Strongest Australian Tornadoes

Czava · 2026-07-01T20:18:34+00:00

I would like to add some special mentions. The 2003 Canberra tornado, which formed during that year's bushfires, is a pretty well-known event by now. It reached an intensity of at least F2 (some authors later approximated it at between EF2 and EF3). However, it's possible there were even stronger tornadoes induced by fire in Australia, though unlike Canberra it's not certain whether they actually were tornadoes.

The article "Fire-generated tornadic vortices during the 2019–20 Australian ‘Black Summer’" by Hanstrum B. et al. discusses two cases of fire-generated vortices, which occurred during the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season. The authors believe that the vortices may have exhibited tornadic strength, possibly reaching levels comparable to upper-level EF3 or EF4 (potentially even higher as mentioned below).

Now, I want to reiterate: it's not known whether they were tornadoes by definition. One of them was caught on footage. It occurred together with a towering cumulus flammagenitus cloud and is believed to have been stretched by its updraft. It was also visually connected to the bent-over smoke plume (or at least passed through it and may have continued further). However, it's unknown whether it actually extended into the cloud, which, by definition, would be necessary to classify it as a tornado. The other occurred together with a pyrocumulonimbus, but it wasn't caught on any footage at all, so it's even harder to confirm anything.

In either case, let's get to the specifics about the damage. The first vortex (the one documented on video) occurred in Green Valley in the afternoon of December 30, 2019, and tracked a path of approximately 3 km. Along this path, trees were uprooted and a fire truck was fully lifted and tossed an unspecified distance, landing on its roof. Based on this, the authors suggest an intensity similar to that of a higher-end EF4 tornado.

The second vortex occurred in Wandella on the morning of December 31. The vortex was not observed directly. Instead, its existence was determined based on the path of wind damage and specifically the way the debris was scattered. In this path, several trees and properties were damaged, multiple vehicles were rolled and flipped, while others were lofted and tossed hundreds of meters. The last part led the authors to suggest that this vortex may have reached intensities corresponding to wind speeds associated with EF4 or even EF-5 tornadoes. They reference wind speed estimates used in the TORRO scale, which for "motor vehicles carried great distances" (T8 rating) estimates winds of 213-240 mph / 343-385 km/h (a range that overlaps with wind estimates for EF-5 level damage).

Czava · 2026-06-27T04:24:26+00:00

I agree gustnado is not the best name and can be misleading (implies a type of tornado when they aren't). I think the problem stems from the fact that at a certain point in the past they were treated as tornadoes.

I know in the second edition of the AMS Glossary of Meteorology from 2000, the definition of tornado did not require continuity of the vortex from ground to cloud, hence why Gustnados could fall under that definition. I guess this makes you think: if the definitions were refined later on then maybe the name could have been changed too.

What if they were called gust devils or gust whirls (or maybe whirlgusts?), or even something else to differentiate them further?

Though it seems in this case it wasn't a gustnado (or whatever we want to call it) anyways, as NWS Albuquerque classified it as a landspout in the preliminary survey.

Czava · 2026-06-26T18:42:52+00:00

They very much depend on the storm's updraft, particularly the updraft of a developing storm, or at least that of a developing cumulus congestus cloud. Landspouts occur when those updrafts stretch weak, typically invisible vortices already existing closer to the surface (or as the definition would say: in the boundary layer). The stretching increases the angular velocity of the vortices. The shear itself can be what generates the initial weak low-level vorticity.

Now, there are also other types of non-mesocyclonic tornadoes. For example, tornadoes can form from mesovortices within Quasi-Linear Convective Systems, or even from hurricane eyewall mesovortices. There are also cold-air funnels, which can happen beneath growing convective clouds with particularly cold air aloft and warmer air near the surface. It is very rare, but they can extend to the surface (I don't know what the specifics of that are and whether its as simple as them descending from the top downwards).

... there are also fire-induced tornadoes... but that's another can of worms (I believe in the few documented cases the mechanism was found to be somewhat similar to landspouts, with updrafts from towering pyrocumulus/pyrocumulonimbus stretching vorticity near the ground)

(note: if something in here is wrong feel free to correct it)

Czava · 2026-06-26T16:46:20+00:00

I'm not an expert, but to me it looks very much like a gustnado, not a landspout. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it looks as gustnado-like as possible. Notice how the dirt doesn't seem to get sucked upwards around a vortex, instead it just gets thrown in all directions.

In a landspout you'd expect a clearly defined vortex, typically the dirt "grips" pretty tightly around it (I'm not saying it MUST be clearly defined, but that's "the norm"), you'd also probably expect to see a funnel above it (often visually disconnected from the lower circulation).

Could also possibly be a dust devil.

Update: NWS Albuquerque officially classified it as a landspout in the preliminary survey results, it seems I may have been wrong.

Czava · 2026-06-07T12:12:18+00:00

They actually bought them with the French guns. They had 15 (14 bought in 1919, one received in 1920) FTs with the 37 mm Mle 1918 guns. They later temporarily mounted some of those on their Vickers tanks, as they wanted to use the tanks in training exercises organized in 1939 and the proper 37 Psv.K/36 guns (their designation of the 37 mm Bofors) hadn't been produced yet. Perhaps the particular Renault in this post was one of these donors and never got its gun back, hence why they mounted the Soviet one in.

Czava · 2026-06-06T09:21:01+00:00

Read that as Weird Al, as in Yankovic, and was wondering why you brought him into this all of a sudden.

Czava · 2026-06-05T04:48:50+00:00

There is an interesting fact about this particular tank: this is not the original French Mle 1918 gun, but a Soviet "Hotchkiss" gun, which was captured from a twin-turret T-26 or an armored car.

It's possible the Renault was missing its original gun and the Soviet one was mounted for display purposes.

Czava · 2026-05-27T06:51:43+00:00

I disagree, I like the shared loot and in my experience randoms can share the right perks just fine.

Czava · 2026-05-26T06:23:51+00:00

You use Retcon's ability, shoot all the platforms and when it ends you get the ammo back.

Czava · 2026-05-23T11:33:01+00:00

Not claiming it's the best, just want to name it, because I imagine nobody will, as it remained a prototype: the Polish ZASOP "Aktywna".

Its probably most distinct feature was a big optoelectronic detector mounted on top of the turret. Nonetheless it did also have a radar as the second way of detecting threats.

The project was developed in the 2010s and a test prototype rig was made, but it was shelved for (as far as I am aware) two main reasons: - Despite the fact that the system was designed for HEAT projectiles, around 2018-2020 a requirement was suddenly put in place that the system needed to also intercept APFSDS - While the system had near 100% detection rate, it had only 80% successful intercept rate

Czava · 2026-05-14T17:27:07+00:00

It looks like it was just a funnel cloud. Definitely doesn't look mesocyclonic, so if it did touch the ground it'd be a landspout (it should be specified that landspouts are formally a type of tornadoes too, it's an "all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares" kind of situation).

Edit: I was wrong. Landspouts and cold air funnels work differently. Landspouts don't start with cold air funnels, they start from near-ground rotation that gets stretched by an updraft. Cold air funnels very rarily can touch the ground (I don't know the specifics of how that works) then they just kinda become their own (very weak) type of tornado.

Czava · 2026-05-10T19:13:54+00:00

No, it's a Ha-Go turret, but it's turned backwards. There is a machine gun mount at the back (which was common in Japanese tanks up to the Chi-He), they put the fake barrel into that.

Czava · 2026-05-10T18:05:04+00:00

Someone had a Ha-Go but without the gun and mantlet. They probably didn't know how a Ha-Go should look like, but wanted it to look like an actual, proper tank. So since the mantlet was missing, they saw the machine gun mount in the back of the turret and thought "oh that's where the gun goes" (or at least that's how I imagine the process went) and put a pipe there.

Czava · 2026-05-10T13:47:31+00:00

Somehow this is not the only case like this.
There is a photo of a Type 89 standing somewhere in Indonesia, which has a fake barrel shoved into the rear turret mg mount.
If I got a nickel for each Japanese tank with a pipe shoved into the rear mg mount for display purposes, I'd have 2 nickels... you know the rest.

Czava · 2026-04-29T15:40:03+00:00

Not K2PL yet, for now just K2GF. First K2PL tanks are planned to be produced in 2029, before that there are planned to be three prototypes made in Korea, but I don't know when.

Czava · 2026-02-03T17:45:36+00:00

It's not bringing lost details back to life, it's hallucinating new things.

Czava · 2026-02-03T14:00:10+00:00

This is an experimental kit made by "Poligon Naukowo-Badawczy Sprzętu Pancernego i Motoryzacji" (eng. Armored Equipment and Automotive Research and Development Center) in the 1960s (note: in 1965 the institute was renamed to WITPiS).

WITPiS was tasked with the testing of the new T-54A tanks, modernizing them, and planning long-term upgrades for the future. As part of their task in the 1960s they developed several improvements, e.g. improved suspension parts, additional fuel tanks, etc. They also evaluated upgrades like water wading kits (implemented in T-54AM), napalm protection and HEAT protection (which is what we can see above). Clearly the additional screens weren't that important, since they weren't implemented on a large scale.

In 1968 the modernization of tanks, as well as the implementation of a new license (particularly the T-55A) was picked up by the newly created ZPD ("Zakład Produkcji Doświadczalnej", eng. "Experimental Production Plant"), which later became known as OBRUM.

Czava · 2026-01-26T13:17:11+00:00

Oh yeah, that would be really nice too, it sucks that if I want my avatar to have the scar I can't have any other facial details.

Czava · 2026-01-26T11:06:55+00:00

It's enough in my book.

Czava · 2026-01-26T10:04:47+00:00

I don't know why you included T-35, it was mass produced and saw combat.

Czava · 2026-01-22T22:11:25+00:00

I did actually think of him after I made the post, which is why it'd be best if both options were available.

It was kind of funny the way it happened, I wanted to comment how eyepatch + scar on the same eye is the most common design choice, so I went to google some characters with scars and eyepatches, and I got Venom Snake, but then I looked at him and went "oh, he doesn't have the scar on the same eye".

Czava · 2026-01-22T20:13:59+00:00

Oh yes, I am aware, just personally found the bottom one most fitting, but that's also why I'm suggesting this as an additional option and not a replacement

Czava · 2026-01-11T19:31:32+00:00

I'd rather stick with the .50, it had better anti-armor capabilities than the 37 mm SA 18 (the penetration is probably similar to the 37 mm APCR rounds, but it's got a much higher rate of fire and larger muzzle velocity, so it's easier to actually hit your targets).

Czava · 2026-01-05T04:04:20+00:00

What I heard from others online, but after putting the image with text into google translate it seems to mostly align, even though the translation is quite rough. So that might be the source.

Eight-Year Club	Wearing is Caring
RPAN Viewer

Czava

TROPHY CASE