Australia Weather News

Weather buffs have been left in awe after an unusual cloud feature was spotted near Avoca, in regional Victoria, this week.

The funnel cloud, distinctive in its column-like appearance, was spotted yesterday by property owners in the Central Goldfields area.

Maryborough man Ian Leech saw it while at Mount Hooghly, 150 kilometres north-west of Melbourne.

"The wife noticed the big black cloud with a bit of a bulge, we continued around … and she noticed the funnel, it appeared to go down to the ground," Mr Leech said.

"It was a bit of a surprise … we thought, 'Oh, that's a bit interesting.'

"It's probably a once-in-a-lifetime thing, if you're really, really lucky."

Mr Leech said the cloud column lasted just a few minutes before dissipating.

"I reckon about four or five minutes," he said.

"Not a lot of population out that way. It's a farming area, not too many people around."

When asked if he was concerned or scared about the funnel, which looked like a tornado, Mr Leech said "no".

"It was too far away for us to really be worried about it," he said.

"It didn't seem to be moving very quick at all, and then it just slowly started to disintegrate from the bottom up."

Funnel 'remarkable'

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jonathan How said the photos of the funnel were "remarkable".

"You normally see them when you have a big cold front … certainly through the alpine ranges.

"It's not something you'd expect with a little bit of cloud or showers," he said.

"Unless it touched the ground, you can't classify it as a tornado," he explained.

Mr How said the funnel's spout feature is created by a rotating column of wind at the base of a cloud.

"[Funnel clouds] don't typically cause damage, but if they touch the ground, they can rip through trees, that kind of thing,

"It looks like in this case, with the topography, it was sort of right place and right time to capture those winds and drag them down."

Mr How said it is an unusual event to be recorded by so many.

"They are not captured very often. Often in the high country … but not all of them are reported and recorded.

"It's certainly further west than we ever would've expected," Mr How said.