Sub synoptic scale features of the South Australia Storm of September 2016 – Part II: analysis of mechanisms driving the gusts

Abstract

An extreme extratropical cyclone (ETC) struck South Australia on 28 September 2016, causing state-wide blackouts and damage. In the second part of this two-part study, we examine the extreme surface wind producing mechanisms within the ETC. ETCs have been extensively studied in the Northern Hemisphere (particularly in western Europe), highlighting the gust-producing mesoscale features within. Before now, no Southern Hemisphere ETC has been examined in this way. There were a number of extreme gust-producing features within the ETC, comparable to those observed in storms over western Europe. One such feature was a convective line, which caused many of the most extreme gusts and knocked out the..