Meteorological aspects of the 3 November 2000 severe storms in Sydney, Australia

On 3 November 2000, severe thunderstorms affected the greater Sydney region giving three confirmed tornadoes, hail up to 7 cm in diameter and heavy rain. This event provided the opportunity to assess the performance of the various WWRP nowcasting systems in real-time operations. The systems detected mesocyclones more than two hours before tornadoes occurred as well as hail greater than 6 cm in diameter. Data from the three Sydney-area radars revealed the existence of several surface boundaries with this event including the sea breeze front and multiple gust fronts. A post-event analysis of these radar data, together with photographic evidence, damage survey results and other meteorological data, suggests that these boundaries and their interactions played a critical role in the development of severe weather on this day.