Tiawamutu

Sounds a bit wild over east

Weather's actually normal for a change here, bit cloudy at times, but quite decent

Vim Fuego

I gauge the severity by how many pages the Courier Mail devotes to the weather ... it's a 3-pager today with obligatory photo of child playing in puddle ... the UK equivalent of a bit of persistent drizzle in other words.

It must be the worst job in the world trying to fill that 'newspaper' with 'news'.

And no, I didn't buy it

Still, I counted the chickens this morning and all were accounted-for ...

loz

The doom and gloomers in the city are predicting a category 5 storm sometime today for Brisbane and immediate suburbs which probably means a slight squall Nevertheless it will probably mean train cancellations again and we thought British Rail was bad
On the up side it does mean that hubby leaves the office early and gets home on the right side of 6pm

Loz x

Vim Fuego

It's not much better on the roads, we came in via 'the backroads' (Beaudesert Road, as opposed to the M1) and it was chocka.

Still, mustn't grumble as they say ...

Pollyana

There is NO category 5 storm expected. Trust me, we'd be running a bit faster here if there was. As it is we are busy and there are damage reports, but its not even on the same page as a Cat 5.

High winds - like the last couple of days - and similar squalls of rain, right up the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, and through the city, will probably go on through today and tomorrow before abating.

SES Emergency number is 132 500 if anyone needs assistance.

moneypenny20

I did get a bit irritated by the news chick on the radio this morning. Talking about how we had and will have today "cyclone type" winds. Daughters both looked in horror and asked if they should still go to school High winds is one thing, to call them cyclone is fairly stupid in my book. We did have a funny moment though, a lorikeet was picking at food on a tray on the veranda when a hefty gust of wind picked up the tray and pushed it along the ground a few yards with the lorikeet stuck behind it

Wol

"Cyclonic" is actually a technical word and describes the direction the wind blows around a centre of pressure. "Anticyclonic" is the opposite direction.

"Cyclone" is commonly used to denote cyclonic wind of extreme proportions and equates to "hurricane" in the Atlantic or "Typhoon" in the Pacific.

Pollyana

Winds were strong enough at sea for a Cat 2 at times, and Cat 1 on some exposed bits of shore. It becomes a cyclonic wind when it hits certain speeds; thats why they've been referred to a cyclone-type winds.

annqldau

They were probably referring to the 5 cars that would crash every hour and the 5 sets of traffic lights an hour that would go out.

Pollyana

Didn't have time to look this one up earlier, but here you go -

CATEGORY 1
Negligible house damage. Damage to some crops, trees and caravans. Craft may drag moorings.
A Category 1 cyclone's stongest winds are GALES with gusts to 125 km/h.
CATEGORY 2
Minor house damage. Significant damage to signs, trees and caravans. Heavy damage to some crops. Risk of power failure. Small craft may break moorings.
A Category 2 cyclone's strongest winds are DESTRUCTIVE winds with gusts of 125 -170 km/h.
CATEGORY 3
Some roof and structural damage. Some caravans destroyed. Power failures likely.
A Category 3 cyclone's strongest winds are VERY DESTRUCTIVE winds with gusts of 170 - 225 km/h.
CATEGORY 4
Significant roofing loss and structural damage. Many caravans destroyed and blown away. Dangerous airborne debris. Widespread power failures.
A Category 4 cyclone's strongest winds are VERY DESTRUCTIVE winds with gusts of 225 - 280 km/h.
CATEGORY 5
Extremely dangerous with widespread destruction.
A Category 5 cyclone's strongest winds are VERY DESTRUCTIVE winds with gusts of more than 280 km/h.

More info here -
http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/qld/cyclone/windstr.shtml

moneypenny20

OK I take it all back and apologise to the weather lady on the radio Thanks Poll.

Pollyana

No probs!!

Vim Fuego

No risk of power failure in a Cat 1?

Tell it to Energex ... which reminds me, we MUST get a generator ... no running water is a bugger to deal ...

moneypenny20

According to the way that was worded, there is also no risk of power failure in a Cat 5

Vim Fuego

In the event of a Cat 5 I think even our local bottle shop would close ... maybe ... there'd be trouble though ...