Hector the Convector to disappear from Darwin skies as Dry Season kicks in

The infamous daily thunderstorm known by locals as Hector the Convector is set to disappear from the Top End as the Dry Season arrives.

Hector the Convector appears every afternoon during the wet season.

The infamous daily thunderstorm known by locals as Hector the Convector is set to disappear from the Top End as the dry season arrives.

Hector appears at 3pm almost every afternoon from September to April above the Tiwi Islands, where it can dump up to 50mm of rainfall in a couple of hours.

During this wet season the Tiwi Islands recorded more than 180mm of rain.

But senior meteorologist from the Bureau of Meteorology Sally Cutter said the cloud was likely to become more infrequent from May as the wet season ends, but this was dependent on rain levels.

A dragonfly rests on a warm Darwin day. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“If you have a good dry, dry season, you probably won’t see Hector,” she said.

“If we have one of those dry seasons where you do get bursts of moisture coming through, you might see him putting in an appearance.”

The formation of a thunderstorm is dependent on three ingredients: an unstable atmosphere that causes air to rise, a humid atmosphere that generates clouds full of moisture, and a trigger.

Ms Cutter said the location of Hector created the perfect conditions for a frequent thunderstorm.

“The reason why Hector is so consistent is it’s got a very consistent trigger, and that’s the sea breezes around the Tiwi Islands converging which forces the air up,” she said.

The merging of sea breezes is aided by the pyramid shape of the Tiwi Islands, which funnels parcels of air into an eventual thunderstorm.

One of the few thunderstorms in the world to have a name, the weather phenomenon was dubbed ‘Hector’ by World War 2 pilots travelling from Darwin to Papua New Guinea, who used it as a landmark to guide their journey.