A popular Brisbane venue damaged by a freak localised storm on Friday night will likely remain closed for months, its manager says.
A popular Brisbane venue damaged by a freak localised storm on Friday night will likely remain closed for months, its manager says.
By Cameron Atfield
January 25, 2025 — 9.50am
A brief but violent storm that ripped through inner-Brisbane on Friday night has severely damaged a popular riverfront venue.
New Farm’s Officers Mess, a repurposed World War II-era US naval base, had parts of its roof ripped off at the height of the storm about 7.50pm.
Up to 100 patrons were reportedly in the venue at the time, with some comparing the storm’s force to a cyclone.
Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics treated one person at the scene, but a spokesperson said they declined transport to hospital.
Shane Kennedy from the Bureau of Meteorology said the Officers Mess was unlucky to be so severely hit, given that wind gusts recorded at nearby weather stations did not reach anywhere near what would be considered a “severe observation”.
The strongest recorded wind gust was 74km/h at Redcliffe at 8.41pm, Kennedy said, while the closest weather stations to New Farm recorded 41km/h (Brisbane City) and 48km/h (Brisbane Airport).
“Certainly the instruments sort of south and north of it didn’t pick up anything, so it may just be more localised to the damage there,” the meteorologist said.
“It can often be the case, unfortunately, that wind can be really very localised.”
Advertisement
Kennedy said large hail was also reported around Beaudesert, to the south of Brisbane.
Brisbane City Council did not report any major damage from the storm, other than a few fallen trees.
Only 4.8 millimetres of rain was reported in the city, but it was concentrated in a 10-minute burst.
As destructive as it was, the storm did have a cooling effect on Brisbane, which had sweltered through a high of what felt like 40.5 degrees about 3pm, although the actual temperature was 35.4 degrees.
At the time of the storm, the temperature plummeted from 31 to 25 degrees within about half an hour.
Kennedy said the week’s heatwave conditions had passed, and storms were unlikely during the long weekend.
“We may see a few isolated, very light showers the next few days, maybe inland, but it’s really only about a 5 to 10 per cent chance for the city, so it shouldn’t really interrupt anyone’s plans,” he said.
“It probably won’t be until late next week – Friday, Saturday – that we might have some showers return. Until then, we’ll get a break from the storms, and even from the showers.”
Comment has been sought from Officers Mess management.
Start the day with a summary of the most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Discover more from World Byte News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
