Storm knocks out radio frequencies, causing major delays at Sydney Airport

A strong thunderstorm rolled into Sydney area from the Tasman Sea late Tuesday, June 6, 2017, bringing strong winds and heavy rain. The storm caused loss of a number of radio frequencies, thus cutting communication between planes and the control tower at Sydney Airport, causing major flight delays.

Sydney's 'feel like' temperature dropped to 2.9 °C (37 °F) at midnight, just a few minutes before the storm rolled in. The heaviest overnight falls started around 00:30 AEST and continued through the rest of the night.

The storm further intensified shortly before 16:00 AEST and caused 'loss of a number of frequencies which have affected arriving and departing aircraft due to storm activity and poor weather,' Airservices Australia spokeswoman said.

"The outage ccurred during the late afternoon peak and planes had been placed in holding patterns above Sydney for up to an hour," she said. Contrary to some suggestions from passengers, Airservices said lightning did not strike the airport's control tower.

Although airtraffic has been mostly normalized by late Wednesday, authorities advised anyone traveling on Wednesday night to check their details.

According to figures provided by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Sydney's CBD received 52.2 mm (2 inches) of rain between 09:00 AEST on Tuesday and 06:30 on Wednesday, making it the wettest day in Sydney since February.

The heaviest rain was recorded in Little Bay, Sydney's south-east with 54 mm (2.1 inches) during the same period. Chatswood recorded 50 mm (1.9 inches), and Bondi 45 mm (1.8 inches).

According to Weatherzone, there were 1 426 lightning striks (ground and cloud events) within a 50 km (31 miles) radius of Sydney's CBD from midnight until 17:40 AEST.

Ausgrid said up to 8 000 homes were without power from Cherrybrook, Pennant Hills and nearby subburbs.

Meteorologists expect heavy rain to ease from Thursday, but showery conditions will continue affecting the region until Sunday.

Featured image courtesy of Andrew Anywhere

Related articles

• Major flood warnings issued as Sydney records a month’s worth of rain in a day, Australia Thursday, April 7, 2022
• Flooding across Western Sydney as the Nepean-Hawkesbury rivers burst, Australia Friday, March 4, 2022
• Widespread flooding after a year’s worth of rain in just three days, South Australia Monday, January 24, 2022
• Widespread damaging and locally destructive winds, including potentially multiple small and fast-moving tornadoes hit South Australia Monday, July 26, 2021
• Wettest spring since 2010 and the wettest November since records began in 1900, Australia Wednesday, December 1, 2021
• Unseasonably heavy rain hits Queensland, Australia Wednesday, May 11, 2022
• Unprecedented flooding continues, very dangerous thunderstorms with giant hail, destructive winds and heavy rain forecast for SE Queensland, Australia Thursday, March 3, 2022
• Tropical Cyclone “Tiffany” to make landfall over the far north Queensland, Australia Sunday, January 9, 2022
• Tropical Cyclone “Anika” forecast to re-intensify, make another landfall in Western Australia Monday, February 28, 2022
• Tropical Cyclone “Anika” forecast to make landfall over the northern Kimberley coast, Western Australia Saturday, February 26, 2022
• Severe storm hits Victoria leaving a trail of destruction, 2 people dead and more than 200 000 homes without power, Australia Friday, June 11, 2021
• Phenomenal rainfall totals hit parts of Australia, residents urged to brace for more rain and potential flooding Wednesday, November 10, 2021