Tornadoes 'not uncommon in Vic'

Twisters are more common in Victoria than most people realise. I’ve seen a few over the years and some can be very destructive. Like last night's that ripped across northern parts of Victoria. The damage indicates it was an F2 tornado, packing winds up to 200 to 250km/hr.

In June 2004, a twister hit the Noble Park/Mulgrave area. There was extensive tree damage, tiles pulled off roofs, signs blown down and pergolas lifted next door. The damage assessment indicated it was an F1 tornado, with winds of 115 to 150km/h. The damage path was about 3km-long and from 50 to 200-metres wide.

In December 2003, just south of Inverleigh, 20km west of Geelong, there was severe wind damage to farm buildings and trees. A narrow damage path 30m wide and 1km long suggests a possible tornado. Damage included steel girders 150mm thick being bent, concrete blocks 1m by 450cm blown up to 10m away, and a trailer ripped from a tractor and deposited 10m away.

And on May 18, 2003, in Bendigo, a destructive F2 tornado caused major structural damage to seven houses, with 44 other houses suffering some damage, all in the California Gully region. Damage path was about 500m-wide and 7km-long, starting at northern part of Maiden Gully.

Twisters are driven by super cell thunderstorms, the most powerful storms mother nature can muster. Twisters can occur any time of year, but the big ones happen during the warmer months of the year.