Parts of Australia’s east coast have been hit by what authorities have called the first tropical storm of the season.
The front stretched 260 kilometres across south-east Queensland, bringing flash flooding to some suburbs of the Gold Coast.
A storm warning for large hailstones, damaging winds and heavy rainfall was still in place tonight for some parts, including the Tropical Coast and Tablelands and Wide Bay Burnett.
The volatile weather is being driven by a trough and cold front, which is causing temperatures to plummet with the thunder and lightning to follow.
Earlier in the day, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a warning for severe storms in Queensland.
The forecast area extended from Bamaga in Cape York all the way to the Gold Coast.
“Storms will continue threatening for much of this week,” the bureau said.
Senior meteorologist Jonathan How urged residents to keep across warnings during what could be a wet week.
“We are going to see increased rainfall across eastern Queensland through the week,” he said.
“From tomorrow, we will see showers and storms increasing mainly north of Rockhampton.
“Wednesday and Thursday, those will be the wettest days of the week, pushing towards the Sunshine Coast with daily rainfall totals of 50mm to 100mm.
“Brisbane will also see some rain on Thursday but the bulk will be across Central Queensland, where we could see rain and possible flash flooding.
“(We’re) reminding residents across Queensland to keep an eye on the warnings in the week with heavy rainfalls to come.”
The warning of flooding rains comes as storms also “flare up” in NSW and Victoria.
“(They) are likely to spread further north and east as the afternoon progresses,” Weatherzone wrote, warning storms could become severe in the afternoon.
“Isolated thunderstorms are likely to impact the Sydney region from this afternoon, with thunderstorm activity extending into the Central Slopes and Tablelands, potentially as far west as Hillston, in the NSW Riverina.
“There remains a risk of thunderstorms again becoming severe during the late afternoon/evening, particularly in the Central West and Tablelands, with damaging wind gusts and large hail a possibility should those severe storms eventuate.”
Incredible aerial images show extent of Condobolin flooding
The same cold front and trough generated significant storms over South Australia and western Victoria yesterday.
Fast-moving storms also brought lightning and strong gusts to much of Sydney and the Illawarra in the late afternoon.
