A marginal day with no intent of chasing. However as the day wore on, storms began to develop to the south and southwest of Sydney. It seemed to more like storm structures with shelf cloud were the main features for the afternoon. Sometimes looks can be deceiving!
The cell north of Katoomba seemed to organise along the boundary of the original cell. A dark core slowly developed southwest of Bilpin as I progressed up the Castlereagh Road. Nearing Agnes Banks, a consolidated shelf appeared and the chase was on - a classic Colo Heights scenario was evolving. Fortunately, the storm complex was slow moving.
Anticipation of structure adds to the excitement of the repositioning process. Traversing the winds of the Putty Road up from the Colo River was insanely frustrating . Surely I could find a gap - just one gap! One! How about here - no up there! Slow down - drive. I could see the structure - a bowl and what seemed to be a wall cloud and some separation. It was impossible - trying to balance the adrenal and frustration was excruciating. I could have fisted the windscreen off it's rubber sealing. Just one picture is all I required. Time is often limited when structure is at its best. But this time I was in luck!
Arriving at one of the Colo Heights the usual viewing gap greeted me with the best structure I have observed from Colo Heights! What seemed to be a wall cloud blended into a beautiful striated structure! The contrast was awesome! Finally I had some pictures but not all features was visible. With these pictures in the bag, the next gap was even better. Infeed from the precipitation rising into the updraft base complementing the stunning scenery was not something envisaged today. Occasional lightning bolts singed the valley below. The storm persisted for at least 15 minutes at this location.
Adjusting to a position further north the storm was clearly in decline. The base had become less organised. Hail was intercepted to about pea size though the earlier structure meant larger hailstones would have fallen further west.
Another hailstorm approached from the west about an hour later and further hailstones fell. Although there was tempting activity west of Putty, it was time to finally head home and process the pictures. Certainly a rewarding chase day in a locally abysmal season.