‘Gustnado’ has whipped along the Brisbane River during a massive storm

Wild weather has hit a major city, whipping up a rarely seen phenomenon on the river in the CBD.

A “very dangerous thunderstorm” has torn through the centre of Brisbane, whipping up a freak twister on the river.

The mini-tornado – or a gustnado – could be seen on the Brisbane River at Kangaroo Point, during dangerous winds and heavy rain about 4pm local time on Friday.

Ten meteorologist Josh Holt said the gustnado was not a tornado, but an intense vortex at the front of a thunderstorm.

“They usually last for a very, very short period of time but can produce very strong winds indeed,” he said.

“It’s just luck that it formed on the Brisbane river because if that moved over home or the tops of buildings, that could have caused extensive damage.”

Twister on the Brisbane River!!! 🌪️

From what I can tell this isn’t a fully fledged tornado, but more likely a “gustnado” that is a more transient feature on the leading edge of the storm.

Still looked like it had some strong winds in it though!

Credit: Hayden Oakley pic.twitter.com/SD6V8GoU5T

— Tony Auden (@TonyAuden) November 1, 2024

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued a weather warning telling residents to expect giant-sized hail and damaging winds.

BOM metrologist Shane Kennedy said the very dangerous storm started near Boonah in the southeast about 2pm then headed into Brisbane later in the afternoon.

He said while the storm had dropped off, it intensified again as it moved across Brisbane about 4pm and dropped quite a bit of large sized more than 3 to 4cm and giant sized more than 5cm hail in the city and northern parts of the area.

Mr Kennedy said while all storms were a little bit different a classic supercell that swept through Brisbane on Friday could produce phenomenal winds, heavy rainfall and hail.

“But this didn’t have a whole lot of rain or wind with, it was mainly just hail,” he said.

Golf ball sized hail stones from Fortitude Valley in Brisbane. Photo supplied by Higgins Storm Chasing/Sarah.

A Queensland Ambulance spokesperson said one person was taken to the Mater Hospital after a tree branch reportedly fell on them at River Terrace in Brisbane about 4.04pm.

A State Emergency Services spokesperson said they had 10 call-outs during the storm, that all reported hail damage in the Brisbane area in Friday

Residents captured a mini-tornado tearing through the Brisbane River as the thunderstorm moved along the southeast coast towards Noosa.

A very dangerous storm dropped giant sized hail across Brisbane on Friday. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

A supercell swept across southeast QLD on Friday. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

A dangerous storm moved through south east Queensland bringing destructive winds and large hail. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Residents captured a mini-tornado tearing through the Brisbane River as the thunderstorm moved along the southeast coast towards Noosa.

Hail as big as 6cm was recorded in Boonah, and 8cm sized hail was recorded in Cannon Creek in southeast Queensland as the storm moved towards Logan in Brisbane’s south.

The storms are affecting parts of the Gold Coast, Ipswich, Brisbane, Moreton Bay, the Sunshine Coast and the Wide Bay and Burnett.

Queensland Police deputy commissioner Shane Chelepy said they were the most disaster prone state in Australia. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Deputy police commissioner Shane Chelepy said Queensland was the most disaster prone state in Australia and people needed to be prepared the season ahead.

“As those severe storms come through, we saw large hail, thankfully we didn’t see any loss of life or serious injury on the Sunshine Coast,” he said.

“Over the last couple of weeks, we have started to see these severe storms move right across the South East Queensland.

“While we’re seeing severe storms in the south, we know that as the season moves forward, we’re likely to see severe flooding or cyclones within Queensland.

“You need to understand the risk where you live, and if you are in the far north, you are more susceptible to cyclone and flooding.”

Originally published as ‘Gustnado’ has whipped along the Brisbane River during a massive storm