On Thursday afternoon, the South Burnett region in Queensland experienced severe storms that led to flash flooding, fallen trees, hail, strong winds, and intense lightning. The supercell storm began around 4:30 PM after a hot day, with Proston recording the heaviest rainfall—79mm in just one hour—and hailstones measuring up to 3cm.
Over a 24-hour period, the area accumulated a total of 99mm of rain. Kingaroy experienced wind gusts reaching 67 km/h, while more than 280,000 lightning strikes were recorded around Nanango and 300,000 around Gayndah. The severe weather caused power outages affecting over 2,000 properties, with 245 in the South Burnett still without power the following Friday. Ergon Energy thanked residents for their patience and assured ongoing support.
The Bureau of Meteorology forecasted more isolated storms with possible rain, large hail, and damaging winds over the weekend. The storm was expected to move towards Central Queensland, with cooler temperatures anticipated.