Parts of south-east Queensland have been hit by giant hailstones with the region on alert for more storm activity, including damaging winds and heavy rainfall on Saturday afternoon.
Thousands of people are without power as storms move through.
At Pratten, west of Warwick in the Southern Downs region, nine centimetre giant hail — large enough to cause damage to cars and homes — was reported at about 1pm.
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At MJ’s Cafe in the rural township, about two-and-a-half hours west of Brisbane, opening day turned chaotic when “tennis ball-sized hail” hit.
Owner Richard Manley said the roof was entirely “smashed in” when the storm moved quickly through town.
Mr Manley says he has been left with a huge clean-up, with “almost tennis ball sized” hail falling. (Supplied: Richard Manley)
“We basically had everyone huddled in our kitchen area because the roof came down in the actual bar area,” he said.
“There was golf ball-sized hail coming into the bar smashing into the counter.”
The giant hail caused damage to windscreens in Pratten. (Supplied: Richard Manley)
Several motorists with smashed windscreens pulled in seeking shelter, he said.
“We had about thirty people who were driving past, their car windows getting smashed and they saw refuge and they just pulled in,” Mr Manley said.
Thousands without power
In Clifton, near Toowoomba, Julie Blurton had golf ball-sized hailstones smash through the skylight and windows at her cafe at about 2pm.
“There’s crockery that’s all been smashed from the hailstones coming in through the roof,” she said.
Ms Blurton said the storm came in two waves and moved quickly, lasting for 20 minutes and leaving a trail of destruction behind it.
She said many of the trees in the street were stripped bare and parked cars had their windows shattered.
“It’s all a very big mess,” she said.Loading…
The Bureau of Meteorology said the storm activity near Toowoomba could be categorised as a supercell.
Speaking to the ABC at 3pm on Saturday, senior meteorologist Harry Clarke said the weather bureau was keeping a close eye on that supercell, which was sitting north of Gatton.
“We are currently tracking that cell, it’s had a history of producing giant hail in parts of the Darling Downs,” he said.
“It’s a very dangerous storm for that reason alone … it is a very dynamic situation.”
Mr Clarke urged people to keep up with warnings.
He said lightning had been reported from Strathpine in the Moreton region all the way to the New South Wales border.
More than 3,000 people across south-east Queensland were without power, according to Energex and Ergon.
The Toowoomba, Logan and Maranoa areas were among the most heavily impacted.
The storm was still brewing near Munbilla in the Scenic Rim around 1:40pm. (Supplied: Natalie Ward)
In the Scenic Rim, two centimetre hailstones were reported at Mount Walker.
The bureau has issued severe thunderstorm warnings for large parts of south-east Queensland, the Darling Downs as well as parts of central Queensland.
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