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Thunderstorm warnings cancelled in Queensland after flooding rains

More than 100mm of rain fell on Brisbane in one hour last night, flooding streets and cutting power. A second round of storms almost struck today.

Benedict Brook and AAP
2 min read
December 12, 2019 - 9:11PM
Much needed rain drowns the Brisbane Racing Club

Brisbane was absolutely smashed by rain overnight however further drenchings forecast to strike tonight have petered out.

Six months of rainfall fell in one dumping in Queensland’s capital on Wednesday.

“Brisbane’s 130mm of rain was the heaviest December rain since the 1950s,” Sky News Weather Channel meteorologist Tom Saunders said on Thursday morning.

Residents in southeast Queensland were warned to brace for more wild weather, with damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall expected to hit later this evening.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned that the severe thunderstorms could lead to flash flooding, with parts of the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane City, Gympie, Somerset, Scenic Rim and Southern Downs expected to be in impacted.

But by 7pm, the BOM said “severe thunderstorms are no longer occurring in Queensland”.

“The immediate threat of severe thunderstorms has passed, but the situation will continue to be monitored and further warnings will be issued if necessary.”

The earlier forecast. Picture: Bureau of Meteorology
The earlier forecast. Picture: Bureau of Meteorology

The new warnings came after the 112mm of rain fell in a single hour in the Brisbane CBD last night around midnight. The average rain for Brisbane in December is 116mm for the entire month.

The rain was extremely localised however. Brisbane Airport saw almost three times less rain than the CBD’s 130mm. Amberley, near Ipswich, saw even less at just 5mm with the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast barely seeing up a drop.

Parts of central Brisbane were smashed with more than 10mm of rain in one hour last night. Picture: BOM.
Parts of central Brisbane were smashed with more than 10mm of rain in one hour last night. Picture: BOM.

The storm delivered hail at Warwick and Applethorpe on the Darling Downs late on Wednesday night before delivering an hour-long drenching in Brisbane.

“The amount of rain we had last night in Brisbane equalled the amount of rain we had in the last six months and all of that almost fell in one hour,” Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Michael Knepp told ABC radio.

RELATED: Brisbane weather forecast

The Courier Mail reported that several flights into Brisbane Airport were delayed, including a Qantas flight from Sydney forced to refuel in Toowoomba.

At 11pm, 2000 homes were without power.

The Bureau issued a severe thunderstorm warning shortly before 8pm on Thursday for the Northern Rivers and Northern Tablelands districts in New South Wales.

The BOM warning said the thunderstorms were likely to produce giant hailstones and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding over the next several hours, and also damaging winds.

“Locations which may be affected include Grafton, Jackadgery, Copmanhurst, Coutts Crossing, Nymboida and Ulmarra,” the warning states, adding that “giant hailstone” were bound for the townshup of Grafton.

But by 9pm it had been cancelled.

Mr Saunders had earlier said these could be severe supercell storms.

“Supercell storms are rotating storms that can bring giant hail, damaging and destructive winds and a risk of flooding,” said Mr Saunders.

A severe thunderstorm warning for the Mid North Coast in NSW was also cancelled today.

It was expected to be a warm day in Brisbane with a high around 33C and overnight minimums reaching 22C.

Friday is expected to be cooler but wetter.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/brisbane-smashed-by-six-months-of-rain-in-a-single-hour/news-story/e9b9d7765bc95337d6e1750f80271fdb