Humid conditions to help generate thunderstorms across Darling Downs and SEQ
Parts of the Darling Downs and Granite Belt were hammered with up to 100mm of rain overnight, with more thunderstorms predicted for the rest of the week. See the latest forecast here.
Warwick
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Darling Downs residents kept an eye out on their rain gauges this week, with heavy rainfall lashing parts of the region overnight Monday.
Some residents in the Granite Belt region reported via social media receiving more than 100mm of rain overnight.
Ballandean, 19km outside Stanthorpe is said to have recorded 110.5mm, while further west in Springdale a resident recorded 98mm and in Stanthorpe up to 35mm.
The Bureau’s Daniel Hayes said just under 18,000 lightning strikes were recorded within a 56km radius of the radar at Toowoomba Airport overnight.
Mr Hayes said Toowoomba recorded a total rainfall of 49mm, while Warwick recorded 20.8mm overnight.
“The area between Toowoomba to Warwick saw falls between the 20-60mm range, while further east of the range saw 50mm and above,” he said.
Mr Hayes said the forecast remains the same for the Darling Downs, with severe storms predicted to continue from Tuesday afternoon.
“There’s still quite a lot of moisture in the air for storms to tap into, and we are seeing a patchy cloud band hanging around for the remainder of the week,” he said.
“It’s looking to ease off at the end of the week, however there’s looking like an up tick on Sunday through to Monday as we see a trough move through from Western Australia.”
Mr Hayes said it’s likely the Darling Downs will see falls between 20-50mm overnight.
SES volunteers received multiple call-outs overnight in the Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley region, as the water inundation was too much for drains and downpipes.
SES area controller Ian Phipps said it’s important for residents to keep up with maintenance around the house to ensure blocked pipes don’t cause serious damage during storm season.
“Check around the house and ensure your roof and drains are clear of any debris or rocks, tie anything down that could blow away (during a storm), take cover inside and be sure to check on your neighbours,” he said.
Muckadilla in the South West didn’t see the heavy rainfall recorded in further south, with rural firefighters called to a grassfire from a dry lightning strike.
Muckadilla in the South West didn’t see the heavy rainfall recorded in
Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Helen Reid said parts of the Darling Downs, including Toowoomba and Warwick, could be hit with more severe thunderstorms.
“There’s a reasonable amount of storm activity in the area through until Wednesday, which could include large hail and damaging winds, and is likely to move towards the east on Thursday,” she said.
The meteorologist said the region could expect to see a breather from Saturday and through to the weekend.
“We have seen heatwave conditions return to normal or average temperatures in the Darling Downs, mostly now it will be the humidity that’s noticeable,” she said.
The region had a taste of the wild weather at the weekend with Higgins Storm Chasing sharing footage from a Millmerran resident who copped more than 40mm on Sunday.
While spectacular lightning lit up huge areas of the southeast, with heavy rainfall of up to 90mm and loud thunder accompanying it in the early evening storms.
“This was a very high number when considering most of these occurred within a three to four hour window,” a spokesman said.
The storms persisted until midnight before moving offshore.
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Originally published as Humid conditions to help generate thunderstorms across Darling Downs and SEQ
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