Uk Supercell 15Th July 2007 , Kent

[Neilsouth]

I finally found the footage of the supercell thunderstorm , just off the coast of south east england.

15th july 2007 , Kent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGnADxDO5PI

Oh and before anyone says it's not a supercell . It had the characteristics of one and the net weather forecasters at the time said it was , plus i've not witnessed such storm height or power since!

News from the day after , plus my storm photo appeared on it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLzzcNY56AY

[maidstone weather]

Thanks for posting these Neil. I agree it wasn't an ordinary UK storm, especially to produce hail of that size and quantity, and also the waterspout-turn-tornado near Rye. From here I remember that evening very well.

I was in the garden that evening, around 8pm and could see a fantastic anvil structure to my southeast, and from it some distant rumbling. It passed from the southeast to the northeast over a 2-hour period, and emitted lightning of a frequency I had never experienced before. Constant flashing, there was barely a second without a flash of lightning. Most was intercloud (or hidden from my location) but there were numerous CG's that flashed out, and all of it was orange, not the standard white lightning I have seen in UK storms. It was great to watch

[Neilsouth]

If i remember rightly didn't it form on the tail end of a trough/front?. I remember it exploded into life very quickly

[dave48]

Hey, what was the exact time that this video was taken?

Awesome video too, posted a few times on the occurence of supercells in and around the UK, made a thread on it a while back, very interesting indeed, thanks for posting this.

[maidstone weather]

Nice Vid! So are there any facts such as storm height? Does MetO hold a record of this storm, since it was apparently a Supercell. No denying that those hailstones were indeed huge but is it possible that it may have been instead a strong thunderstorm and not a Supercell? If anyone has any proof that this storm was rotating then of course, it was a supercell but for now, I'm not convinced.

well parts of the storm were rotating because it formed a tornado!

Edit: thread here: http://www.netweather.tv/forum/topic/39311-confirmed-tornado-e-sussex-15-07-07/page__st__17

Edited July 26, 2009 by maidstone weather

[Neilsouth]

Nice Vid! So are there any facts such as storm height? Does MetO hold a record of this storm, since it was apparently a Supercell. No denying that those hailstones were indeed huge but is it possible that it may have been instead a strong thunderstorm and not a Supercell? If anyone has any proof that this storm was rotating then of course, it was a supercell but for now, I'm not convinced.

If i remember rightly , you wasn't convinced we were having thunderstorms few weeks back. Not until the first strike appeared , even though people said way before hand

The forecasters on net-weather said it was a supercell , that's what convinced me!

well parts of the storm were rotating because it formed a tornado!

Edit: thread here: http://www.netweather.tv/forum/topic/39311-confirmed-tornado-e-sussex-15-07-07/page__st__17

Oh brilliant , we got a linkage thanks MW

Some things becoming clearer from this event from Last Night. Torro investigations ongoing but there is the possibility that this could have been a Long Track (For Uk Standards) possibly rain wrapped Tornado. Damage near to Winchelsea with trees uprooted and sightings just South of Canterbury before the Storm/Supercell weakened as it headed towards the North Kent Coast and out into the North Sea.

Anyone know the distance from Winchelsea to just South of Canterbury??

Paul Sherman

There you go

[Guest North Sea Snow Convection]

It was definitely a supercell. I saw it approach and was then under it!

Never seen a storm like it in my life. Bit like a sci-fi movie. The high based lightning you see in the first video was like no other leading up to the storm. A good enough video, but it doesn't do it justice at all.

I was with my family finishing eating dinner in the garden as the storm approached from 8pm. The lightning spidered and strobed away on the top surface of the approaching storm cloud and there was continuous crackling peals of thunder, it was unending on one note, almost echoey. The cloud had fast moving lower striations as it came close, and the cumulus top and darker lower layers just below the anvil, where the lightning was coming out. was curved, rounded - sort of spinning top shaped and the light started to go out to literally pitch black to the south as the ink black base was a mile or two away - all happened within a couple of minutes. It looked (at least) like that storm on the chase this year when the guys are in the car and drive so quickly into blackness and Dogs I think it is freaking out! lol! Unreal, toatally spooky and eerie. Then this surging greenish shelf cloud raced in really fast and there was a din of noise approaching like a waterfall with a roar that just got louder like someone very slowly but steadily turning up the volume on a CD player. Didn't think twice - just raced indoors and slammed the doors shut. Just remember thinking omg - this is one of those US storms and I honestly thought a tornado was about to strike. We all ducked low on the living room floor as the storm struck the house and above the crash of the thunder and dazzling lightning there was this huge crunch as the patio pergola slammed against the side of the house. The sycamore trees in the garden were bent double and were flaying around in the blackness and there was this huge clattering noise above the din then as big hail struck. Waited for the windows to cave in - the roof to come off. Totally terrifying if I am honest- no exaggeration.

I have actually become wary of storms since that one, and although watching a storm like that on a chase or something would still be exciting I don't want a repeat at home. Never know what might happen on another occasion. Have seen some big storms over the years, but this one was exceptional and pretty rare. For uk Really do believe I was lucky to come out of it with just a damaged garden and one broken window, Just two miles to my east in Fairlight saw the very worst, I drove over the following day to see for myself, some houses had smashed windows and there were damaged roofs on some properties and lots of branches, debris etc still on the pavements and a large tree across a roundabout in the middle of the village. There was even still patches of ice in the shade from the hail in one or two places. Was a very nasty storm - at least by Uk standards. Although there probably have been even worse of course in the past. But for me, it has put every storm before and since into quite a perspective. The downpours of 7th July this year which flooded parts of my old area (have moved since) were not a patch on the violence of that storm - even if a lot more rainfall fell over the three hour period (90mm) on that occasion as opposed to the 20 minutes or so of that incredible storm.

Funny, because I remember having kittens right after the strom that evening and giving long babbling descriptions of the storm on NW. I drunk nearly two bottles of Cava after the storm lol! - but describing it two years later again now still sends a shiver down the spine like its only just happened!

[Neilsouth]

^ another brilliant write up!

Anyone got any further video's or photo's ?

[anvilhead]

well atleast something decent came out of that wretchid summer then! I left my ex in april 2007 and its rained avery bloody day since - good write up .. .would be interesting to see any archived charts for that day - the criteria for a supercell doesnt really capture an event like this to me - although from the above it sounds like it was one, although any single cell storm thats self sustaining as far as im aware is a supercell which will include low topped low cape winter storms. I propose something like a 'mofocell' which is a supercell and is also on a par with big juicy high cape storms seen in the us and continental areas, as this one was...

[Azores Hi]

^ another brilliant write up!

Anyone got any further video's or photo's ?

I started a thread on this with some some footage of the huge anvil. I will try and dig it out later.

Edit- Here it is

Clicky

Edited July 27, 2009 by Azores Hi

[SteveB]

I love thunder storms, but now I have my own house, I would'nt like to be under a storm of that intensity. The damage it could cause is just not worth it.

[MR CB]

I would have to agree with Neil - this defintely had supercell characteristics. Thanks for posting the footage Neil.

There was more TV footage from South East Today taken after the storm which did show it behind some houses - a large white wall cloud with very dark base moving off (just like the bottom of a supercell)

As some of you may know I watched this storm on Eastbourne seafront that very day as it developed and moved up the Channel - I had seen this lone and well defined fibrous anvil popping up from the W/SW and decided to watch this one.

I have taken many photos - the anvil was extraordinary...it spread across the whole sky and just kept larger. I have posted these before but its probably a pain to search and I suppose some newbies might like it.

INCOMING ANVIL - as seen looking towards Eastbourne Bandstand

OVERHEAD ANVIL - this was crawling right overhead...had to really look up and crane my neck for this shot

STORM DESCENDS - still staying out to sea but plenty of rain!

FORMING GUST FRONT? - this darker area rushed along the sea and I'm pretty sure this area was responsible for the action in Hastings and Fairlight (not a good photo)

STORM OVER HASTINGS - my avatar...this produced once of the most interesting after storm sky for quite sometime...had strange cloud formations and varied colours

STORM CLEARS & STRANGE CLOUD - once the storm had moved through a strange little cloud moved in very quickly over the cliffs (moisture?)...I have video of this (see attachment) and the wind was quite strong!

MOV00170.3GP

[Neilsouth]

I started a thread on this with some some footage of the huge anvil. I will try and dig it out later.

Edit- Here it is

Clicky

Azores Hi - Video

http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh106/azoreshi/?action=view&current=100_0275.flv

Awesome , thanks for sharing

MR CB , thanks for sharing those shots

Edited July 27, 2009 by neilsouth

[Harry]

Nice storm video - have to admit though, I have seen storms more electrical than that in the this country.

I do remember driving to get a better view of this storm - greenish skies, some greater spider lightning too, though not overly frequent.

Have to admit when I was watching this, it seemed more like an MCS than Supercell - maybe it was just the angle I was viewing it from.

[maidstone weather]

Thanks for finding that thread Azores Hi

I remembered I posted a few photos in that thread from when the storm was in it's 'last leg', I imagine it was dying by this stage (9-10pm).

Here's some shots from what I could see to my E/NE.

Anvil:

Video: http://s296.photobuc...=15july2007.flv

I apologise, photobucket has made it completely black (instead of different shades of grey) so all you can see is the streetlamps and the flashes of lightning. The video is shy of 4 minutes long. Although admittedly not the most interesting of storms, it was strange to watch it from such a distance with no sound either.

Edited July 27, 2009 by maidstone weather

[Guest North Sea Snow Convection]

Nice storm video - have to admit though, I have seen storms more electrical than that in the this country.

I do remember driving to get a better view of this storm - greenish skies, some greater spider lightning too, though not overly frequent.

Have to admit when I was watching this, it seemed more like an MCS than Supercell - maybe it was just the angle I was viewing it from.

As I said earlier, that video, although nice to see, didn't do the storm justice at all. Not sure where it was taken from either.

But where I lived at the time, just a couple of miles from Fairlight on the coast, the lightning and thunder were non stop! You would be hard pushed to get anything much more electrical than that storm in this country, believe me. When a storm like that passes right over you, you do just tend to notice these things!

It might well have become an MCS as it moved further inland but for about a 30 minute period it was certainly a supercell I witnessed as it split from the coast and moved the first few miles inland.

I think it was one of those storms that becomes severe on your doorstep - although thunder had been approaching and rumbling around for some time, and the cloud structure looked errie and quite special - it was only apparent that something really intense was going to happen when the shelf cloud raced in and everything went pitch black all happening within a minute or two. In the light of what happened, if I had had a crystal ball I would have grabbed a camera or something, but it happened really fast and without being able to anticipate it properly. I honestly believe that is why there is relatively little evidence of the severest part of the storm because it was a very sudden development. Read the eyewitness accounts - everyone says the same thing. Also the tornado associated with it passed over a very rural area - one of the local residents describes how there would have been so few people around on a very thundery Sunday evening like that. But there is evidence of the damage as assessed by the TORRO people. Indeed I saw trees twisted and snapped half way down when I drove around Pett and Fairlight the following day when the clear up was happening.

By the time most people on the forum were observing it, the strongest stage of the storm had already passed. A lot of the footage we see here is just after the strongest phase of the storm imo, which did not last very long.

Edited July 27, 2009 by North Sea Snow Convection

[Guest North Sea Snow Convection]

Not sure it is worth starting an argument now about this storm that happened two years ago - especially in the light of all the coverage that is available from the links provided and by the accounts that some of us have given.

Why don't you try reading properly some of those links as well as the link to the thread provided the day after the storm itself? The quote you have provided was Paul S in response to neilsouth who lives downstream of where the strongest part of the storm occured - it had evolved into an MCS as it crossed mainland Kent. But please don't claim exaggerated accounts from within the area that the storm DID have supercelluar characteristics - when it hit the coast at Hastings, Fairlight and then Rye and as it moved inland for a few miles. Trust me - I lived in the area at the time and would ahve better things to do than profess bogus claims. Especially two years later.

Better to read about it properly, if you are really that interested, than contest observations with people - especially those who lived closed by, and, in some cases, were affected by the storm.

I'm hardly inclined to start questioning a storm that happens in the Midlands, for eg, when I live 150 miles away! No-one is suggesting that this is the strongest storm ever to hit the country - it would be classified as nothing out of the ordinary at all in the mid west US states (relatively weak by their standards) but it was a Supercell storm, however briefly, and that was a noteworthy summer storm for this country. Just read, accept that, and then move on eh?

They do happen in the Uk occasionally afterall.

[Azores Hi]

The fact that this is now the third thread about this storm, and that 2 years after the event many of those people who witnessed first hand the fury of this storm, can still remember the date and time, makes this storm stand out head and shoulders above a typical storm in the UK.

It did indeed turn into an MCS when it travelled north of Canterbury, but from my view as it approached Ashford from Rye/hastings. It was clearly super cellular with the updraft fully tilted and well seperated from the downdraft.

[sunnijim]

Heres a small piece of footage from the day. Bexhill is about 7 miles West of Fairlight.

The storm was gathering strength as it crossed the channel at this stage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7SIiFQFaU0

For what its worth, i mentioned at the time my mother lives in Fairlight, and the tornado swept over her house. She told me of every window in the house being sucked open, and various parts of trees/bushes being chucked through the window.

The weather boarding on the house was heavily pot marked by the hail, various trees were felled, or had limbs twisted off, and there was much damage to property in the village.

The landlord of the Smugglers Inn at Pett leval (2 miles East of Fairlight) retrieved a golf ball sized hail stone, full of shingle from the nearby beach!

Edited July 27, 2009 by sunnijim

[Guest North Sea Snow Convection]

Heres a small piece of footage from the day. Bexhill is about 7 miles West of Fairlight.

The storm was gathering strength as it crossed the channel at this stage.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=v7SIiFQFaU0

For what its worth, i mentioned at the time my mother lives in Fairlight, and the tornado swept over her house. She told me of every window in the house being sucked open, and various parts of trees/bushes being chucked through the window.

The weather boarding on the house was heavily pot marked by the hail, various trees were felled, or had limbs twisted off, and there was much damage to property in the village.

The landlord of the Smugglers Inn at Pett leval (2 miles East of Fairlight) retrieved a golf ball sized hail stone, full of shingle from the nearby beach!

Thanks for that footage - pretty much proves the point I think!

Part II would be interesting to see!

Edit - found Pt II on a search. It shows that the main part of the storm had moved to the east of where that footage is shot. I lived about five miles further east of that spot at the time. As sunni says - Fairlight got really hit hard.

Edited July 27, 2009 by North Sea Snow Convection

[Harry]

Heres a small piece of footage from the day. Bexhill is about 7 miles West of Fairlight.

The storm was gathering strength as it crossed the channel at this stage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7SIiFQFaU0

For what its worth, i mentioned at the time my mother lives in Fairlight, and the tornado swept over her house. She told me of every window in the house being sucked open, and various parts of trees/bushes being chucked through the window.

The weather boarding on the house was heavily pot marked by the hail, various trees were felled, or had limbs twisted off, and there was much damage to property in the village.

The landlord of the Smugglers Inn at Pett leval (2 miles East of Fairlight) retrieved a golf ball sized hail stone, full of shingle from the nearby beach!

I am not sure why this is such a big issue and takes up valuable site space... I am going to throw my pennys worth into it because I find reading all of this depressing and rather boring, ruining for me what was a spectacular event!

As it approached the coastline, it was a relatively weak and disorganised supercell...what defines a supercell is the presence of a rotating updraught or mesocyclone (to my knowledge anyway). There are of course other factors to consider, as a lot of storms/showers particularly on days of strong shear, can bear this feature, albeit in a weaker and often more brief form. Once it loses the mesocyclone, or breaks up into multi cell system, it becomes an MCS! Many of the strong MCS' we get from France begin life as a supercell before merging with other cells into an MCS, so it is hardly surprising that this one was, or displayed, characteristics of such a phenomenon.

Experienced chaser Paul S chased this specific storm, and considering he has seen possibly more supercells than anyone else who uses this forum, IMO is quite qualified to say what it was and wasn't! To me, if he says that it was a supercell as it hit land, then it was just that - the videos I have seen so far have not shown a great enough view (specifically with defined cloud features) to suggest exclusively either way.

Looking at radars for evidence is useless IMO - what are we looking for on a radar exactly, a hook echo? Outflow boundary? Cloud tops of 60,000ft? For what it's worth, there was an interesting piece of storm porn last night at the BBQ - a storm in Oklahoma developed, and on radar it looked like an ordinary storm cell. On the ground however, it developed a mesocyclone, dropped large hail and produced (several??) tornadoes, some of which were multi-vortex! Hence, looking at the radar to determine what it was or wasn't, is not always helpful....

The video above rather disappointingly only captures a very brief period of the storm, and only half of the actual storm. The section of clip we are shown shows an active anvil, shooting out quite nice spider lightning/anvil crawlers, showing a pretty vigorous gust front (maybe even a meso - hard to tell from that video)and evidence of either inflow/outflow (hard to tell). The activity within the anvil indicates the storm was pretty vigorous, pretty sizeable, and had some rather large hail aloft (well, you would assume this as that is how the anvil would become so charged). Neilsouth's video IMO is a bit less conclusive - seeing only a tiny portion of the cloud says to me, yes nice storm, but MCS/Supercell...who knows. MW's video, is inconclusive also IMO - though it does provide better footage IMO of the intense lightning activity that the storm contained!

Based on the limited video evidence, and the account of Paul S, this was pretty conclusively a weak supercell, which quickly transformed into an MCS! From my viewpoint (30-40 miles in land and way to the W), albeit in the fading light, it looked like any normal potent MCS import!

For the people who want to discredit the 'UK bagged a supercell' headline, or more specifically, 'SE bags all the glory again' headline, the evidence suggests the SE DID get a supercell...even if it didn't move overland as one, if it is in UK waters, then by definition it is UK weather. If it did but didn't last long as one, then the UK still bagged a 5 minute supercell....

I just don't get WHY this causes so much debate (or even argument)...

To summarise, it was a wicked storm!

[Guest North Sea Snow Convection]

I am not sure why this is such a big issue and takes up valuable site space... I am going to throw my pennys worth into it

I just don't get WHY this causes so much debate (or even argument)...

But you went ahead anyway..

30/ 40 miles away you don't know, so not worth trying to analyse it. One thing I will agree with you on is that virtually all the footage is away from the Fairlight/Hastings/Rye area itself. But just stick with the local accounts and trust those. The Bexhill footage clearly shows the main area moving off camera (to the east) early on Pt II if one wants to bother to find it and look at it

No, it wasn't a Greensburg event (thank goodness)but neither was it one of those ordinary thundery showers that you like to wait days for and then post about on the convective threads either....

[gpspete]

After reading peoples descriptions of what they observed and looking up the criteria for a supercell, a good place to start is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercell the Kent Storm certainly fits the criteria to my mind.

As a note most people and websites on supercells say that the Supercell Thunderstorm was first described in 1962 by a meteorlogical student in Wokingham England

[Neilsouth]

Heres a small piece of footage from the day. Bexhill is about 7 miles West of Fairlight.

The storm was gathering strength as it crossed the channel at this stage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7SIiFQFaU0

Wow! , that structure !.... Even proves to me more so that it was a supercell , no it was not a supercell over my house but i never said that. Weather09 , hopefully you will get a great thunderstorm because it seems you need one

[CardiffStorm]

Great videos and photos coming out of this storm. Can I just say that it is quite annoying when you have witnessed something and tried your hardest to get some video/photos of the event and then people who did not witness it start shooting you down. I do also agree that its also bad when people exaggerate what they've seen and I think people should always remember that during storms etc the adrenaline can start to make things seem bigger/better than they actually are.