Ominous sight as storm skirts Junee

A MONSTER thunderstorm skirted Junee today, whipping up 80 km/h winds and dropping temperatures by more than 10 °C as it pushed through the region.

While Junee escaped the brunt of the storm, these photos show its ominous presence in the distance, with the storm front stretching across the horizon as it skirted the Shire.

A peak wind gust of 82 km/h was recorded at Wagga Airport as the cell slammed into Forest Hill at 5:30 pm.

Temperatures also plummeted by 12 °C there as the storm hit, with the mercury from 27.9 °C at 5 pm to 15.6 °C at 5:41 pm. It had risen back up to 20.7 °C at the time of publication (8:20 pm).

The storm also brought with it heavy rainfall, dumping over 30 mm of rain in some areas in just 30 minutes.

An official 15 mm was recorded at Wagga Airport between 5:30 pm and 6:00 pm, while residents at Estella and Boorooma on Wagga’s northside reported higher falls of 30-40 mm.

A mere 1.2 mm fell in the Bureau’s gauge at Kapooka, 20 kilometres west of the airport.

Power was cut to parts of Oura, Bomen and Harefield, while Narrandera Road just outside of Wagga was strewn with fallen trees, branches and debris.

Essential Energy crews are in the field working to restore power to over 250 customers in the impact zone, after it was knocked out by downed powerlines during the height of the storm.

© The Junee Bulletin

© The Junee Bulletin