Estimating downburst-related maximum surface wind speeds by means of proximity soundings in New South Wales, Australia

A regional climatology of strong wind gusts associated with thunderstorms i s presented, and the ability to estimate gust strength from ambient conditi ons is tested. Strong wind events were selected for 10 stations in New Sout h Wales, Australia, from anemograph records and coincident thunderstorm rep orts. Most events took place between midafternoon and late evening and duri ng the warmer months of the year, which is broadly consistent with the occu rrence of severe thunderstorms in general. One sounding-based index, design ed to predict the strength of microbursts, proves to be of limited value in predicting the magnitude of strong convective gusts, even of short-lived g usts. A modified index that combines the microburst index with upper-level wind speed is more useful.