Twister strikes in Cromwell.

[Suezy]

Twister strikes in Cromwell
NZ Police, Fuseworks
December 14, 2012, 5:15 pm

Cromwell Fire and Police have this afternoon been assisting residents at two addresses in the town, where house roofs were lifted by a twister at about 3pm this afternoon.

The twister formed in the vicinity of the Cromwell Golf Course. It moved across Nepusultra Street, through a reserve and across a number of addresses between Horace and Ortive Streets before dissipating.

A house in Ortive Street and one in Horace St had roofing iron and tiles lifted off during the event.

A clothes line was also blown over and a large tree uprooted.

One female resident took refuge with her two young daughters in the bathroom until the twister passed.

No one was injured during the event which lasted a few minutes.

Cromwell Police and the Fire Service have assisted residents at the two addresses to weather proof their properties and prevent further damage.

Police have received no further reports of damage in the Cromwell area.

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[Rwood]

It will have been a dust devil. No "weather" conditions to support the tornadic kind. They are quite common in that region.

[Suezy]

Would suggest Rupert that you advise the people concerned down there and tell them that they are wrong in their reporting and shouldnt be putting it in the papers - owing to misleading people like myself that read about it and the people that were involved personally in it - that it wasnt a twister but a dust devil and as to how common it is down there.
I also read it in the ODT which I consider one of the better newspapers and sure that they would like to hear from such a knowledgeable person as yourself and to correct them on their reporting also.  The TV should have known better too.

[Mark]

Seen one of those dust devils in, i think 1975 in the August Big Blow.
i was at work and it came up the road it was about 1foot wide and it come to the end of road (dead end) hit the building and  Smashed a window.

[Rwood]

They can cause a fair amount of damage in a small radius.

The ODT report did include this: " ...MetService weather forecaster Philippa Murdoch said the event was probably a ''dust devil''.

She said gusty northwesterly winds in the region reached 100kmh yesterday.

The formation of a dust devil was not just about wind speed but a ''mixture of conditions'' including local terrain. "

Not too bad then - the headline didn't actually say "tornado".