Preparing Your Trees for Brisbane Storm Season (November to March)

What Brisbane storm season looks like

Brisbane's storm season runs from November to March. Afternoon thunderstorms roll in off the ranges with large hail, torrential rain and destructive winds. The 27 November 2014 hailstorm hit the city with wind gusts of 141 km/h and is still the benchmark most locals use.

The last couple of seasons have been rough. In November 2025 the ABC reported at least six hailstorm events across south-east Queensland in six weeks, with 14cm hail at Chandler and 11cm on the bayside. Before that, ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred crossed the coast on 8 March 2025 as a category 1 system. Brisbane recorded 275.2mm on 10 March, the highest daily total since 1974, and more than 500,000 customers lost power.

Trees were a big part of that. Energex linked 42% of Alfred blackouts to vegetation, and Brisbane City Council's follow-up found around 20,000 of its 411,000 street trees in poor condition. If council trees fared that badly, it is worth asking how the ones in your backyard would go.

The good news is that most tree failures in storms are predictable, and the work that prevents them is cheaper than the clean-up.

Which trees fail in storms

After every big storm we see the same patterns across the Redlands, Logan and the southside. The trees that come down or shed limbs are usually ones with a problem you could have spotted from the ground.

• Dead wood. Dead limbs have no flex. In a gust they snap and drop.
• Included bark and co-dominant stems. Two trunks of similar size growing from one point with bark trapped between them. The union is weak and splits under load.
• Previously lopped trees. Heavy regrowth on rotting stubs. See why lopping fails.
• Dense canopies. A thick crown acts as a sail. Wind cannot pass through, so the whole tree loads up.
• Waterlogged root plates. Days of rain soften the soil, and a tall tree with a shallow root plate can tip over whole. Soil lifting on one side of the trunk is a warning.
• Termite or fungal decay. Hollow limbs and trunks fail without warning. Gums and old stumps are common hosts; see our termite guide.
• Cocos palms and other weak species. Fronds and fruit come down first, and heavy crowns snap.

A walk around the yard in October with this list is the cheapest tree inspection you will ever do.

Pre-season tree checklist for your yard

Do this before the first November storm, not after the warning comes through.

• Look up. Are there dead branches, hanging limbs or bare sections in the canopy?
• Look at the trunk. Cracks, splits, fungus brackets, weeping, holes or termite mud tubes.
• Look at the base. Mushrooms, soil heave, exposed roots, or a lean that was not there last year.
• Look at what is under the tree. Roof, carport, pool, driveway, fence, powerlines, the neighbour's house.
• Check clearance. Branches touching the roof or gutters will strip tiles and block downpipes. Branches near powerlines are a separate matter; read our powerlines guide.
• Clear the gutters. Leaf litter plus a night of torrential rain is a flooded ceiling.
• Photograph everything. If a tree does fail, you will want a record of its condition beforehand for council and your insurer.

Bushfire season overlaps the front end of storm season. It runs July to December, sometimes into February, and Redland City Council recommends trimming low branches to 2 metres from the ground on acreage. A crown lift does both jobs at once for blocks in Sheldon and Mount Cotton backing onto bushland.

Pruning that reduces storm damage

The right pruning makes a tree more stable. The wrong pruning, lopping, makes it worse. Everything we do is to AS 4373-2007.

• Deadwooding. The single most useful pre-storm job on a mature gum. Removes the limbs that will drop first. Guide cost $150 to $1,500 per GoTreeQuotes.
• Crown thinning. Lets wind through the canopy instead of loading it up. Guide $300 to $2,000.
• Crown lifting. Clears the roof, driveway and fire zone. Guide $200 to $700.
• Weight reduction on long limbs. Shortens over-extended branches back to laterals so the lever arm is smaller.
• Removal of hazardous trees. When decay, lean or a split union cannot be fixed by pruning. See tree removal and the cost guide.

Book early. Every arborist in Brisbane is flat out from the first big storm until March, and pre-season work in September and October gets done at normal rates rather than emergency ones. Our tree pruning page covers each job, and the cost calculator gives a starting figure.

One caution: Brisbane City Council allows pruning of up to 20% of live foliage in 12 months on protected trees without a permit. The limit is about live foliage, so deadwooding and a heavy reduction are treated differently. We check as part of the quote.

Council rules for storm-damaged and dangerous trees

You do not need to wait weeks for a permit to deal with a tree that is about to fall on the house. Most council schemes have a hazard or emergency exemption, but they come with conditions.

Brisbane City Council's fact sheet exempts trees with an obvious immediate hazard, giving split trunks and trees leaning with soil upheaval as examples. You must send photos to council within 10 business days. Dead trees and genuine emergencies are also exempt. The exemptions do not cover "significant landscape trees".

Logan's exemption criteria and the state koala protections both carry emergency exemptions too. Redland City Council protects trees through City Plan overlays and Local Law No. 6, so for a damaged tree in Cleveland or Birkdale that is still standing, a quick call to council before it comes down is the safe move.

The rule we give every customer: photograph the tree before anyone cuts it. A split trunk on the ground looks like an ordinary log. A split trunk still standing, with the crack and the lean visible, is evidence. Our council permit guide covers each council in detail.

After the storm: emergency tree removal

When a tree is down on the house, the driveway or the fence, the order of business is safety, then access, then clean-up.

• If a tree or branch is touching a powerline, Energex says stay 10 metres away and call 000. Do not try to move it.
• Keep people and pets clear of the tree. Loaded limbs under tension spring when cut.
• Photograph the damage for your insurer before anything is moved.
• Call us. We run emergency tree removal seven days a week from Sheldon, covering the Redlands, Logan and Brisbane's southside.

Emergency work costs more than planned work. Brisbane guide pricing notes a premium of around 50% after hours, and big jobs may need a crane at $1,800 to $4,500 a day or an EWP at $800 to $2,200 a day. Making a tree safe on the day and coming back to finish the removal and stump grinding during normal hours usually keeps the bill down.

One thing to know before the season: some insurers exclude fallen-tree damage where the tree had pre-existing termite damage. Getting a termite-affected gum or stump dealt with in spring can save an argument in summer. And once the debris is gone, we can chip it into mulch on site or take it away; see mulching and green waste.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Climate of Brisbane
• ABC News: south-east Queensland hailstorm frequency, November 2025
• Bureau of Meteorology: Tropical Cyclone Alfred 2025
• ABC News: Brisbane council trees and Cyclone Alfred damage
• Brisbane City Council: Do I need a permit? fact sheet
• Energex: trees and powerlines
• Dynamic Tree Solutions: Brisbane tree removal cost 2026
• Queensland Government: bushfire season in Queensland