THE Weather Bureau has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for southeast Queensland, including the Lockyer Valley, the Sunshine Coast, South Burnett and Toowoomba areas.
At 4.50pm, The Bureau of Meteorology warns that, severe thunderstorms were detected on weather radar near Laidley, Gatton, Toowoomba, the area north of Toowoomba, the area north of Kilkivan and Clifton.
These thunderstorms are moving towards the east to northeast. They are forecast to affect Murphy's Creek, Rosewood, Marburg and Hampton by 5:20 pm and Ipswich, the area south of Esk, the area southwest of Esk and Boondooma by 5:50 pm.
Damaging winds, heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and large hailstones are likely.
The bureau reports that golf-ball size hail has been observed at Gatton, marble-size hail at Laidley and Toowoomba.
At 4.15pm the Bureau of Meteorology warns that severe thunderstorms were detected on radar near the area southwest of Esk, Moore, the area north of Woodford and the area north of Kilkivan.
They are forecast to affect Gatton, Woodford and the ranges south of Jimna by 4:45 pm and Caboolture, the area west of Esk, Mount Mee and Wamuran by 5:15 pm.
At 1.55pm, severe but slow-moving storms were near the Bunya Mountains.
They are forecast to hit the area southwest of Kingaroy by 2.25pm and the area the area north of Cooyar by 2.55pm.
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Damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and large hailstones are likely.
A more general severe thunderstorm warning is also current for the Gulf Country, Wide Bay and Burnett and parts of the Peninsula, Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders, Northwest, Central Highlands and Coalfields, Capricornia, Maranoa and Warrego, Darling Downs and Granite Belt and Southeast Coast districts.
Earlier, it was revealed that work is under way to repair a broken weather radar as meteorologists predict a severe storm this afternoon and days of unpredictable weather ahead.
The Marburg radar, about 20km west of Ipswich, broke on Monday morning due to a "transmitter fault" and is unlikely to be fixed today.
Technicians are on site trying to repair it but the delivery of replacement equipment may delay the operation.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Michelle Berry said accurate predictions for a thunderstorm forecast this afternoon would not be adversely affected by the broken radar.
"We have technicians on site working furiously but we may have to wait until we can get that (a new part) sent to us," Ms Berry said
Earlier today the bureau said southeast could experience a severe storm this afternoon, with wind, heavy rainfall and possibly large hail.
"The storm should be east of the Great Dividing Range and east towards the Lockyer Valley, and Mt Staplyton is the radar for that area," Ms Berry said.
The Mt Kanigan radar near Gympie, the radar in Moree across the boarder into New South Wales and satellite images would allow the Bureau to monitor storms.
"The radar is certainly something we'd like to have but we've got others to look at today," Ms Berry said.
The Bureau is hopeful the radar will be back up and running by Thursday afternoon.
The radar in Mackay was also down yesterday for repairs but is functioning again today.
High humidity was a factor in sweaty overnight conditions in Brisbane, where the minimum temperature in Brisbane was 25C at 4am, but with the high humidity it felt closer to 30C.
Temperatures were also above average in Ipswich overnight for this time of year.
Queenslanders should get used to grey skies, with showers now forecast through Christmas and the new year.
Senior forecaster Brett Harrison said the bureau was looking at a shower or two on Thursday and then showers and storms Friday and Saturday, then back to the odd shower for Sunday and Monday.
Mr Harrison said wind on the coast could reach 15-20 knots later in the week, with swell around 1.7m.
The tourist destinations of Cairns and Townsville will see mainly fine weather, temperatures in the low 30s and light winds through the week, getting wetter as the Christmas period approaches.
"For both Townsville and Cairns we'll see showers increasing over the weekend and continuing into the early part of next week," Mr Harrison said.
Weatherzone meteorologist Melissa MacKellar the period between Christmas and the new year would see possible showers continuing in locations around the state.
"At this stage it's looking like a possible shower on New Year's Eve, but we're not expecting a big rain-bearing system for that period," she said.
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