The Bucca tornado was one of the most violent tornadoes ever observed in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, being the first Australian tornado to be officially rated F4 on the

Fujita scale The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...

. It occurred near the township of Bucca (near

Bundaberg Bundaberg is a city in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia, and is the tenth largest city in the state. Bundaberg's regional area has a population of 70,921, and is a major centre of the Wide Bay–Burnett geographical region. The Bun ...

) in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

on 29 November 1992 at around 2:20pm

AEST Australia uses three main time zones: Australian Western Standard Time (AWST; UTC+08:00), Australian Central Standard Time (ACST; UTC+09:30), and Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST; UTC+10:00). Time is regulated by the individual state gov ...

. The tornado was accompanied by cricket-ball sized hail across Bucca and

Bullyard Bullyard is a small rural town and locality in Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. In , Bullyard had a population of 189 people. Geography Bullyard is located off the Bruce Highway in Central Queensland, approximately west of Bundaberg ...

regions. The tornado damaged or destroyed nine houses, some flattened to the ground. Trees were snapped and stones were found embedded into tree trunks. Several tree saplings were speared into the walls of homes. A refrigerator from one home was blown away and never found. A 3-ton truck was also thrown and approximately 20 cattle were killed. Jeff Callaghan, a retired senior severe weather forecaster at the

Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together ...

said “the Bucca tornado was rated a F4 or possibly an F5.” Although the most violent Australian tornado with an official rating, the tornado did not kill or seriously injure anyone.https://archive.ph/20121126230537/http://www.bom.gov.au/bmrc/clfor/cfstaff/jmb/03Sept23a.htm The weather system that spawned the Bucca tornado was also responsible for an F3 tornado at Oakhurst.

References

Tornadoes in Australia 1992 in Australia Tornadoes of 1992 November 1992 events in Australia {{weather-stub

See also

References