Severe thunderstorms lashed eastern Australia on Wednesday, with areas across Queensland and New South Wales under heightened weather warnings.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued alerts for dangerous storms that could bring destructive winds, giant hail, and intense rainfall, leading to flash flooding in some regions.
Meteorologist Jonathan How stated that the worst of the storms were expected across southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales, including cities like Brisbane, Toowoomba, the Sunshine Coast, and Gold Coast.
He warned of potential supercell thunderstorms capable of producing winds over 100 km/h, hailstones larger than 5 cm, and intense rainfall. These conditions could cause widespread disruptions and flash flooding.
The wild weather was linked to several low-pressure troughs interacting with warm, humid air from surrounding oceans, leading to conditions ripe for severe storms.
Lithgow Hospital’s power briefly goes out, but backup generators ensure uninterrupted medical services.According to Weatherzone, the storms were expected to trigger up to 10 million lightning strikes across the country by the weekend.
In the central west region of New South Wales, residents of Parkes reported hailstones up to 3 cm in diameter, while wind gusts of 70-80 km/h were recorded in other parts of the state.
Some areas, like Warwick in Queensland, experienced wind speeds as high as 91 km/h. Rainfall totals reached between 10-30 mm in many regions, further complicating the situation.
One of the notable impacts occurred at Lithgow Hospital in New South Wales, where a brief power outage was reported.
Thankfully, backup generators kicked in within seconds, ensuring that hospital operations continued uninterrupted.
The power was fully restored shortly thereafter, and no services were affected.
In NSW, areas like Grafton, Tenterfield, and Mudgee were expected to endure the worst of the weather, while Sydney was largely spared.
Meanwhile, a severe weather warning issued for Victoria was later canceled as thunderstorms eased across the region.