Wild weather: Tornado rips through home near Bathurst
Kathy Jones was driving home from hospital with her daughter when black clouds swirled above and a tornado ripped through their home.
NSW
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A fully formed tornado ripped down powerlines and damaged houses after tearing through the state’s central west on Thursday afternoon.
The incredibly rare weather event shocked residents in the rural area of Peel, north-west of Bathurst, as it formed from the dark clouds overhead during an afternoon thunderstorm.
Photos and videos taken by shocked local residents captured the tornado as it descended from the skies, before picking up size and pace - and leaving a path of destruction in its wake.
The tornado clawed through at least one home, ripping off its roof, throwing a trampoline 60ft into the air, uprooting trees and smashing windows.
Kathy Jones said she was driving back to her Peel home after taking her daughter to the hospital when they watched black clouds swirl around ahead of them.
Sitting in their car the family watched on as the tornado struck their home.
“It took the house, the roof, it took everything,” she said with tears under her dark sunglasses.
“The trampoline was seen flying down into the neighbour’s paddock, it is up a tree probably 60ft high.
“Everything was just swirling around, the house there’s just not much left … yeah a tornado.”
Mrs Jones said nobody was hurt because they were all in the car at the time.
“You always think you can go and hide under a bed but there is glass all under them,” she said.
“We have a woodfire and the chimney is just torn out of it there is smoke in the house.”
Mrs Jones said after the tornado moved on they were hit by hail.
“We put tarps on the roof when we had the hailstorm afterwards,” she said.
“The next-door neighbours have shown up, supported us and given us somewhere to stay.
“We will survive.”
The Bureau of Meteorology said the tornado hit near Clear Creek, north-west of Bathurst, and had caused damage along a 30 kilometre stretch in the area.
BoM senior climatologist Agata Imielska said tornadoes such as this are caused by strong storm cells, which become more common in the warmer months.
She said while big tornadoes are more commonly associated with the United States, on rare occasions they do happen in Australia.
“Tornadoes aren’t particularly common, but we’re heading into the start of the severe weather season and we start to get more thunderstorms during this warm part of the year,” she said.
“In extreme cases we can get those really severe thunderstorms, but tornadoes are one of the more extreme weather events we see.
“They’re not completely unusual, but there is the case in Australia that some happen where no one lives - and unless we get visual confirmation or a damage assessment, we don’t always know when a tornado has occurred.”
One of the most recent significant tornadoes to occur was in Kurnell during a wild storm in December 2015.
The tornado, combined with severe winds of up to 213km/h, led to around 25 homes being destroyed.
Despite wild weather lashing several parts of the state this week, the bureau is forecasting conditions should clear up over the weekend.
There is still a risk of showers and thunderstorms for Friday, but that is expected to be the tail end of the current weather activity.
Conditions should clear up on Saturday, with a few showers in the east and south of NSW, but mostly sunny conditions in the north of the state.
A few showers may persist on Sunday for the bottom half of the state, while in the north it should be warm and dry.
A storm swept through parts of Sydney on Thursday afternoon, with reports of golf ball-sized hail, heavy rain and thunder in the city’s north west.
Hailstones pelted down in Castle Hill, Box Hill and Pennant Hills, with residents posting images of their lawns blanketed in hail.
As at 9.20pm, a severe weather warning for giant hail and damaging winds was in place for residents of the Central Tablelands, South West Slopes and parts of Mid North Coast, Hunter, Southern Tablelands, North West Slopes and Plains, Central West Slopes and Plains, Riverina and Northern Tablelands Forecast Districts.
The State Emergency Services is urging people to stay vigilant and secure loose items around the house and balcony and place their cars under cover amid the storm threat.
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