Wild night of 100k lightning strikes
Wild weather has battered major parts of the country overnight, with severe thunderstorms, blistering winds and large hailstones recorded across Australia.
Overnight, South East Queensland was hammered by severe supercell storms, with more than 105,000 lightning strikes recorded and lashings of rain, putting some areas at risk of flash floods and leaving behind a barrage of destruction.
Brisbane recorded 17.8mm of rain in a little more than 20 minutes, while other parts of the state, including Musket Flat, recorded 38mm in half an hour.
Power was wiped out for about 15,000 homes down the coast, with a weather system sweeping the Darling Downs causing golf-ball-sized hail and damaging winds and leaving a path of destruction.
Warwick and Rolleston in the state’s central highlands recorded 91km/h winds.
NSW residents were also subjected to wild storms that smashed through the northern and southern parts of the state and recorded a plethora of rain.
Overnight, Comboyne and Carrowbrook recorded 43mm and 30mm of rain in half an hour, respectively, and Nowra on the Illawarra coast recorded 21mm of rain in less than 20 minutes. Large hail measuring between 4-5cm was recorded in the northern parts of NSW, including in Bangalow, near Byron Bay, and Lismore.
It was a wild evening for residents in eastern Victoria who also experienced the extreme weather.
Storms ripped through East Gippsland and Mount Elizabeth recorded 41mm of rainfall in just more than half an hour.
Conditions in Western Austraila were extremely windy, with dangerous gusts exceeding 100km/h in the Mid West region of Meekatharra and causing trees to collapse.
The severe storms will continue in the inland areas of WA, including he Goldfields-Esperance region, the Southern Interior, eastern parts of the Central Wheatbelt and southern parts of the Pilbara, largely skipping the west coast of the state.
Conditions in Perth will remain warm and sunny, reaching a top of 30C.
South East Queensland will cop the brunt of the thunderstorms, with large rainfall
“Through this region, we see the risk of damaging wind gusts and heavy rainfall,” Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Christie Johnson said.
Residents of the Sunshine Coast, Hinterland and South Burnett may experience “giant hail” up to 5cm in width.
Brisbane residents will face thunderstorms throughout the day, with the city reaching a maximum temperature of 31C.
Moving down the coast, Sydney residents can expect a wet day, with a maximum temperature of 23C.
Threats of severe thunderstorms, large hail, heavy rainfall and damaging wind gusts will continue in the NSW Northern Rivers, Mid-North Coast, and Northern Tablelands.
It will be a cloudy day in Melbourne, with a maximum temperature of 18C and southerly winds reaching top speeds of 30km/h.
Conditions in Canberra will remain wet on Thursday with a top of 23C, Darwin is in for a partly cloudy day with possible rainfall and a top of 34C, while Hobart residents can expect a cloudy day, with a maximum temperature of 18C.