Australian Weather

Today, 12:16AM UTC

The atmosphere is primed for intense thunderstorms over southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales on Monday, with a risk of supercells bringing destructive winds and giant hail. Parts of southeast Qld were hit with massive hailstones on Sunday as severe storms swept over eastern Australia. This included hail measuring around 8cm in diameter to the south of Brisbane, caused by a supercell that roared across the Scenic Rim and Logan regions shortly after sunset. Image: A supercell passing over parts of southeast Qld on Sunday evening. Source: Weatherzone. Monday has all the ingredients for further severe thunderstorm development over northeast NSW and southeast Qld. Computer models suggest populated areas in both states could see severe storms in the afternoon and evening. The three main ingredients for thunderstorms are: Instability Moisture Trigger Atmospheric instability will be abundant over southeast Qld and northeast NSW on Monday due to warm air near the surface and much cooler, drier air aloft. This instability will provide the lift required to build large thunderstorm clouds stretching thousands of metres into the sky. There will also be plenty of moisture available in the lower and middle levels of the atmosphere, providing ample fuel for storm clouds to become loaded with rain and hail. There will also be two main triggers for storms on Monday. The first will be a ‘dry line’ sitting over southeast Qld and northeast NSW, which is a zone where moisture-laden air to the east clashes with drier air to the west. The second trigger for storms will be a southeastern wind change moving towards the north throughout the afternoon and evening. One additional ingredient that will help make Monday’s storms particularly dangerous is wind shear, which refers to the change in wind speed and direction with height. Strong wind shear over southeast Qld and northeast NSW will help create rotation in thunderstorms, increasing the likelihood of supercells, which are the most violent and dangerous type of thunderstorm. Storms on Monday should initially form over northeast NSW in the afternoon before spreading into southeast Qld during the afternoon and early evening. Monday’s severe thunderstorms are likely to cause heavy rain, damaging wind gusts in excess of 90 km/h and large hail measuring larger than 2cm in diameter in some areas. If supercells develop, wind gusts exceeding 125 km/h and giant hail exceeding 5m will also be a risk. Image: Forecast accumulated rain on Monday, showing the general region where thunderstorms are expected to occur according to the ACCESS-C model. Source: Weatherzone. Severe thunderstorm warnings are likely to be issued and updated throughout the afternoon and evening, so be sure to check the latest warnings in your area and keep an eye on the radar to see where storms are moving. Thunderstorms will affect parts of Qld every day this week and storms will also be a regular feature in several other Australian states and territories throughout the week. Brisbane and other areas of southeast Qld and northeast NSW could see potentially severe storms every day between now and at least Thursday.

23 Nov 2025, 11:49PM UTC

Severe Tropical Cyclone Fina intensified to a category 4 storm on Sunday after passing close to Darwin, and is expected to make landfall over the NE corner of Western Australia on Monday afternoon or evening. As of 5am (AWST), Fina was located about 95 km/h from the closest point of the WA coastline at Berkeley River Mouth, and was packing sustained winds near the centre of 185 km/h with gusts to 260 km/h. As Fina continued its relatively slow path towards landfall, the BoM warned that: Very destructive wind gusts to 185 km/h may develop over the coastal areas between King George River Mouth and Berkeley River Mouth on Monday afternoon as Fina approaches the coastline. Heavy to locally intense rainfall which may lead to flash flooding would develop about the northeast Kimberley coast as early as Monday morning. Image: Two-hour satellite and radar loop showing Tropical Cyclone Fina as dawn turned to day in far NE Western Australia on Monday, November 24, 2025. While Fina remains a powerful and potentially destructive cyclone which is expected to cross the coastline as a category 3 storm, there are three main reasons why its damage to human property should be minimal. IT’S A STRONG BUT RELATIVELY SMALL CYLONE: Fina has always been a relatively small cyclone (in terms of area), meaning the zone impacted by cyclonic-strength winds has been constrained to a radius of about 100km from the eye of the storm. FINA WILL MAKE LANDFALL ON A SPARSELY POPULATED AREA OF COASTLINE: While there are some tiny outposts in the area where Fina is likely to make landfall (including the luxury Berkeley River Lodge which is only accessible by air), the only town of note close to the warning zone is Kalumburu (population approx. 400), which is WA’s northernmost town. FINA WILL WEAKEN QUICKLY UPON LANDFALL: Tropical cyclones tend to lose power quickly as they move inland. This is because they rapidly become starved of the warm ocean water which is their fuel. But Fina will also encounter atmospheric conditions – in the form of high wind shear – which ensure it downgrades quickly to a tropical low. Wind shear is a difference in wind direction and/or wind speed across a portion of the atmosphere. Areas of low wind shear enable tropical cyclones to intensify with minimal disruption to their vertical structure. High wind shear does the opposite, effectively tearing the storm apart. That’s why the latest track map for Fina shows it downgrading to a category 1 storm within 12 hours of making landfall, and a tropical low within 24 hours of landfall. Image: The latest track map for Severe Tropical Cyclone Fina issued at 5:00am (AWST) on Monday, November 24, 2025. Source: BoM. Please check the latest warnings for Severe Tropical Cyclone Fina on the Weatherzone tropical cyclone page.