Weather News
AFL Grand Final should be mostly dry after severe afternoon storms
Anthony Sharwood, Saturday October 24, 2020 - 18:14 EDTWell, that was close.
If this evening's AFL Grand Final between the Geelong Cats and Richmond Tigers at the Gabba in Brisbane had been scheduled in the traditional afternoon slot, it would have been absolute chaos.
But the severe storms which struck Brisbane between 2 pm and 3 pm on Saturday afternoon are now moving out to sea, and there is now only a 30% chance of a shower during the game, most likely in the first quarter.
Image: A line of severe thundrstorms moves through southeast Queensland, including Brisbane, on Saturday afternoon.
The chance of lightning or thunder during the grand final has also diminished, with less than a 10% chance of lightning occurring within 10km of the ground during game time, most likely in the first quarter.
Under the AFL's Extreme Weather Policy, play must be suspended for at least 30 minutes and players ordered indoors if there is lighting within a 10 km radius of the ground.
There were enough flashes of lightning in Brisbane this afternoon that play would definitely have been suspended at the first ever season-decider played outside of Melbourne - a move forced by the Covid situation in Victoria.
The storms also brought heavy rainfall which would have sorely tested the Gabba's drainage capacity, with surface water making the game all but unplayable.
Brisbane weather update: currently POURING with rain. BUCKETING! #AFLGF @9NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/Z6xL5ZuOJE
— Alicia Muling (@AliciaMuling9) October 24, 2020
"It absolutely hammered down for 30 minutes," Brisbane resident David Marler told Weatherzone.
"The puddles on the ground were too much for stormwater drains."
Paul, a resident of Camp Hill just a few kilometres east of The Gabba, told us his gauge recorded 74mm and described conditions as "torrential".
The official reading at the BoM weather station in the Brisbane CBD recorded 25.8mm between 2pm and 2:30 pm.
But despite the afternoon deluge, the ground should dry out enough for the bounce at 6:30 pm local time (7:30 m AEDT), and the ground should not be too slippery.
All signs now point to the grand final being largely rain-free - and when you consider it features two teams with feline mascots, that's probably a good thing as we all know how much cats hate water.
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