I have been amazed since moving here not only at the amount of storms they get, but the severity each one seems to gain time and time again. To say this place is a hot spot would be an understatement. It really has everything going for it weather wise.

Yesterday (Monday 29 Dec) I took my 1 year old out for his first storm chase, albeit a mini one for only 2 hours, still a chase is a chase! We watched as a storm moving north of Grafton seemed to be dying whilst a large base behind it built up south west of Casino. The scud features underneath it were brilliant to watch as inflow into the base started to increase at a rapid rate. An inflow tail could be seen extending east towards the warm moist air sitting over Casino ready to act as fuel for the storm. Over the next hour a large HP monster developed and preceeded to move north towards Kyogle. Another Northern Rivers Monster!

It's day's like today why I love chasing in Australia, chasing storms with no one else around in the middle of nowhere! Sure they're not a patch on our US cousins variety however they still pack some punch to get the adrenalin pumping.

Report plus Pics here

A place that seems to throw up the best storms in NSW very regularly but one that none of the SSC'ers have really successfully chased due to the 750km drive from Sydney.

That's all about to change.

In a new dawn for SSC, the tear-away quick from Galston, James,  has made the move with his family to paradise. In case you havent worked it out yet, that piece of paradise is the Northern Rivers.

Keep an eye on SSC over the next few months as reports and photos come through from NE NSW/SE QLD. Below is a nice welcome photo I got last Tuesday night from Mcleans Ridges.

More photos here

A great night if you love lightning tonight. The line of storms moving east with a trough over NSW finally made it to Sydney late this evening. Mid level winds were lacking throughout most of the day however a nice surge from around 5pm helped push the line through the basin and into the nice temp/dew point spreads. The Hills area seemed to receive the majority of lightning with power out in Galston tonight.

A shot below from the Kurrajong Heights lookout followed by a photo taken by my brother Tim, from Hornsby.

More images in James' Gallery 2008.