After a morning of blue skies, residents across south-east Queensland are preparing for more extreme conditions that could continue into the night after thousands have already lost power.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued an alert at midday on Saturday warning of widespread hazardous weather and severe thunderstorms across parts of Queensland from about 1pm this afternoon.
Areas at risk include the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, the Wide Bay and Burnett region, Darling Downs and Warwick.
Storms roll into Brisbane on Saturday afternoon.Credit: Courtney Kruk
Towns south of Toowoomba reported giant hailstones in the early afternoon, with residents urged to seek shelter.
Heavy rain, thunder and lightning struck Brisbane’s CBD and surrounding suburbs around 3pm, leaving thousands of south-east Queenslanders without power.
Conditions eased by 4pm with a burst of sunshine after the rain. But the Bureau warns storms could continue into the evening.
Meteorologist Angus Hines said the severe storms could bring “a whole array of weather hazards, including heavy to intense rainfall that can bring flash flooding, damaging destructive wind gusts and large to giant size hail”.
“When it comes to the wind, there is even an outside chance that we could see a tornado or two touch down with the most intense, most severe thunderstorm cells later on today,” Hines said.
The Bureau warned residents to be alert to potential strong winds, with the strength to bring down branches and entire trees.
