Video shows rare tornado as severe storms lash parts of NSW
Two tornadoes tore through country NSW as severe storms and record rain caused havoc in Sydney. But just how common are tornadoes here in Australia and what causes them to form?
READING LEVEL: ORANGE
Wild weather has once again wreaked havoc in Australia, bringing Sydney’s heaviest rain in 146 years and unleashing two tornadoes across the Southwestern Slopes* of NSW. But how do severe storms cause tornadoes – and just how common are they in Australia?
THE TORNADO OF OZ
A tornado was captured on stunning video sweeping across a NSW town earlier this week during severe thunderstorms that lashed the Southwestern Slopes.
Residents near Young, about 160km northwest of Canberra, were warned tornadoes, destructive winds, hail and heavy rainfall could hit the region on Wednesday afternoon.
A NSW Rural Fire Service fire tower camera captured the tornado tear through farming land at about 3.30pm.
NSW RFS inspector James Morris told the ABC the very significant weather cell occurred in the locality of Tubbul, west of Young.
“At this stage, there’s no reports of any injuries or significant damage,” he said at the time.
NSW SES told people in areas surrounding Young and Cowra to stay indoors due to the wild weather.
A Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) spokesman said initial assessments indicated the tornado was relatively weak and short-lived.
“Many severe thunderstorms carry with them a slight chance of tornado development,” the spokesman said.
The BOM later confirmed that two tornadoes had developed in the Southwestern Slopes as a result of severe storms. One had formed northwest of Young and another was spotted near the rural village of Caragabal.
“These tornadoes yesterday seemed to have mostly landed out in open space and certainly ripped down some trees and caused a little bit of damage out in nature, but it looks like property damage seems to have been minimal,” senior meteorologist Angus Hines said on Thursday.
SEVERE STORMS SMASH SYDNEY
A broad band of severe thunderstorms developed over South Australia on Tuesday before moving eastwards into NSW and leaving residents in both states smashed by thunder, lightning and heavy rain.
The storms also brought blistering and damaging wind gusts.
By Thursday, parts of NSW and Sydney had been hit by flash flooding, large hail and wind gusts exceeding speeds of 90km/hr, with NSW SES receiving 854 calls and 34 rescue calls in the span of 24 hours.
According to Weatherzone, the cities of Sydney, Canberra and Wollongong all had their wettest day of 2025 on Wednesday.
A total of 122mm fell on Sydney in the 24 hours to 9am on Thursday – marking the NSW capital’s heaviest daily rainfall total for September since 1879.
HOW COMMON ARE TORNADOES IN AUSTRALIA?
While they aren’t an everyday occurrence, tornadoes do form in Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) states there are about 10-20 sightings of tornadoes each year on average across the country, with most reported by members of the public.
This low number makes them a relatively rare event.
HOW DO TORNADOES FORM?
Tornadoes can form as part of any severe thunderstorm, however a certain range of conditions has to occur first, according to the BOM.
First there has to be an intense, sustained updraught* of wind along with a strong wind shear* – which is a turning and strengthening of high-reaching environmental winds. There also has to be strong winds at cloud-top level.
“These conditions allow the thunderstorm’s own airflow pattern to interact with the environmental winds and produce rotation within the updraught,” the BOM states in its online Storm Spotters’ Handbook.
A weak tornado could then form as the thunderstorm intensifies and the rotating updraught of wind tightens.
“Weak tornadoes are most likely during midsummer thunderstorms but may also accompany the passage of intense cold fronts* during the winter months in southern parts of Australia,” Storm Spotters states. “They are mostly brief events and cause only limited damage.”
The same type of swirling wind pattern also leads to other types of rotations such as waterspouts.
Sometimes stronger tornadoes occur when a more complex wind pattern comes into play involving both an updraught and a downdraught* that work together to form the twister. Stronger tornadoes usually occur with late spring/early summer severe thunderstorms.
HOW FAST ARE THEY?
Tornadoes move with the thunderstorm cloud from which they form at roughly the same speed and direction, usually around 30-50 km/h. Tornadoes that have formed from thunderstorms near strong cold fronts can sometimes reach much faster speeds of 80-100 km/h. The fact they move with storm clouds means they are reasonably predictable once they have formed, however some tornadoes can weaken and then redevelop nearby.
FUNNEL CLOUDS AND WATERSPOUTS
Have you ever seen a cloud that looked like a tornado? It may have been a funnel cloud.
“A funnel cloud is a visible vortex* attached to a cumulonimbus* cloud but not reaching the surface,” states Storm Spotters. The way to tell the difference between a funnel cloud and a forming tornado is to look for signs of rotation in the surrounding clouds. If the clouds aren’t swirling around the funnel, the formation poses no threat.
Funnel clouds don’t last long, quickly disappearing after they have formed.
What about a gustnado – have you ever heard that word before? A gustnado actually is a type of tornado, though short-lived, that forms under a dark cloud bank or shelf cloud* as a whirlwind. While they only last a few seconds to several minutes they can cause damage.
Waterspouts look like skinny twisters that happen over water. Cooler air masses passing over warmer waters sometimes allow strong updraughts, which can strengthen and tighten into a swirling column of air and water mist. While dangerous for people on boats, waterspouts don’t usually pose a threat for those on land as they collapse soon after moving onshore.
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GLOSSARY
- Southwestern Slopes: a region of NSW that covers the lower inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range and extends into northeast Victoria
- updraught: an upward current of air
- shear: a sudden change in wind direction or speed over a short distance
- cold fronts: the leading edge of a mass of cold air that replaces a mass of warmer air
- downdraught: a downward movement of air
- vortex: a swirling mass of air
- cumulonimbus: a type of cloud that forms a towering mass that has a flat base at low altitude and usually has a flat top. This type of cloud is able to produce lightning, tornadoes, large hailstones and other severe weather events like strong winds
- shelf cloud: a type of arcus cloud, a shelf cloud is a low, horizontal wedge-shaped cloud that is attached to the bottom of a parent cloud – usually a cumulonimbus (a thunderstorm cloud). Shelf clouds usually form on the leading edge of a storm and the cloud often rolls with the currents of the wind
EXTRA READING
Millions wet and miserable in rain
Why experts called for first ‘Cat 6’
What does it feel like to touch a cloud?
QUICK QUIZ
1. What region of NSW were the two tornadoes spotted?
2. How much rain fell in Sydney in the 24 hours to 9am Thursday?
3. How many sightings of tornadoes are there in Australia each year?
4. How can you tell the difference between a funnel cloud and a tornado?
5. How fast do tornadoes usually travel?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What would it be like?
What do you think it would sound like, look like, feel like and smell like in the middle of a tornado? Write a description. Make sure your description will make your reader feel that they are right there in the middle of the tornado.
Time: allow at least 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English
2. Extension
Why do you think tornadoes are rare in Australia? Use information from the story to brainstorm ideas. Then, you could use your research skills to find out if you are correct!
Time: allow at least 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Geography
VCOP ACTIVITY
Wow word recycle
There are plenty of wow words (ambitious pieces of vocabulary) being used in the article. Some are in the glossary, but there might be extra ones from the article that you think are exceptional as well.
Identify all the words in the article that you think are not common words, and particularly good choices for the writer to have chosen.
Select three words you have highlighted to recycle into your own sentences.
If any of the words you identified are not in the glossary, write up your own glossary for them.
Extension
Find a bland sentence from the article to up-level. Can you add more detail and description? Can you replace any base words with more specific synonyms?
Down-level for a younger audience. Find a sentence in the article that is high level. Now rewrite it for a younger audience so they can understand the words without using the glossary.