A tropical cyclone could form by early next week, with monsoon winds and tropical lows triggering the wet season and potentially impacting northern Australian businesses. The animation below shows widespread cloud around northern Australia on Friday. Within these vast areas of cloud are several areas of low pressure that have the potential to deepen and […]
Five tropical lows are forecast to form over the northern Australia waters this week, with an increased risk of heavy rainfall and tropical cyclone potential. The enhanced tropical activity comes as two giant tropical waves clash near Australia this week, called the Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) and an equatorial Kelvin Wave. In addition to […]
After a searing hot day, Western Australians sweltered through a near record warm night last night causing energy demand to surge. The uncomfortable days and nights are being caused by extremely hot and dry easterly winds flowing over the west coast in response to Severe Tropical Cyclone Sean. Image: 850hPa temperature and wind at 8pm […]
Tropical Cyclone Sean has intensified into a severe Category 3 storm, with record-breaking rainfall and damaging winds likely impacting mining, rail and port operations in the Pilbara region. Overnight, it lashed Western Australia’s Pilbara coastline with extremely heavy rain and damaging winds, however the good news is that it is now predicted to track out […]
A developing low pressure system off Australia’s northwest coast has a high chance of becoming a tropical cyclone this weekend, with the potential for heavy rain and wind to impact some mining and port clients in the Pilbara. Two separate areas of low pressure lying off the northern coast of WA are expected to consolidate […]
Dangerous thunderstorms developed across northern WA in the early hours of this morning bringing intense rainfall to some mine sites in the region. A broad low pressure trough sitting over northern WA was behind the wild storm activity over the weekend and into Monday. The infrared satellite images below show the very tall, large and […]
The long-awaited monsoon could finally develop over northern Australia towards the end of next week, increasing the risk of heavy rain, thunderstorms and tropical cyclones in the second half of January. Historically the monsoon arrives around late December on average, so its potential arrival next week is considered tardy. However, the latest monsoon onset at […]
Energy demand will surge across large areas of WA as daytime temperatures climb into the mid-40s, with the warmest December night on record possible for Perth. The relentless heat will be caused by a stubborn high pressure system in the Bight, with prevailing easterly winds dragging an extremely hot airmass over northern WA, which will […]
Abnormally warm ocean temperatures to the northwest of Australia will energise a swarm of tropical lows in the next couple of weeks, increasing the risk of tropical cyclone development before Christmas. The map below shows abundant cloud cover to the northwest of Australia at the beginning of this week. This tropical cloud cover has formed […]
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 daytime temperatures, increased frost risk, elevated fire danger, reduced tropical cyclone activity, and more. Industries including […]
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 2025 to 30 April 2026. During this six-month period, Australia saw 11 tropical cyclones, with nine […]
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 horizon The tropical Pacific Ocean is currently in a neutral state, meaning neither El Niño nor […]
Intense heat from bushfires during elevated fire danger days can trigger fire-induced pyrocumulonimbus thunderstorms that ignite additional fires. In early January 2026, an extreme heatwave sweeping over southeastern Australia brought catastrophic fire danger to Victoria. Intensely hot bush and grass fires spread erratically and quickly in hot, dry and gusty winds, with pyrocumulonimbus generating lightning, […]
