Storm delivers Onslow a red-dust sunset

RHIANNA KING, The West Australian January 10, 2013, 1:33 pm

Picture: Brett Martin/perthweatherlive.com

Mother Nature put on a spectacular display off the coast of Onslow yesterday, where a menacing-looking storm was captured on camera by a tug boat worker.
Jurien Bay man Brett Martin and his colleagues were working west of False Island when the thunderstorm, which had gathered dust and sand as it developed, passed over Onslow and out to the Indian Ocean.
Mr Martin said the storm built up in a matter of minutes.
“We were steaming along in the boat just before sunset and the storm was casually building in the distance, then it got faster and faster and it went from glass to about 40 knots in two minutes,” he said.

Picture: Brett Martin/perthweatherlive.com

“It was like a big dust storm under a thunderhead, there was a lot of lightning but not a lot of rain.”
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Austen Watkins said the stunning view was created as wind and rain caused the storm to dump the sand and dust it had ingested while passing Onslow.

Picture: Isaac Kneipp

He said gusts of up to 102km/h were recorded from the thunderstorm at about 7.30pm on Wednesday, and such storms were normal for the region at this time of year.
The storm was unrelated to the looming Tropical Cyclone Narelle, he said.