TwisterChasers Storm Chasing the World's Most Violent Weath. Weather. We don't get tornadoes here... Australians are funny about tornadoes. Most of us have a strong belief that they don't occur here. It's hard to shake. Sure, we have violent thunderstorms. Hailstones as big as cricket balls. Violent winds that blow down trees over wide areas.
But no tornadoes. They only occur in America -- like in the movie Twister. We get tropical cyclones. We have dust devils. I grew up with this belief too. We drove down to the coast one morning in mid April. But the day was sunny and pleasant and we enjoyed the three hour drive down. We reached Merimbula in time for lunch. By mid afternoon the clouds had started to build over the mountains to the west. We heard the first rumble of thunder around six o'clock. We ate the evening meal to the accompaniment of the lightning and thunder, and bursts of heavy rain. After a while we stopped paying attention to the television and talked about the storm.
But then the peak passed. The next morning I was woken at seven thirty by the telephone. "What?? BOM. Weatherzone.