Strange Event on Woomera Radar

Thought this might have been some interest to some people. On the Sunday just passed, we had a strange event happen on the weather radar here in Woomera. I wasnt at the station when this occured, as we arent staffed overnight, but the forecasters down in Adelaide noticed a strange line, of what they thought were storms approaching the town.

For those who dont know where Woomera is located, use this map, and scroll out

www.mapit.com.au...

Now, due to storms to the south east corner of South Australia the, forecaster were closely monitoring the area. As you can see on the GPATS, lightning strike detector, there were numerous strikes thorughout the day. Earlier we had them to the west of us, and later that evening, they were confined to the more southern regions, south of Woomera.

This is a map of the number of lighting strikes in the area til 9am Monday morning

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/47140c460ddf.png[/atsimg]

Here's the weather situation from the MTSAT-1R satellite (in Infra Red).

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/9db09b883c41.jpg[/atsimg]

The long line of clouds to the west is a rapidly approaching cold front. The large long line strecthing from the north west throught the centre was a shallow trough line.

Later on, the cold front approached the trough, causing the wind directions in the area to change from a northerly, to a south westerly air flow. This is what is known as convergence.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/cdf38e5fdb49.jpg[/atsimg]

So the forecasters were seeing these images and probably considering what to forecast on their next aviation bulletin. They were also watching this develop on the Doppler radar:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/839989cad1f1.png[/atsimg]

On the one above, you can see a line forming to the east

Here it is 1 hour later

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/23e36ba781b5.png[/atsimg]

Here it is 1 hour later again

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f24bf81c408e.png[/atsimg]

As you can see, the line is just crossing Woomera

At this point the forecasters were confused. They saw a line which indicated that there were rainshowers over the area, but the humidity levels, temperature, dewpoint and the TBRG (tipping bucket rain guage, which is automated) were not registering any data which showed that precipitation was present.

Also, the automatic visibility meter was showing this!!!

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/fb893c84c58f.png[/atsimg]

A drop in visibility from approximately 11km's to 800m's in a matter of seconds. Again this usually indicates showers.

Thinking it was strange, the forecaster called the Eldo, which is the local pub (he had the decency not to call me on my time off, lol) and asked the bar staff to check outside to see if it was raining. As she opened the door, thousands of moths flew into the pub.

So that solved the anomal on the radar....and infestation of moths, a 200km long line, infestation of moths!!

WOW! That is insane Oz! Is that a typical migration???

-Kyo

When in doubt, call a pub.

Grab your wool sweaters and get out while you can!

What's the range of the radar? Those bugs didn't come in over the ocean did they?

[edit on 3/17/2010 by Phage]

That is a phenomenon that should be well researched and documented. It's stunning to think of a line of moths stretching as far as that, and all migrating together.

Keep us updated on this, if you can. It will be great to hear of what develops.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......... Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz bZZZZZZZZZ bzzzzzzzzzzzz buza buza buzz buzz bzzzzzzzzzzzz) KK chemtrails cause this ive seen it . hmmm anyway to ask the locals if there were checkerboards in there skys the last few days?

[edit on 17-3-2010 by bluemooone2]

Very cool...and weird too. As a person who is not a fan of anything with more than 4 legs, I can say that I am glad I was not there to witness it in person. As it stands im going to have the heebie jeebie's for a few days after reading this, lol.

Thats a lot of moths. does this kind of thing happen often in Australia? (like the Monarches in Mexico)

reply to post by Phage


We think it was recent rain over the western parts of South Australia that influenced their presence. I didnt have the earlier images, but at sunset (when the insects come out), is when the line started to appear, and gradually got deeper

Edit- the max range of the radar is 512km's

[edit on 17/3/2010 by OzWeatherman]

Originally posted by bluemooone2
KK chemtrails cause this ive seen it . hmmm anyway to ask the locals if there were checkerboards in there skys the last few days?

Well, Im the local weatherguy, and no...there was nothing sinsiter in the sky. There were a few lingering contrails as the front approaching bought in high level humidity, and they mixed with the natural cirrus cloud already present

This may help, it's a starting point anyway, still researching...





www.ars.usda.gov...

Also found this at "AbsoluteAstronomy.com"


Flight behaviour

Migratory Lepidoptera are, in most cases, excellent flyers. Species like the Vanessa atalanta are capable of managing a fierce headwind. In case of headwind, they usually fly low and are more goal-oriented. During migration, some species can be found on high altitudes, ranging to up to two kilometers This is especially noteworthy for day-flying species like Vanessa atalanta, since the temperatures on these altitudes are low and day-flying species depend on the outside temperature to stay warm. It is thought that Vanessa atalanta produces enough body warmth during flight since it has also been recorded migrating at night.

Most migratory Lepidoptera prefer flying with a favourable wing, as is the case with the migration of Vanessa carduiVanessa carduiThe Painted Lady is a well-known colourful butterfly, sometimes known in North America as the Cosmopolitan. This butterfly has a strange pattern of flying in a sort of screw shape.-Distribution:...
from AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
to SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...
.

That the migratory species are good flyers, is not the same as saying they are robust flyers. The small Diamondback mothDiamondback mothThe Diamondback moth , sometimes called cabbage moth, is a European moth believed to originate in the Mediterranean region that has since spread worldwide. The moth has a short life cycle , highly fecund and capable of migrating long distances....
is also a migratory species that migrates 3,000 kilometers and can be found up to altitudes of 100 meters or more..

Navigation

To be able to migrate over long distances, species must be able to navigate. There are several ways they do this.

Landscape: Lepidoptera use coastal lines, mountainMountainA mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill. The adjective montane is used to describe mountainous areas and things associated with them...
s, but also man-made roads to orient themselves. Above sea it has been observed that the flight direction is much more acurate if the landscape on the coast is still visible.

Celestial navigation: Butterflies are known to be capable of navigation with the help of the sun. They can also navigate by using polarized lightPolarizationPolarization is a property of waves that describes the orientation of their oscillations. This article primarily covers the polarization of electromagnetic waves such as light, although other types of wave also exhibit polarization....
. The polarization of the sun's light changes with the angle of the rays, hence they can also navigate with cloudy weather. There are indications that they can even make corrections depending on the time on a day. Diamondback moths are known to fly in a straight trajectory which is not dependent on the angle of the suns rays. Tests have been performed to interfere with the biological clock of certain species by keeping them in the dark and then observing if they would choose for other flight paths. The conclusion was that some species did, and others did not. Night flyers cannot use sun light for navigation. Most of these species rely on the moon and stars instead.

Earth’s magnetic field: A number of moths use the Earth's magnetic fieldEarth's magnetic fieldEarth's magnetic field is approximately a magnetic dipole, with the magnetic field S pole near the Earth's geographic north pole and the other magnetic field N pole near the Earth's geographic south pole...
to navigate, as a study of the stray Heart and DartHeart and DartThe Heart and Dart is a moth of the family Noctuidae. A familiar moth to many, it is considered one of the most common of the European region....
suggests. Another study, this time of the migratory behaviour of the Silver YSilver YThe Silver Y is a migratory moth of the family Noctuidae which is named for the silvery Y-shaped mark on each of its forewings.-Description:...
, showed that this species, even at high altitutes, can correct its course with changing winds, and prefers flying with favourable winds, which suggests a great sense of direction. Aphrissa statira in PanamaPanamaPanama, officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of both Central America and, in turn, North America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the...
loses its navigational capacity when exposed to a magnetic field, suggesting it uses the Earth’s magnetic field.

WOW ok just gota ask then . was this at night? and did it last more that 3 hours? we hada very strange lightning storm here in traverse city 2 years ago . It lasted two nights . Ive never seen anything even close to this before,like flashes every 2 seconds for at least five consecutive hours for two nights in a row. It was right before our cherry festival blue angle show. This was NOT normal. Not even close . The skys here were checkerboarded for three days before this.

reply to post by bluemooone2


I could probably explain that in detail, but as you know, and due to my proffesion, I have a firm belief that chemtrails are simply misidentified contrails. Also, its kind of off topic, but I will be glad to discuss it with you elsewhere

That is indeed a bit odd, for the moths to show up on radar it must've been a very dense pack. I'm wondering where they migrated from?

I can't tell the distances from the radar shots, but I'm sure without too much effort you could tell at what speed they were travelling across the land. I'm sure the Ag dept will be looking into how old they are, and where they came from.

I only say this because South Oz has had some of the worst outbreaks in fruit flies, and a few other species, in decades this summer. The government has been releasing sterile fruit flies in their millions in the past few weeks to combat the outbreaks (the sterile flies mate with the fruit flies, who then lay unfertilized eggs and die off). I'm just wondering if there is any link weather-wise with the massive fruit flie outbreaks, and now moths in their millions.

I've read about bats being picked up by weather radar before, but never heard of moths swarming like that.

www.spc.noaa.gov...

I live near the western basin of Lake Erie in the US, and the weather radar routinely picks up swarms of "Mayflies" when they hatch in the lake, then often times are blown or migrate to the land attracted by the lights.

reply to post by OzWeatherman


Very cool Oz. Nature is amazing!

S&F

IRM

reply to post by OzWeatherman

Do you know if these were bogong moths?

Bogong season used to be party time to Victorian Aboriginals.
They pounded them, (wings and all,) fried them, and made themselves sick on bogong pancakes for a month each year. Apparently the first week of the month was spent relearning how to keep these tasty treats down.

Now there must be a market for bogong-burgers.

If they taste as good as witchetty grubs I'd buy them.

reply to post by Kailassa

Bogong moths
Wichetty grubs
And wombats

oh my

Interesting,
plagues of fruit flies, moths, grasshoppers. What's coming next I wonder.

something higher up in the foodchain maybe. bats, birds, snakes, toads.
time to get the heavy duty bug spray out.

Originally posted by Kailassa
reply to post by OzWeatherman

 

Do you know if these were bogong moths?

Not sure what type of moths they were. I got some photos so i might try seeing if any are similar on the web somewhere

So now that Phage's word is out....

Everybody in agreement that this is an insect swarm due to either a natural cycle or the methane release that just happened? Insects (ie lovebugs) attracted to methane and all?

Huge Methane Leak Detected in Arctic

Pardon the following commercial source, but it's brief.

The Hard Facts About Microbial Life

Now, insects invade because they are attracted to ammonia and methane gas[..]

Cold methane will not diffuse into the atmosphere so quickly... it will take a while. Everywhere the gas diffuses in high enough concentrations, certain insects are going to go wild.