On the afternoon of 2 February 1918, with prevailing north-westerly winds and a heat wave (typical conditions for Melbourne thunderstorms).

[2] After a severe storm formed and moved off Port Phillip, two tornadoes struck Brighton beach simultaneously at approximately 5:45 pm and proceeded inland, converging near the junction of Halifax and Church Streets.

Two people were killed,[3] a man and a boy, while the drowning of a woman at St Kilda beach is believed to be related to the same storm cell.

[4] Several community and sporting facilities were destroyed including the cricket club grandstand and a bandstand.

[4] It also damaged the burial monument of Adam Lindsay Gordon in the Brighton general cemetery.