More than 8 million lightning strikes were detected over the Australian region in the past week during a prolonged outbreak of thunderstorms that will continue into the middle of November. Late-spring is always a ripe time for thunderstorms in Australia. At this time of year, warm air over the Australian continent interacts with much […]
The tap across northern Australia is turning on this week, with daily thunderstorms and rain set to break the dry season for large areas. Moisture laden air feeding into an area of low pressure across the northern tropics is behind the stormy and steamy week. The map below shows the accumulated weekly rainfall predicted […]
One look at the map of rain predicted over Australia this week shows that part of every state and territory will see some wet weather during the next 7 days, with a few areas in line for a soaking. Image: Forecast accumulated precipitation between Monday and Sunday this week, according to the ECMWF-HRES model. […]
Wet weather is about to return to parched and fire-weary areas of eastern Australia, with 7 to 10 days of rain and thunderstorms set to soak parts of Qld and NSW. A stationary low pressure trough being fed by persistent moisture-laden easterly winds will cause rain and thunderstorms over parts of eastern Australia each day […]
Firefighters in Qld and NSW will continue to face challenging conditions over the next two days amid another burst of hot, dry and windy weather. A cold front crossing southeastern Australia on Monday and Tuesday will cause a tongue of hot and dry air to sweep across NSW and Qld. This heat will be […]
There were “striking” scenes in the skies above the southwest of Western Australia on Sunday afternoon, as a quarter of a million lightning strikes sparked a spectacular sky show. The awesome natural fireworks display was caused by a trough moving through the area, with significantly cooler air behind the warm airmass east of the […]
The first tropical cyclone to form near the Australian region this season is about to unleash a burst of severe weather in Vanuatu. Tropical Cyclone Lola formed to the northeast of Vanuatu on Sunday. As it developed outside the eastern boundary of Australia’s area of responsibility, Lola was named by the Fiji Meteorological Service. Lola […]
The first tropical cyclone of the season is likely to form early next week near the Solomon Islands and could move into Australian waters. A tropical low-pressure system developed to the east of the Solomon Islands on Friday morning and has been named Tropical Low 01U by the Bureau of Meteorology. The […]
A remarkably dry airmass over central Australia will move east over the next 72 hours, bringing dangerous fire weather to NSW over the weekend. The map below shows the parched air sitting over parts of WA, the NT, SA and Qld on Thursday morning. Image: 2m Dewpoint and 10 metre wind observations at 9:30am […]
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 […]
