Severe rain and hail warning for the East Coast
A severe warning has been issued for eastern Australia, where torrential rain bringing hail and damaging winds is expected to hit major cities during the week.
A severe thunderstorm left a trail of devastation as it swept through parts of south-east Queensland. The Somerset area bore the brunt of the weather system, leaving two women injured after lightning damaged their home.
Wet weather is expected to hit southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales on Monday afternoon, with conditions likely to persist over the next seven days.
Sky News meteorologist Rob Sharp said the fires had been discussed “endlessly” over the past two months, but rain was on its way to those affected areas.
Wild weather is expected to hit Australia’s east coast, bringing heavy rain and damaging winds to several capital cities. Image: Supplied/Weatherzone
Fire damage around Dalphin (near Warwick) Bushfires burning across the regional Southern Downs near the Queensland to New South Wales border in early November. Photo: NCA NewsWire/John Gass.
“We are seeing rainfall over the eastern interior, much of which is drought or heading towards drought,” Mr Sharp said.
“We’ve been talking about fires almost endlessly for months, so rain is heading to those areas as well.”
Bureau of Meteorology chief meteorologist Angus Hines said large parts of northern and eastern Australia were in for a “very wet week” with severe storms likely.
“Over the next seven days, we are seeing very stormy weather with widespread outbreaks and stormy conditions across northern and eastern Australia,” Haynes said.
He said 100mm of rain was expected to fall in central and southern Queensland and northern New South Wales on Monday afternoon.
Severe thunderstorms, including heavy rain, damaging winds and hail, are expected to hit isolated pockets of northern NSW. Photo: Mark Evans/Getty Images.
Severe thunderstorms, including heavy rain, damaging winds and hail, are expected to hit isolated pockets of central-southern Queensland. Photo: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled.
While stormy conditions are not unusual for this time of year, Mr Haynes said such conditions usually only last for a few days.
“Basically, the entire week every day will see areas of rain and thunderstorms across the east and north of the country,” he said.
Some areas are expected to witness locally heavy rainfall in these areas, and some areas are likely to see more than 200 mm of rain.
Mr Haynes said the severe thunderstorms expected this week would include heavy rain and damaging wind gusts as well as large amounts of hail.
Some areas across the country are set to receive more than 200mm of rain, according to Angus Haynes, chief meteorologist at the Met Office. Image: Supplied/Weatherzone
“We’re definitely looking at some hail, which could be quite large in the southern parts of Queensland,” he said.
Looking ahead to December and Christmas, long-range forecasts still predict hot and dry conditions across the country as a result of El Niño dominating the Pacific region.
“We will likely have some warm areas on Christmas Day,” he said.
Forecasts indicate that rainfall will be limited in Tasmania, Victoria, southern South Australia and north-eastern Queensland throughout December.
(tags for translation)Rob Sharpe
