone. I just walked past a house - well, there's nothing left of it.
"Every house is damaged."
Police who endured Yasi's fury in the town that took a direct hit say trees had been reduced to sticks, streets were littered with debris, and some buildings had been damaged.
But conditions are still too dangerous in the wake of the category five monster to allow even a cursory assessment of the damage.
''Around 10pm (AEST) there was this massive roar and we could hear vegetation being shredded to pieces,'' officer in charge Sergeant Dan Gallagher told AAP about 6am (AEST).
But he said the police station had protected all the officers and a handful of locals who also sought refuge there, including a couple and their 18-month-old baby girl.
''We've been in lockdown since 7pm (on Wednesday). It's still roaring out there but nothing what it was like last night,'' he said.
''The station is pretty solid and its held up really well.
''I have never been through anything as severe as this but we were all positive and supportive and got each other through this.
''We're happy. We all have a smile on our faces and can say 'we got through this'.''
When the eye of the cyclone passed over Mission Beach, bringing almost an hour's reprieve from its winds, put at up to 290km/h, the officers did a quick scout of the station grounds.
''Vegetation has been reduced to sticks. A lot of trees are down and one police house was damaged,'' Sgt Gallagher said.
''But we haven't been able to go further. It's too dangerous.
''Powerlines are down but I'm expecting extensive damage.''
In total the station provided a safe haven for the seven officers, a paramedic, seven adults, 10 children, 10 dogs, a bird and two fish.
The children seemed to relish in what they saw as an unusual slumber party, playing games of cricket and eating loads of food.
''It's still very windy out there but as soon as it's safe to do so we will be on the streets assessing the damage,'' Sgt Gallagher, 39, said.
He said there'd been no reports of local fatalities or injuries.
A further 70 locals spent the night at Elandra Resort which has been built to withstand cyclones.
Resort general manager David Brook said the area now looked like ''Vietnam (in the war movie) Apocalypse Now''.
Trees are down, cars have been swept away, roofs have been torn away and the sand on the beach has disappeared, Mr Brook said.
''Nothing's been spared,'' he told ABC Radio.
''The devastation is phenomenal, like nothing I've ever experienced,'' he said, noting that he's seen at least five cyclones hit the area over the past 20 years.
It was two harrowing hours El-Arish resident Paul Osborne will never forget.
Debris thrown up by Cyclone Yasi hammered his north Queensland home overnight, sending vibrations through his brick walls as the storm unleashed its fury on the tiny town.
Mr Osborne lives just 15km from Yasi's ground zero at Mission Beach, which took a direct hit from the monster cyclone when it crossed land as a category five about midnight.
He says the winds are the most extreme he's ever experienced.
"It was just full on spray, you couldn't tell in what direction the wind was coming from," he said.
He said trees were going down everywhere and branches were cleanly ripped off by gusts the bureau has put as high as 290km/h.
"It was unbelievable, trees were coming down and hitting the roof, there was this incredible noise," he said.
"You could feel it vibrating through the block walk."
The full force of the wind is dying down and Mr Osborne said he'd poked his head out of the window to survey the damage.
He believes his home has structural damage, but the most obvious sign was the number of trees that had been flattened or broken.
"Debris is everywhere in the yard," he said.
U R Totally smacked - kiting in that - Just love it.. Human variety is truly amazing - kite went well.
That boat park picture [}:)] - the twin hull with the inflatable on the deck - what glue are they using to keep that in place??? - I want some for wake skate I am making - almost finished.
Hope Ur forecast improves rapidly. Hopefully a bit quieter for sleeping tonite!!
Also,
What I am wondering is what's to stop another TC forming tomorrow? Did Yasi cool the sea surface to generate all that power? - If so does this put the dampners on another one forming immediately??
Cheers
AP