Toowoomba News

• More than 11,000 customers lose power after Queensland storms

  An intense storm cell with dramatic lightning moves over the Brisbane area, delaying Friday evening commuters with heavy rain, strong winds and large hail.

• Severe storms possible in south-east Queensland and Darling Downs

  After a few days of mostly clear weather across Queensland, storms are likely to return to most parts of the state today.

• Giant hail laid waste to solar panels. Is it time standards changed?

  Prue and Jamie Rogers were in the path of a savage pair of storms that wreaked havoc in south-east Queensland this month. They are wholly reliant on their solar system, but massive hailstones have left it in ruins.

• Cocaine detected in more than 1,000 Queensland roadside drug tests

  More than 1,000 positive drug tests involving cocaine have been recorded by Queensland Police since the narcotic became part of the state's roadside testing regime as drug driving overtakes drink driving in fatal crashes. 

• More storms for Queensland's south amid unsettled weather across state

  Storms are expected across a large part of inland Queensland, with the Darling Downs region set to cop another weekend of severe weather.  

• Man charged with fleecing nearly 900 sheep in 'significant' stock theft

  A 69-year-old man has been charged after allegedly stealing 880 sheep and selling them through a saleyard. 

• Two obstetrics directors resign and senior midwives on leave in SEQ hospital

  Thousands of babies are born at the Toowoomba Base Hospital each year, but some women say they are scared to give birth there.

• Roofs peeled and aircraft damaged as storms lash southern Queensland

  Severe storms have again rolled through southern Queensland, smashing parts of the state still recovering from weekend weather.

• Two years since 'entirely preventable' plane crash, this family wants answers

  Will Jennings had been in Australia helping to survey bushfires from the sky for 11 days when he died. Two years on, his family wants answers.

• Giant hail left SEQ solar panels with gaping holes. Here's what you can do

  If solar panels at your property sustain hail damage, is there anything you can do to avoid further problems? 

• What caused the 'unusual' giant hail that smashed south-east Queensland

  Hailstones of up to 8 and 9 centimetres hit parts of Queensland over the weekend. What caused them to be so large?

• Possible storms and showers forecast for south-east Queensland as weather cools

  More wet weather is expected in south-east Queensland before clear skies return later this week.

• Couple swaps marine engineering for life as outback publicans

  Adam and Prue Brancher had no experience running a pub when they decided to uproot their lives in Tasmania and move to outback Queensland. 

• Injuries recorded as giant hail, storms lash parts of south-east Queensland

  Giant hailstones, lightning and rain have lashed parts of the state's south-east with supercell storm activity reported.

• Almost two years after floods washed her away, a cow comes home

  A south-east Queensland cattle producer reunites with one of her prized cows, nearly two years after it was swept away in floodwater. 

• Storm warnings ahead with tornadoes and giant hail ahead of widespread rain

  Australia's storm season shifts into top gear, and the next 72 hours will deliver a combination of rain, showers or thunderstorms to the eastern two-thirds of the country.

• Golden crop brings new opportunities for Queensland farmers

  While they are a long way off from rivalling the plantings in Western Australia or New South Wales, growers in Queensland are experimenting with canola and reaping the rewards.

• Darling Downs 'inundated' with reports of snakes, bites and near misses

  Gunter Glasser has been catching snakes for almost 30 years across Southern Queensland, but October has been an especially busy month.

• Hail and thunderstorms begin hitting large parts of Queensland

  Damaging storms are forecast from the New South Wales border, west to the Darling Downs and all the way up the coast to the Capricornia, Mackay and the Central Highlands.

• Tributes for 'smart alec from out west' whose camp ovens fed thousands

  Known far and wide for his famous dampers and establishing the Australian Camp Oven Festival, Ned Winter will be laid to rest today.

• Police find suspected human remains during search of rural property

  Police divers, cadaver dogs and SES have been searching a property at Cressbrook Creek, north of Toowoomba, as they investigate the alleged murder of Paul Woods.

• Temperatures plummet across Queensland after record-breaking heat

  A cool change on Tuesday will provide welcome relief after the extreme heat as thousands remain without power across the state.

• Births mark conservation success for rare Queensland wombat

  Three wild-born northern hairy-nosed wombats born in Powrunna State Forest mark a new chapter in the species' recovery from near extinction.

• Storm clean-up continues as Brisbane hits 39 degrees

  Tens of thousands of homes remain without power after destructive storms, as south-east Queensland swelters through another scorcher. The mercury in parts of Brisbane reached 39.1 degrees Celsius, on par with the hottest October day since 1957.

• Exoskeletons trialled to reduce physical strain of repetitive labour

  An ordinary worker puts on a power suit and gains extra strength. It sounds like the plot of a superhero film, but this is no work of fiction.