Qld weather: Storm warning for intense rain in state’s south after 43.6C Outback scorcher

Multiple severe thunderstorm warnings have been issued for parts of the state’s south as Queensland sweats through extreme heat. HOTTEST TEMPS

12 year old Jadon Hubble launches from the water with help from dad Matt at Southbank as the summer heat kicks in across Brisbane. Picture Lachie Millard

Multiple severe thunderstorm warnings have been issued for parts of the state’s south as Queensland sweats through extreme heat that shut down power to 25,000 homes on Sunday.

A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for people in parts of the southwestern Wide Bay and Burnett at 8.35pm.

The warning said “severe thunderstorms are likely to produce heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding in the warning area over the next several hours. Locations which may be affected include Kingaroy, Cherbourg, Wondai, Murgon, Yarraman and Nanango”.

“These thunderstorms are moving towards the north to northeast. They are forecast to affect Blackbutt by 8:15 pm and Nanango, Wondai and the area north of Kingaroy by 8:45 pm.”

The severe thunderstorm warning comes after 96mm of rainfall was recorded at Belgrae Park in the two hours to 6:38pm, with 85mm of rainfall recorded at Cooyar Creek in the hour to 8:07pm, 84 mm of rainfall recorded at Brooklands in the two hours to 7:23 pm, 81 mm of rainfall recorded at Mt Mowbullan in the two hours to 7:46 pm, 62 mm of rainfall recorded at St Aubyns in the hour to to 7:38 pm, 62 mm of rainfall recorded at Yarraman in the hour to 8:25 pm, 56 mm of rainfall recorded at Dandabah in the 30 minutes to 6:25 pm, and 46 mm of rainfall recorded at Mt Binga in the 30 minutes to 7:50 pm.

Severe thunderstorms are no longer occurring in the Darling Downs and Granite Belt district and the warning for that area has been cancelled.

It comes after 89mm of rainfall fell in the hour to 6.15pm at Belgrae Park, and 73mm at Mt Mowbullan in the hour to 6.45pm.

The Bureau of Meteorology had issued a heatwave warning for Queensland on Sunday, with the high temperatures expected to continue into Wednesday.

Meanwhile, it’s been a scorcher in the Outback on Monday, with the temperature in Winton climbing to 43.6C just before 3pm after sitting on 43.5C for almost two hours. Longreach hit 43C at 1.30pm.

Also passing 40C was Urandangi on 42.8C, Julia Creek on 42.7C, Windorah 42.3C, The Monument 42.2C, Trepell 41.7C, Birdsville 41.6C, Lake Julius 40.6C, Lochington 40.5C, Blackall 41.5C, Hughenden 41.4C, Cloncurry 40.3C, Biloela 40.3C, Blackwater Airport 40.3C, Carters Bore 40.2C and Emerald 40.1C.

Further south, Goondiwindi also hit the 40s, reaching 40.1C by 1.40pm.

The weather bureau’s Livio Regano said widespread heat was expected to continue into the latter of the week.

“The grasslands, the central western areas, and the Warrego region. I think Longreach is going for 43 (on Monday), and will probably do so again (on Tuesday),” he said.

“That will settle down as a trough moves through and it starts raining a little bit. I think the hottest days for Western Queensland will be Monday and Tuesday.”

Meanwhile, Brisbane surpassed its forecast of 30C, with the city reaching 31C just after 2pm.

”We’re only going for 30C in Brisbane, but it’s still a humid 30C. The humidity has not really gone down much,” he said.

“I’m afraid to say that’s going to be the case for the rest of the week over not just South East Queensland, but pretty much persistent humidity and warm nights.”

While it might be a slightly cooler week for the Brisbane region, Tuesday was expected to bring more wet weather.

“The southeast will be subjected to showers and storms from Tuesday. There is a broad rain band going all the way from Western Queensland, even a bit south of Mount Isa, right through to central Queensland and the Darling Downs,” Mr Regano said.

“But the rain won’t cool things down too much, it will be really steamy.”

12 year old Jadon Hubble launches from the water with help from dad Matt at Southbank as the summer heat kicks in across Brisbane. Picture: Lachie Millard

It comes as thousands of Energex customers were without power on Sunday, due to the severe heat.

Energex confirmed that more than 25,000 homes and businesses were left without electricity at the peak of the disruption, which began around 6.30pm.

Ipswich bore the brunt of the blackouts, with prolonged outages stretching into the late evening.

Power was fully restored to most affected areas by 10pm, but lingering outages persisted for some, particularly in Brendale.

The surge in electricity demand, driven by residents turning up air conditioners and fans to combat the heat, activated the network’s protection systems.

Energex said the systems were designed to prevent equipment damage by shutting off certain services during peak strain.

However, the outages were also compounded by storm activity in some areas, further hampering restoration efforts.

Veteran Ipswich councillor Paul Tully criticised the power provider’s handling of the situation, describing Sunday’s blackout as “one of the worst in decades”.

“There was no warning from Energex before more than 25,000 customers in southeast Queensland lost power,” he said.

“The Energex website provided no information for the outage and just had a ‘Season’s Greetings’ message.

“People are paying a King’s ransom for a second-rate electricity supply.”

Thousands of Ipswich customers were left without power during yesterday’s heatwave and storms. Pictures: Contributed

Cr Tully called for urgent action.

“The board of Energex should be given an early Australia Day award – the Royal Order of the Boot,” he said.

“When the system goes into protection mode, appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators can sustain long-term damage.”

The unexpected outage has reignited concerns about the adequacy of southeast Queensland’s ageing electricity infrastructure, particularly as summer demand rises.

Residents have raised fears about the grid’s capacity to handle extreme weather conditions and whether necessary upgrades have been deferred.

15,000 homes were without power in Ipswich during yesterday’s heatwave.

Historical precedents, such as the deployment of temporary substations during similar crises in the early 2000s, highlight systemic vulnerabilities in the network.

Energy experts have also pointed to the risks associated with brownouts, where voltage reductions can damage household appliances.

With southeast Queensland poised for a sweltering summer, questions loom over whether Sunday’s brownouts were part of more widespread outages.

Critics, including Cr Tully, argued that failing to address these challenges could become a political headache for the state’s new government in the lead up to Christmas.

Energex has not disclosed whether load-shedding or substation failures triggered Sunday’s issues but confirmed that peak demand was a contributing factor.