Weather News

Hailstorm tears through Sydney

Tristan Meyers, Sunday April 26, 2015 - 12:19 AEST

A hail storm barged through Sydney yesterday afternoon, bringing 1-2 cm sized pellets and heavy downpours.

It was a beautiful autumn day in Sydney and temperatures warmed quickly under blue skies. A top of 26 degrees was felt, four degrees above the April average.

However, ominous anvil clouds began to tower in the west around 1pm. At about 4pm, the skies began to darken and the heavens opened. Canterbury collected over 13 mm in just 10 minutes, while the city picked up around six millimetres in the same amount of time.

Temperatures plummeted in the city, dropping degrees degrees in one hour to a chilly 15 degrees.

Hail, about the size of a five cent coin, began belting the Sydney Basin. The hail lasted around 30 minutes for some areas. Pirtek Stadium has to postpone the A-League as the green was transformed in an icy field. The Anzac Day NRL match had to be halted. The Rosters and Dragons were taken off field while fans sought out shelter in the bleachers of the stadium.

A few residents around Maroubra made the best of the wild weather by constructing small snowmen, or rather "hailmen", using laundry pegs for the noses and arms.

Earlier that morning, Sydney-siders who were awake or attending the Dawn Service would have noticed a beautiful red glow emanating from the horizon as the sun began to rise. In retrospect, this was an omen of things to come; "red at night, sailors delight. Red in the morning, sailor's warning".

Although this seems like an old wives tale, there is actually some truth to this. The colour of the sky is largely based on how light scatters when the sun hits particles in the atmosphere. Usually, blue is the most dominant colour that is reflected. However, during the morning and evening, the sun is at a low angle, meaning its not above your head. When red light is reflected during the ascent or decent of the sun, it means that the atmosphere is "loaded" with moisture and dust particles - two of the ingredients required for storms.

So, if you're ever awake and looking at the sun rise - keep an eye out for the tinge of the sky. It could be a sign of weather systems moving in from the west.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2015

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