Huge chunks of hail struck parts of the Sunshine Coast on Thursday, when thousands of properties were without power.
Severe thunderstorms swept across South-East Queensland late yesterday afternoon and into the evening.
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded 5-8cm hail at Black Mountain near Cooroy, while locals around the Sunshine Coast posted photos of golf ball-sized hail and bigger.
Hail larger than 5cm in diameter is considered ‘giant’.
Some of the locals in Cooroy took to social media to express their shock at the storm.
“Wasn’t it crazy? The noise was incredible,” Michele Ann said.
“Very full-on. Deafening,” Marcus Swan added.
“Worst I’ve seen in 40 years,” Tara Monroe exclaimed.
“Not much Halloween fun for children,” Diana Morrison said.
Cooroy also received 98mm of rain, while there falls of about 40-80mm around the region.
About 4000 properties around the Sunshine Coast lost power, including about 2000 at Cooroy. Others were at Eumundi, Mapleton, Montville and more.
A BOM spokesperson said there was a chance of more storms and hail on Friday.
“Thunderstorms are forecast again today across eastern Queensland, with more severe thunderstorms likely this afternoon/evening,” they told Sunshine Coast News.
“The area of concern is across the Wide Bay Burnett, into the south-east coast, bringing large to giant sized hail, damaging wind and heavy rainfall.
“More storms are expected across eastern Queensland on Saturday.”
The BOM issued a thunderstorm warning for South-East Queensland at 2pm on Friday.
A moist and unstable airmass combined with a south-easterly wind change moving up the coast was leading to the development of severe thunderstorms through the region.
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