Severe storms bring down powerlines

THE weather bureau has cancelled its warning after a band of storms swept through the southeast, bringing down powerlines and blacking out homes.

The Bureau of Meteorology's David Grant said the storm was passing quickly with most places affected experiencing a short burst of heavy rain and thunderstorms followed by more moderate rainfall.

"Brisbane suburbs received around 30-40mm of rain this afternoon, all over a period of half an hour to an hour," he said.

"The shorts bursts of rainfall came with little in the way of wind gusts, with winds of generally less than 50km/h recorded."

About 1200 homes and businesses in bayside Wynnum are without power after severe weather brought down powerlines.

An Energex spokesman said crews were on-site attempting to restore power as quickly as possible but heavy rain was making conditions difficult.

Zoe O 'Farrell, 6, and her brother Austin, 5, from Raceview fly the flying fox at Queens Park in Ipswich under threatening skies. Picture: Marsden Tim

About 1500 homes have also lost power in the Varsity Lakes area on the Gold Coast.

An Energex spokesman said the cause was yet to be found and crews were patrolling the area.

At 6.35pm, the bureau cancelled its warning for the Wide Bay and Burnett and Darling Downs and Granite Belt districts, and cancelled all warnings about 7pm.

 At 5.10pm, the bureau had warned severe thunderstorms were detected on radar near Logan City, Mount Nebo, the D'Aguilar Ranges and Lake Somerset.

These thunderstorms are moving towards the east and are forecast to affect Beenleigh, Strathpine, Mount Mee and Wamuran by 5:40 pm and Brisbane CBD, Cleveland, Redcliffe and Caboolture by 6:10 pm.

Weather services manager Richard Wardel said the system was moving east.

Storm clouds building over Kings Beach, Caloundra. Pic: Glenn Barnes

Rainfall of 50mm has been predicted, which may cause flash flooding if the thunderstorms continue to develop.

Send us your storm pics via email to cmonline@qnp.newsltd.com.au or MMS to 0428 258 117 (include your name with MMS for attribution)

He said the severe weather warning extended from Rainbow Beach near Maryborough to Point Danger on the Queensland border.

"The weather system has a northwest-southeast orientation. It will initially cover the Gold Coast and move towards the north as the evening progresses."

Dr Wardel would not draw comparisons between the approaching thunderstorm and the storm that ravaged the southeast last Sunday.

"At the moment, we can't compare. All I will say is that we expect severe thunderstorms to develop."

Storm clouds building over Kings Beach, Caloundra. Pic: Glenn Barnes

He said a surface trough that developed over the Channel Country in southwest Queensland was responsible for the storms.

"Warm and unstable air created a lifting mechanism for the storm to amplify. That air sometimes also creates a down draft, which gives you those strong gusts."

At 3:33pm the bureau warned severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding in the warning area over the next several hours.

Locations which may be affected include Warwick, Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Brisbane, Dalby, Ipswich, Moreton Bay and islands, Kingaroy and Stanthorpe.

The weather bureau is predicting short bursts of heavy rainfall and damaging wind gusts in excess of 90km/h will batter Warwick, Toowoomba, Dalby, Ipswich, Stanthorpe, Boonah, Oakey, Chinchilla and Miles.

Forecaster David Grant expected rainfall of 40-50mm in 30 minutes over the Darling Downs and 50-70mm over an hour closer to the southeast coast, which may lead to flash flooding.

"We will see a thunderstorm come through Brisbane later today, but it's difficult to predict its severity," he said.

"The weather system is impacting Toowoomba now and will move across the Lockyer Valley and inland parts of the southeast in a couple of hours. It should reach Brisbane later this afternoon or early this evening."

  Earlier, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Ben Annells said  more showers are being seen around the Brisbane area with a trough line moving east.

"In terms of thunderstorms, we've got showers around at the moment that have been moving in, preventing any local heating from getting going," he said.

"There's quite a bit of cloud over the southern part of the state but we're more looking at the trough providing the lift to generate these thunderstorms."

He said it was unknown when the severe weather, including gale winds, could hit.

"It's a matter of waiting and seeing," he said.

Earlier today, Mr Annells said there was a possibility of severe thunderstorms today with this morning's cloud cover already producing light, patchy showers.

"We have a surface trough that's moving over the southeast interior to the east," he said.

"We do expect to see that produce more intense rain and thunderstorms towards the coast."

He said there was also the potential for severe wind gusts.

"We're yet to see widespread storm activity - it will be a matter of waiting and seeing."

Mr Annells said the storm activity would develop into this evening.

"By the time we get up tomorrow most will have gone", he said.

Mr Annells advised that anyone concerned should watch the radar and keep an eye out for severe weather warnings.

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