Riders on the Storm – The art of chasing Gippsland’s weather

Riders On The Storm

The Art Of Chasing Gippsland’s Weather

Words by Anita Butterworth | Photos supplied by Gippsland Storm Chasers

You’d be forgiven for thinking that following Gippsland’s weather would be a pretty niche pastime. But tell that to the 12,000 enthusiasts who are part of the wider Gippsland storm chasing community.

Weather enthusiast Robert Bonfield has been steering Gippsland Storm Chasers for the past five years – a group dedicated to following, documenting and discussing the region’s weather.

“It’s a very inclusive and community-focused weather group that likes to have a lot of fun,” he explains.

Gippsland Storm Chasers was created in 2011 by Troy Longson and Margaret Forrester, who channelled their love for the weather into a Facebook group. It’s now run by a core group of weather devotees who keep the thousands of group members up to date on Gippsland’s weather happenings. And, of course, they chase storms. “It’s the power. It’s … it’s nature at its angriest and it’s just so unpredictable, but predictable, if that makes sense. You see something that only happens once. Every lightning strike is individual. It’s a once in a lifetime event and if you can catch that and share that with people and they get to witness something pretty special.”

But don’t you have to be a little, ahem, nutty to chase storms?

“Of course, we are. We have to be. Who in their right mind goes taking photos in a thunderstorm?!”

By day the Gippsland Storm Chasers team works across the region in a variety of fields from call centre operators to stay at home mums. But once the weather hits, it’s all hands-on deck to storm chase and keep the community informed.

“It takes days to plan for a chase, watching models and predicting where the storms will start and sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don’t. But when you do get it right, it’s exciting and you get to see some awesome stuff.

“We’re not professionals – we’re weather enthusiasts that have done this for quite some time. I’ve chased around Victoria to southern New South Wales for the last seven years, so we develop experience. But it’s also about being safety conscious and having a bit of common sense about what you’re doing and how you’re going to do it and what effects that will have on people around you.”

Now that winter has arrived things start to settle down thunderstorm wise, but the group is gearing up for some stellar Astronomical action from Aurora to Meteor showers and the occasional cold based thunderstorms generated by lows and frontal systems pushing up from the Antarctic. And Robert says there’ll be plenty to see this spring and early summer even though Gippsland isn’t traditionally known for its severe storm activity. “We’re coming into a normal period (climatic cycle) now. With the La Nina, it’s a wetter period, so generally we will see storms increase because there’s more moisture streaming in from the northern states, and you’ll get those interacting with lows coming in from the southwest near Adelaide, and creating that instability will generate severe storms as it moves across the state."

“In Gippsland we’re in the wrong place geographically for storms. The best place in Victoria would be along the Murray River where those warm northerly winds and warm humidity interact with the colder air pushing up from the Southwest. That’s pretty much our tornado alley, through southern NSW to southwest NSW, right through the Albury Wodonga and up to Echuca. Australia has had a fair few tornado events over the years, it’s just that in the past they weren’t very well reported, we didn’t have the likes of social media with instant communication."

The Art Of Chasing Gippsland’s Weather

“We do see quite a fair few severe storms that can produce tornados, probably about 12 to 15 per year around Australia. Last year across Mid North NSW and into Southeast Queensland there were about five or six in quick succession challenging Victoria’s “Australian Tornado Alley” claims. If conditions are perfect that severe weather’s going to happen. Anywhere even in Melbourne.”

Gippsland Storm Chasers has become synonymous for keeping locals up to date during weather events, usually going live to report from the epicentre.

“If we’re in a dangerous situation when it comes to storms, we’ll obviously put our safety first. And like to warn other people that there’s floods on the way or an east coast low that’s going to bring a lot of rainfall.

“People are very conscious around their own back yards around what happens. If we can give them a heads up on what’s coming, they can prepare better. And it’s about preparing and giving people that opportunity to take those opportunities to be ready for something. We’d prefer it didn’t happen, but we always take our advice from the BOM and the emergency services and refer our followers back to the experts at every opportunity.”

Sitting atop Robert’s weather bucket list is a trip to America to chase tornadoes, but closer to home he’s already ticked off a big-ticket weather event. “The Aurora Borealis. I caught that at Mt Tassie just up behind Traralgon. It was a beautiful night, everything was clear, and I was able to see that with the naked eye, which is rare. That was just spectacular, and I’ll never forget that.

“We don’t just chase thunderstorms, we chase all types of weather, whether it’s space weather or more traditional weather.”

For anyone keen to get into storm chasing, Robert advises researching the weather event, and putting safety first. And, of course, following Gippsland Storm Chasers for hints and tips.

“This page isn’t about me or any of our admins, it’s about our community and it’s about people’s interactions with nature and severe weather. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the 12,000 people that follow us and interact with us. We’re not a doom and gloom group, we like to have a lot of fun. We have ‘The Dome’ and we strongly believe that aliens are the cause of our weather, or sometimes lack thereof.

“We have a lot of fun with our people, because you can’t take life too seriously.”

Gippsland Storm Chasers | www.facebook.com/GippslandStormChasers | www.gippslandstormchasers.com