SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SE QUARTER OF QLD - JANUARY 5, 2000

The model forecasts for Wednesday in the SE quarter of Queensland were looking promising, with -6 LI's and CAPES in excess of 2000.  They day started off quite ordinary in Brisbane, with some horrible dry looking Cu around, but during the afternoon  things began to look much better, and before long storms began to develop.  Some of these storms were severe, with reports of 50 knot winds at the Taroom Powerhouse (roughly NW of Brisbane), and 11 houses damaged in Brisbane (mostly from trees falling on houses).  There was even a report of a funnel cloud from a spotter in the Boonah shire! There were also reports of hail (up to 10 cent coin size) reported from several Brisbane suburbs.

This Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued by the Bureau of Meteorology late in the afternoon

TOP PRIORITY SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING Issued by the Bureau of Meteorology, Brisbane at 5:53pm EST on Wednesday the 5th of January 2000 For the Southeast Coast, Wide Bay and Burnett Districts An intense thunderstorm is now moving over the eastern parts of Moreton Bay towards the southern section of Moreton Island. Some reports of moderate hail and strong winds have been reported with this thunderstorm. This storm will move seawards in the next 15 minutes or so. Otherwise, thunderstorms are now decreasing over the southeast coast district but persist in the Wide Bay and Burnett Districts. However, no further possible severe thunderstorms are expected this evening and the warning is hereby FINALISED. Warnings were issued by the Bureau throughout the afternoon.

Brisbane Storm Chasers Anthony Cornelius, Jonty Hall, Ross Portas and myslef (Ben Quinn) were chasing SW of Brisbane on this day.  Click here or on any of the above photos to see the report.