Townsville weather: Hailstorm takes Burdell residents by surprise

Residents in Townsville were caught by surprise after a hour-long hailstorm hit parts of the city as more unseasonably wet weather rolls across North Queensland.

Residents in Townsville were caught by surprise after an hour-long hailstorm hit parts of the city as more unseasonably wet weather rolled across North Queensland.

Burdell resident Kyle Hodges couldn’t believe his eyes when he went outside to find hail falling during a storm that hit his neighbourhood for about an hour on Thursday afternoon.

“I thought I heard banging on the roof, so I came outside to see it wasn’t just raining hard; it was hailing,” he said.

A surprise hailstorm hit parts of Townsville on Thursday. Pictures: Kyle Hodges/Shelley Stewart

“I’m born and bred in Townsville, and I’ve only seen hail fall here once in Rasmussen.

“It’s weird to see it raining this time of year. They don’t normally come until Christmas time.”

The Pinnacles recorded the most rain on Thursday with 45mm, followed by Upper Stuart Creek with 24mm and Brabons with 23mm.

The surprise storm comes after Townsville recently smashed a new temperature record as a severe heatwave and wild weather swept the state’s north.

Townsville University Hospital emergency department specialists are urging residents to take care of themselves.

Maximum temperatures over North Queensland are expected to cross into the high thirties to about 40 degrees through inland areas.

Coastal areas are expected to reach the mid-thirties with minimum overnight temperatures in the mid-twenties.

A severe to extreme heatwave warning for NQ runs until Friday, October 28.

Originally published as Townsville weather: Hailstorm takes Burdell residents by surprise