Brace for impact: Round two of ‘destructive’ thunderstorms to hit Gold Coast

A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for the Gold Coast, which is forecast to cop another destructive blast very similar to the fatal Christmas night storm.

A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for the Gold Coast, which is forecast to cop another destructive blast very similar to the fatal Christmas night storm.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued the warning at 2.40pm Tuesday afternoon, saying a storm moving south from Brisbane towards the Gold Coast could bring hail, heavy rain and strong winds.

BOM predicts severe thunderstorms to keep hitting much of Queensland across Boxing Day 2023. Picture: Bureau of Meteorology

BOM community information officer Daniel Hayes said residents should keep a close eye on weather warnings for the next couple of hours leading into Tuesday evening as southeast Queensland individual storm cells continue to develop.

“We’re looking at possible thunderstorms extending throughout the Gold Coast bringing very intense rainfall, quite a strong outflow potentially destructive winds, and hail,” he said.

“It’s hard to know exactly when it will happen, but it will likely be a little earlier in the evening (compared to Monday).

“Yesterday we saw 30 to 60 millimetres of rain for parts of the Gold Coast and we’re expecting a similar rainfall Tuesday evening.”

Severe thunderstorms and lightning have lashed the Gold Coast and northern parts of NSW late on Christmas Day. Picture: Vicki Blinco/Facebook

Monday night, the city recorded wind speeds up to 106 km/h causing a Burleigh Heads construction crane to collapse.

“That’s what we classify as destructive winds,” Mr Hayes added. “We’re definitely expecting similar winds tonight.”

The flash storm saw a number of homes destroyed and forced some of the Gold Coast’s most famous theme parks to shut down.

Mr Hayes said the Gold Coast should soon expect a “brief reprieve” from the destructive weather come Thursday with skies expected to clear.

However he added as the storm cells dissipate, southeast Queensland could expect heatwave warnings to be issued in the following days.

A crane on the Mondrian towers in Burleigh Heads damaged during the Christmas Day storms. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

“Unfortunately, it appears that the storm cells have been holding off some of that hot weather we’re seeing in Western Australia,” he said.

“Potentially as the wet weather eases we will be looking at a heatwave.”

On Thursday, temperatures are expected to rise to a maximum of 33 degrees continuing into Friday and Saturday.

But heading into the New Year, Mr Hayes said another resurgence of wet weather was likely with a high chance of rain and thunderstorms returning by the end of the weekend.

Keep up to date with the latest weather warnings through the BOM website and X account.

HOW TO GET HELP

As the fallout of Christmas Day’s brutal storm sinks in, here’s what you need to know and who you need to call to deal with the aftermath.

Ergon Energy spokesman Mitchum McGuire said there are 120,000 customers on the Gold Coast without power and more than 1,000 powerlines down.

“It’s probably the single largest event we’ve seen on the Gold Coast in over 20 years,” he said.

Recording nearly 250,000 lightning strikes across southeast Queensland, authorities have warned locals to only leave the house if necessary to avoid active powerlines and dangerous debris.

Here’s who to call if you need help:

Energex: 13 12 53

Origin Energy

Emergencies: 13 19 62

Loss of supply: 13 62 62

SES Assistance: 132 500

SES Assistant App is also a responsive resource for storm assistance

Gold Coast City Council: 1300 GOLDCOAST (1300 465 326)

Disaster Hotline (only activated during declared emergencies): 1800 606 000

Gold Coast Rural Fire Services:

Gold Coast Rural Fire Brigade: 0429 069 178

Coomera Valley Rural Fire Brigade: 0417 338 457

Guanaba Rural Fire Brigade: 0427 926 724

Currumbin Rural Fire Brigade: [phone]

Clagiraba Rural Fire Brigade: [phone]

Translating and Interpreting Service: 13 14 50

Teletypewriter – 133 677 (enter 1300 465 326)

Speak and listen – 1300 555 727 (ask for 1300 465 326)

Internet relay users – go to Make an NRS Chat call (enter 1300 465 326)

In life-threatening emergencies call triple-0

Originally published as Brace for impact: Round two of ‘destructive’ thunderstorms to hit Gold Coast