Soaring temperatures and abundantly clear skies have just caused one of the warmest and driest Marches on record in parts of South Australia. Abnormally high pressure near southern Australia this month has kept rain-bearing systems away from SA, leading to plenty of warm and dry weather across the state. Image: Clear skies over SA on […]
The tropical moisture that caused significant flooding in the NT and Qld is set to move southeast over Easter, bringing heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and possible flooding and damaging winds with it. The map below shows the massive rainfall totals that fell across the southern NT and parts of Qld over the last week. Image: The […]
Heavy rain and thunderstorms will continue in parts of Qld and the NT over the next few days, increasing the risk of flooding and outback road closures. This week’s wet weather is being caused by the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Megan and an associated low-pressure trough extending across the NT and Qld. The […]
There are early signs that parts of SA, the NT, NSW and Qld could get soaked on the Easter long weekend, as moisture left behind by ex-Tropical Cyclone Megan spreads south. Tropical Cyclone Megan made landfall over the southwest Gulf of Carpentaria on Monday, March 18. The system then weakened to a tropical low […]
As Perth and the southwest corner of Western Australia emerge from their traditional spring, summer, and early autumn dry season, the wait for decent rain is a lot more frustrating than usual. There are two reasons for the heightened stress levels. The first is that even by local standards, it has been an exceptionally […]
Australia has shivered through its coldest night of 2024 to date, with freezing temperatures recorded in New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. A year-to-date low for Australia of –5.7°C was recorded at Perisher Valley in NSW The coldest overnight temp in Victoria was –3.1°C at Mt Hotham, the state’s coldest for 2024 to date. Tasmania […]
The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) has strongly negative for the first time in 2024, bringing the first cool spell and snowfall to parts of southeastern Australia this week. The image below shows a strong cold front sweeping across the region on Wednesday. Image: Himawari-9 satellite image for the three hours leading 1:20pm AEDT on […]
The first significant snowfall of autumn 2024 has fallen across higher elevations of Tasmania as a cold front whipped through southeastern Australia overnight, while tropical lows continue to dominate the pattern in northern Australia. This was the Wednesday morning scene at Mt Mawson, a tiny club-operated ski field about two hours northwest of Hobart. Image: […]
The infamous southerly buster will move up the NSW coast on Wednesday impacting port operations in the region. Southerly busters are an abrupt southerly change with wind gusts exceeding 54 km/h (29 knots) and a temperature drop of at least 5°C in three hours. Sydney typically receives five busters a year, with three already […]
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 […]
