Widespread storms lashing Qld and northern NSW
Kim Westcott
Storms are once again rumbling through New South Wales and parts of Queensland, bringing an impressive lightning show, gusty winds and heavy rain.
On Sunday, storms lit up the northern NSW skies, with over 165 000 lightning strikes in 24 hours.
Coonabarabran clocked up a 93km/h gust in the afternoon as storms rolled through. Tamworth also saw winds gust to 78km/h in the evening.
At Tamworth, heavy rain quickly followed the gusty winds, with 24mm falling in 30mins last night. In the 24 hours to 9am Monday, Tamworth saw 67mm land in the gauge, which is more than their January average of 61mm.
Glen Innes recorded 9mm in 10 minutes early this morning, with a total of 49mm to 9am Monday. This represents over half the average monthly rainfall falling in less than 12 hours.
These storms have since spread throughout Queensland. A line of storms currently measures around 1000 km long, extending from central QLD to northeast NSW. There has been over 5500 ground strikes recorded in an hour to 3pm this afternoon. Dalby recorded 6mm in 10 minutes this afternoon. Alongside the heavy rain, the temperature dropped by a five-degrees in 15 minutes.
There is currently a Severe Storm Warning for NSW's Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast, North West Slopes and Plains and the Northern Tablelands, with heavy rain potentially leading to flash flooding.
A region of low pressure is responsible for these storms and will slowly move north out of NSW over the next 24 hours. For QLD, the stormy skies will remain for a few days, although the rain will also shift north, with indications of heavy falls over central inland parts.
To stay up to date with the latest warnings visit http://www.weatherzone.com.au/warnings.jsp
Note to media: You are welcome to republish text from the above news article as direct quotes from Weatherzone. When doing so, please reference www.weatherzone.com.au in the credit.