The sunspot region that produced last week’s mesmerising aurora displays has just unleashed another strong solar flare, this one even more powerful than anything else seen during the current solar cycle. In case you missed it, large areas of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres were treated to vivid aurora displays late last week. Image: Aurora […]
The BoM has officially placed Australia on a La Niña watch, less than a month after El Niño was officially declared over. “There are some early signs that a La Niña might form in the Pacific Ocean later in 2024,” the BoM reported in its May 14 update. “As a result, the Bureau’s ENSO [El […]
Auroras lit up the skies on the weekend amid one of the strongest geomagnetic storms in years, but did this display impact businesses? The spectacular exhibit was the aurora borealis/australis or northern and southern lights seen in both hemispheres. Images: Aurora Australis on Saturday, May 11 from Bendleby Ranges, SA (top), source: […]
Perth is about to obliterate its record for the longest run of days above 25°C in May as the city experiences an unusual run of late-season warmth. A lack of strong cold fronts and frequent easterly winds have been causing an uninterrupted spell of warm days in Perth over the past week. This warm weather […]
Some much-needed rain will fall across western Tasmania this week, soaking parts of the state that have been running more than 200 mm below their average rainfall over the last six months. Rainfall has been lacking in western parts of Tasmania since late last year thanks to a dominance of high pressure systems to the […]
Days of rain and thunder are on the cards for some western and central parts of WA, with the potential for some decent falls in the region. The map below shows showers and thunderstorms approaching the Gascoyne and Upper West districts on Monday morning. Image: Himawari-9 satellite image combined with Weatherzone radar and lightning data, […]
The end is in sight to the relentless soaking and cloud on parts of the New South Wales coast, with a period of much drier weather ahead. During the first 12 days of May, Sydney recorded an average of two and a half hours of sunshine, which is well below the average of six hours […]
No South Australian needs to be told that it has been desperately dry in recent months across most of the state, and especially in southern parts. “Adelaide is so dry my lawn is like brown dry paper that crunches when you walk on it… Where is our rain???” asked Weatherzone Facebook community member Mara Gemini […]
Solar output in the east has taken a hit recently, with more cloud to come, but the wind has picked up, keeping renewable penetration stable in the market. The image below shows thick cloud over the eastern half of the country on Thursday afternoon. Image: Himawari-9 satellite image at 12pm AEST on Thursday, May 9. […]
Australia’s tropical cyclone season is officially underway, but we may not see much activity for few months yet. The season runs from November to April, and for mining operators and businesses across northern Australia, 2026-27 is shaping up to be a season where the headline numbers and the real risk may not line up. On […]
A positive Indian Ocean Dipole is underway, but this one is unlikely to deliver the textbook dry spring and summer that businesses have come to expect from the pattern. The Bureau of Meteorology officially declared a positive IOD on Tuesday, October 27, which typically like El Niño can cause drier and warmer conditions over parts of […]
Waters off Indonesia have cooled in recent weeks, an indication that a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) event could be developing. It’s an important climate driver for Australia, and it could shape rainfall and temperatures heading into summer, with flow-on effects for farmers, energy and other industries. What is the Indian Ocean Dipole? The IOD […]
Leonora, WA, had its wettest September day on record earlier this month. Three weeks later, more than 1.3 million lightning pulses were detected within 800 km of the town in 48 hours. Why is a stalled trough delivering storms to mining country, and what it could mean for operations? The DTN Total Lightning Network detected […]
