LIGHTNING cracks as a storm sweeps over the Lockyer Valley. PIC: Greg Stolz. Source: CourierMail
THE worst storms so far this season are expected to smash southeast Queensland.
8.45pm: The weather bureau has cancelled severe thunderstorm warnings for Queensland.
6.45pm: A severe thunderstorm warning remains in place for several areas, including Wondai, Murgon and Mundubbera. The bureau says the storms are likely to produce damaging winds over the next several hours.
Severe thunderstorm warnings have been cancelled in the Central Highlands and Coalfields, Maranoa and Warrego and Southeast Coast districts.
6:20pm: Damaging winds are pushing their way across the Gold Coast.
The northern Gold Coast and south Stradbroke Island are expected to be hit just after 6.30pm as the storm tracks from Mt Tamborine eastwards.
5.50pm: Two separate storm cells are making their way through the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast this evening.
Severe thunderstorms are racing across Boonah and Kilcoy, expected to head east to northeast, hitting Gympie and the Sunshine Coast Hinterland by 6.25pm.
The second cell is expected to hit Beaudesert just before 6pm, making its way to the Gold Coast Hinterland by 6.25pm.
Wind gusts and hailstones are being predicted for both cells.
4.55pm: A third storm cell is tracking towards the Sunshine Coast.
Queenslanders are being warned to prepare their homes for a summer of powerful storms and a few cyclones
Damaging winds and large hailstones have been predicted to hit just south of Kingaroy, near Yarraman, and near the Maroon Dam.
The storm cell is heading through the east to northeast, expected to hit Boonah, Nanango and Kingaroy by 5.20 pm and Beaudesert and the area north of Kilcoy by 5.50 pm.
4.35pm: Severe weather has once again been detected on the weather radar as southeast Queensland braces for a second lot of storms.
The thunderstorms were detected north and east of Warwick, heading to the east.
It is predicted the damaging winds and large hailstones will hit Cunninghams Gap by 5pm and Aratula by 5.30pm.
4.30pm: Emergency services have answered calls for help after storms ripped across the southeast.
Eight calls for assistance, included several in Ipswich and Logan with roof damage.
Other homes on the Sunshine Coast required sandbagging assistance.
There are 15 bushfires across Queensland but it is unconfirmed how many were started by lightning strikes.
Storms move across Brisbane late Tuesday evening. Picture: Cove Creative
3.15pm: Severe weather is still expected to hit southeast Queensland this afternoon.
Severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and large hailstones are expected to hit Warwick through to Brisbane, Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Dalby, Roma, Stanthorpe and Goondiwindi.
Emergency Management Queensland has advised residents to continue monitoring the weather and secure loose outdoor items.
3pm: The severe weather warning for southeast Queensland has been cancelled.
East of Dalby from Rainbow Beach to Stanthorpe is no longer being affected by severe thunderstorms.
The Bureau of Meteorology will continue to monitor the situation, particularly watching storm activity in the west.
2.50pm: The Gold Coast and southern Darling Downs are on high alert for severe weather this afternoon.
Warwick will by hit just before 3pm with Mt Barney predicted to be battered by damaging winds and large hailstones expected by 3.25pm.
The damaging winds are predicted to be moving further through to the lower southeast.
Meanwhile southern parts of North Stradbroke Island are being hit by the earlier storm cell with strong wind and rain about 2.30pm.
Parts of the Darling Downs and Granite Belt, Southeast Coast and parts of the Central Highlands and Coalfields, Wide Bay and Burnett and Maranoa and Warrego districts continue to be on a severe weather warning.
The weather bureau says it's website has been hit by four times the normal traffic today as Queenslanders check the progress of the storms.
2.20pm: Destructive winds are moving in from the west this afternoon.
A second lot of thunderstorms is set to hit Warwick by 2.30pm and Cunninghams Gap by 3pm, with BOM forecaster Michelle Berry saying the severe weather activity was very widespread.
IN PICTURES: Storms menace southeast
"We've had a lot more development as far west as Roma that could make its way through to the coast," she said.
"There is a reasonable chance Brisbane could see further thunderstorm activity."
The first cell has now passed through to Victoria Point and at the mouth of the Logan River with reports of pea-sized hail hitting Cleveland.
North Stradbroke Island remains on a severe weather warning.
1.50pm: Lightning strikes have started several grass fires this afternoon.
Emergency crews rushed to a home on Clifton Drive in North Maclean, just north of Jimboomba, with reports it was on fire but it was a small outside blaze that was put under control.
1.30pm: The Bureau of Meteorology spokesman has confirmed a widespread slowdown in its site as worried Queenslanders check out forecast storms.
"It's not ideal particularly when there's the potential of a large storm," he said.
1.15pm: WIND gusts have reached more than 70km/h in Ipswich, with the Bureau of Meteorology recording a gust of 72km/h just before 1pm.
SES crews have been called to a tree pulled down by the storm activity but no other calls for assistance have yet been made.
BOM forecaster Michael Knepp said little rain had fallen but other damaging storm activity had occurred.
"At the moment the worst of it looks like it will move south of Brisbane into the southern suburbs," he said.
"We have other storms west of this but once this first line goes through we have other storms which have the potential to be worse into the early evening."
1.10pm: Emergency crews have been called to several lightning strikes in the Lockyer Valley region.
One strike was extinguished by the heavy rain while a second reported strike could not be found by emergency crews.
Cr Paul Tully of Ipswich Council said the rain was getting heavy. Driving between Ipswich and Goodna, Cr Tully said residents were racing to gets cars under cover.
"The main concern is hail but none has fallen yet,'' he said.
12.55pm: Storms are brewing to hit Redbank Plains by 1.20pm.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned the area will be hit just before 1.30pm with the storm expected to hit Beenleigh, Logan City, Coomera and the northern Gold Coast by 1:50 pm.
Damaging winds and hail stones have been predicted.
WILD WEATHER: What happened last season
12.50pm: Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said Brisbane was ready for storm season, but residents should continue to prepare their own households.
"I think we are ready," he said.
"I've been sort of banging away for some time on asking residents to also get ready.
"To make sure things are battened down at home. No loose items in the back yard. Making sure gutters are cleared of leaf and litter and making sure we have those trees trimmed back away from households."
12.48pm: A lightning strike has reportedly caused a fire just west of Ipswich this afternoon.
Fire crews have been called to Long Gully Road in Summerholm just before 12.45pm.
It is unknown to what extent the fire has spread.
12.45pm: The Darling Downs and Granite Belt remain on alert for thunderstorms this afternoon.
The storms, bringing with them strong wind gusts and isolated heavy showers, are sweeping through the Darling Downs and Granite Belt, Southeast Coast and parts of the Central Highlands and Coalfields, Wide Bay and Burnett and Maranoa and Warrego districts which remain on a general alert.
12.40pm: Severe thunderstorms are moving towards Brisbane, putting the southeast on high alert.
The latest thunderstorm warning has been issued with Ipswich, the area between Boonah and Beaudesert, Bundamba Lagoon, Greenbank, Redbank Plains and Amberley all expected to be hit just after 1pm.
YOUR PICTURES: Send us pics of the storm MMS 0428 258 117
Beaudesert, Beenleigh, Logan City, Logan Village, Woodridge and Sunnybank Hills are expected to be ravaged by the storm just after 1.30pm.
Thunderstorms have also been detected on the NSW border near Border Ranges National Park, Harrisville, Grandchester and Rosewood.
12.30pm: The Brisbane City Council has extended weather warnings for Brisbane, Gold Coast and Logan.
STORM WARNING: Cyclone threat to state
Warnings for the Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Caboolture, Logan, Moreton Island areas have been put on notice with heavy rain and wind gusts blowing across the southeast region.
12.20pm: A line of showers are expected to build into severe thunderstorms for Brisbane and the southeast this afternoon.
The southeast area has been on high alert for Tuesday morning with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing continuous updates for severe weather in the region.
DEVASTATION: The Gap storm remembered
Heavy, isolated rainfall and wind gusts are expected to hit the city later this afternoon.
The storms have so far swept across the southwestern region with severe thunderstorms now detected on the weather radar south of Cunninghams Gap, the area northwest of Cunninghams Gap, the NSW border and the area south of the NSW border.
The storms, pushing through the east, are expected to hit Border Ranges National Park, Mount Barney, Maroon Dam and Rosevale by 12:35 pm and Boonah, the area between Boonah and Beaudesert, Harrisville and Peak Crossing by 1:05 pm.
YOUR PICS: Weather Channel photo comp
Damaging winds and large hailstone may hit Warwick, Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Brisbane, Dalby, Roma, Coolangatta, Ipswich, Moreton Bay and islands, Kingaroy, Stanthorpe and Goondiwindi in the next few hours.
There have been no reports of hailstones as yet.
The heaviest rainfall has been on the Scenic Rim with about 10mm of rain.
PREDICTIONS: Check the weather where you are
11.55am update: A severe weather warning has extended over the Darling Downs.
The Bureau of Meteorology says damaging winds and hailstones are likely to affect Warwick, Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Brisbane, Dalby, Roma, Coolangatta, Ipswich, Moreton Bay and islands, Kingaroy, Stanthorpe and Goondiwindi in the next few hours.
It is predicted they will continue to move east this afternoon.
10am update: The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for southwest Queensland.
Damaging winds and large hailstones have been predicted to hit Warwick, Toowoomba, Dalby, Roma, Kingaroy, Stanthorpe, Boonah, Oakey, Gatton and Goondiwindi in the next three hours.
The storm has begun developing to the west of the area, with forecasters predicting it will intensify and move to the east in the next few hours.
Emergency Management Queensland has advised locals to move cars away from trees, secure loose outdoor items and seek shelter.
8am update: Gusty winds of 90km/h and hail stones are expected to rip across the southeast this afternoon.
The Bureau of Meteorology has not yet issued a severe weather warning but forecaster Mark Trenorden said storms were expected to develop from the Darling Downs to the southeast district today.
YOUR PICTURES: Send us pics of the storm MMS 0428 258 117
"There's a trough approaching the Darling Downs and showers and thunderstorms will develop east of that trough this afternoon," he said.
"We can expect scattered and isolated showers this afternoon and some of them are likely to be severe."
Fellow forecaster Michael Knepp recommends people staying indoors.
"Potentially it will be the strongest storm of the season yet," he said.
It is predicted there could be some localised flash flooding.
The strong winds, bursts of rain and hail are expected to hit early this afternoon between 1pm and 2pm despite Brisbane's heat, the capital hitting 31 degrees today.
It is expected the severe weather could extend as far as Wide Bay Burnett region this evening.
Emergency crews are on standby.
Earlier, The Courier-Mail reported residents have been warned to spend Tuesday morning preparing their properties for storms.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Matthew Bass said the same trough that brought damaging winds that lashed south-western Queensland on Monday afternoon would continue tracking toward the coast on Tuesday.
Severe thunderstorms are due to hit Roma and Goondiwindi from late Tuesday morning, followed by Toowoomba and then coastal areas in the afternoon and evening.
"We can expect wind gusts of 90km/h or more and large hail is definitely a possibility,'' Mr Bass said.
YOUR PICTURES: Send us pics of the storm MMS 0428 258 117
Gales of that speed are strong enough to snap branches off trees and strip tiles from roofs, he said.
Emergency Management Queensland warned residents to take precautions by taking garden furniture inside and securing items that cannot be moved undercover, such as trampolines and swing sets.
Director of disaster management Brian Cox said electrical items, external television and radio aerials, and computer modems should be disconnected, ahead of the storms.
"When the storms strike, stay inside and shelter well clear of windows, doors and skylights,'' Mr Cox said - adding that if you have to be outside, seek solid enclosed shelter and stay well away from trees and power lines.
YOUR PICTURES: Send us pics of the storm MMS 0428 258 117
Forecasters expect more storms for the southeast on Wednesday, with conditions easing on Thursday ahead of a sunny and hot weekend.
Anyone who needs assistance should call the State Emergency Service on 132 500.
- reporting by Daryl Passmore, Brittany Vonow
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