As Melbourne’s sudden downpour disrupted the Australian Open’s first day, Kyabram residents found themselves grappling with their own bout of temperamental weather on Sunday.
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On January 12, Kyabram was hit by a fierce storm, bringing reports of sizeable hail, torrential rainfall, booming thunder and vivid lightning strikes.
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded that the wild weather kicked off with a wind surge at 6pm, with gusts tripling from 13km/h at 5.30pm to 39km/h.
The temperature dropped nearly 4°C in just one hour, from 25.4°C at 8.30pm to 21.6°C at 9.30pm, accompanied by a sudden cloudburst that dumped 4.2mm of rain in 30 minutes.
While the wind subsided at about 11pm, there was consistent rainfall until 11.22pm when a total of 8.6mm of rain was recorded.
Residents took to a private Kyabram Facebook page to share their storm experiences, with many reporting hail pelting their backyards, and water gauges recording levels ranging from 8mm to 25mm.
Some residents even described property damage caused by hailstones as large as golf balls.
Resident Gus Underwood said the plastic covering at the back of his house had been pelted with “golf-ball sized” hailstones.
“I can’t remember a more wild storm,” he said.
Around the region, Tatura’s weather station recorded 7mm of rain and gusts of wind at a top of 37km/h, Shepparton’s weather station recorded 5.8mm of rain and gusts of wind at a top of 46 km/h and Bendigo’s weather station recorded 0.2mm of rain and gusts of wind at a top of 35km/h.
While storms raged, no severe damage was reported, according to Kyabram SES controller Paul Octigan. He confirmed it was an easy night for the SES, with no calls for assistance.