A massive hailstorm that centred on Murwillumbah late yesterday afternoon brought fist-sized hailstones and had the State Emergency Service (SES) working overtime.
One of the biggest problems, according to the SES was that people’s gutters filled up with hailstones so quickly that the rain that followed backed up into the roofs of their homes.
Further north, the southern Gold Coast also took a beating, with 44mm rain falling at Currumbin Creek in just half an hour.
Around 4.30pm yesterday afternoon, floodwater covered parts of the M1 between Robina and Mudgeeraba just as the evening peak hour hit.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Rick Threlfall said three to four centimetres of hail was reported around the area, as well as very heavy rainfall.
’A lot of places [were] picking up around about 50 to 60 millimetres in a fairly short period of time,’ Mr Threlfall said.
He added today’s weather should not be as bad as yesterday.
‘It will be very, very unlikely to see a repeat of yesterday. That upper trough has moved away now so it should be mostly fine around the region, with just a very slight chance of one or two showers developing as we go through the day,’ he said.