Stormy Chaos: ‘Super Cell’ Smashes Eastern Australia with Golf Ball-Sized Hail and Flash Flooding – But That’s Not the Worst of It…
- Thousands of Brisbane residents left without power after intense supercell storm hits city
- 21-year-old woman, Finley Bone, tragically killed by lightning strike in Cooroy
- Wild weather warning issued for multiple states, with severe heatwaves and damaging winds on the way
A powerful supercell storm has brought eastern Australia to its knees, unleashing massive amounts of rain and golf ball-sized hail that has left thousands without power and caused widespread destruction. The storm season’s first death has been reported, with 21-year-old Finley Bone tragically killed by a lightning strike in Cooroy.
The intense weather system has been wreaking havoc across the region, with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing severe weather warnings for multiple states. A low-pressure system is expected to bring damaging winds and heavy rainfall to Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania on Monday and Tuesday, with Melbourne Cup day likely to be affected.
“At this stage, there’s a lot of difference between the models as to the exact position and strength of the low, and what that means is that there’s currently high uncertainty with where exactly the heaviest rainfall or the biggest impacts will be,” said senior meteorologist Sarah Scully.
In a dramatic turn of events, a northwest cloudband is expected to form over the weekend, bringing rain to large parts of the country. The system is linked to tropical moisture off the Kimberly coast and will combine with a strong cold front moving southwards across Australia, causing temperatures to plummet and bringing widespread showers, rain areas, and embedded thunderstorms.
Meanwhile, heatwaves continue to persist in the north, with severe heatwave warnings issued for Queensland’s Peninsula, Gulf Country, North Tropical Coast, and Tablelands, as well as the Northern Territory’s Tiwi and Arnhem regions. Residents in affected areas have been urged to “seek a place to keep cool” to avoid the dangers of severe heatwaves.