Australia is being warned to prepare for an unusually warm and dry spring, despite the Bureau of Meteorology continuing to hold back on declaring a fully-fledged El Niño. The Bureau released its latest climate driver update on Tuesday afternoon, stating that “Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the tropical Pacific are exceeding El Niño thresholds”. However, […]
The 2019-20 ‘Black Summer’ bushfire season was catastrophic for parts of eastern Australian and the worst fire season NSW has recorded. Now, with more hot and dry weather forecast this spring and summer, some people may be wondering if this fire season will be as bad as the 2019-20 Black Summer. What conditions contribute […]
After a month in which the record for the Earth’s hottest day was shattered more than once, then the record for the Earth’s hottest week melted away, is it any surprise that July 2023 turned out to be the world’s hottest month on record? News came through overnight from the Copernicus Climate Change Service […]
A wintry blast, with severe storms, potentially flooding rains, and bitterly cold temperatures are on its way to southwest WA, abruptly ending the region’s taste of spring on Tuesday. On Tuesday, the mercury was five to eight degrees above the August average, reaching 25°C in Perth and Esperance, and 28°C in Eucla. The state’s north saw […]
Tasmania and a few places on the Australian mainland just had their warmest July on record, while mid-winter rainfall was below average in much of southern Australia. The national mean temperature in July 2023 was 1.19ºC above the 1961-1990 average, making it the country’s 9th warmest July in records dating back to 1910. Image: […]
A series of cold fronts will cause a burst of windy weather across a large swathe of southern Australia during the next 4 to 5 days, with potential for widespread damaging winds this weekend. The satellite images below show speckled cloud being driven over southwestern Australia on Wednesday morning as a complex low pressure system […]
Parts of Western Queensland are already having their wettest July on record after copping 10 to 15 times their monthly average rainfall in the last 24 hours. A northwest cloudband has been causing rain in far Western Qld since Friday, although the heaviest falls in most areas have been occurring from Sunday into Monday morning. […]
Unseasonably heavy rain and flooding could cut off roads in the Kimberley and central Australia this week. The satellite images below show a large northwest cloudband extending across Australia on Monday morning. This colossal cloudband, which is being fuelled by tropical moisture from the Indian Ocean, will produce widespread rain over a broad area of […]
Rare outbreaks of thundersnow, inversion lightning, and even a squall line have all hit NSW in the past 24 hours, as an unusually active winter storm system sweeps over the state. Thundersnow A rare outbreak of thundersnow has developed over the Australian Alps on Tuesday afternoon, as a brief burst of heavy snowfalls was accompanied […]
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, […]
