The snow has finally arrived after NSW’s best hydro week in a year
For most of June, the Snowy Mountains looked like they’d skipped winter altogether. Now, 28 cm of fresh snow has fallen at Thredbo, providing a promising sign for the season’s eventual snowmelt contribution to hydropower. Thredbo in New South Wales was reporting 28 centimetres of...
India’s worst monsoon start in over a decade – what it means for mining and ports
India’s 2026 southwest monsoon delivered the fifth-driest June since records began in 1901 – with Jharkhand’s Chandan Dam, in the heart of the central mining belt, recording zero storage according to the Central Water Commission. The monsoon arrived three...
El Niño Is Here: What a Potential Record Event Means for Southeast Asia and Australia
El Niño was officially declared in June 2026, raising the prospect of widespread impacts across Southeast Asia, from extreme heat and water shortages to higher energy demand and agricultural stress. The World Meteorological Organization has warned countries to “prepare...
How El Niño will shape Australian port operations in winter-spring 2026
Australian ports and marine pilots can expect a season of shifting wind and swell patterns through winter and spring 2026, as a developing El Niño brings the likelihood of drier conditions and more variable operating windows across the country’s...
From Kimberley to northern NSW: Bushfire outlook flags risk for resources sector this winter
Bushfire risk doesn’t usually make headlines in June, but AFAC’s winter seasonal outlook is putting mining and resources operators on alert from the Kimberley to the NSW. Australia’s official seasonal bushfire outlook for winter 2026 was released by AFAC on Thursday, May 28. The...
The signal was there weeks earlier: forecasting one of the year’s biggest wind events
In mid-May 2026, DTN APAC meteorologists flagged a strengthening Southern Ocean pattern in model guidance, signalling an extended run of record-challenging wind conditions across the NEM. Nearly three weeks later, NEM wind generation climbed from around 1.5GW to more than 9GW,...
Rapid El Niño signal accelerating risk for Australian businesses
El Niño–favourable conditions are gathering pace across the tropical Pacific, with key ocean indicators approaching threshold levels and early atmospheric responses emerging. While uncertainty remains around final El Niño strength, historical analogues show that even weak events can generate widespread impacts, including reduced rainfall, warmer...
Australia’s 2025–26 Cyclone Season: Slightly Above Average, Dominated by Severe Systems
Australia has just experienced a highly impactful tropical cyclone season, with more than 60% of systems reaching severe intensity, causing widespread disruption and damage to communities and multiple industries across northern Australia. The 2025–26 Australian tropical cyclone season officially ran from 1 November...
What does a ‘super El Niño’ mean for Australia’s businesses?
There are signs that a very strong, or ‘super’ El Niño could develop in the tropical Pacific Ocean later this year. So, what does this mean for Australia’s weather during the second half of 2026? El Niño on the...
