It promises to be a nervous few days for the 2200 residents of Norfolk Island, as a dangerous tropical storm develops in the Coral Sea and tracks southwards. At this stage, the weather system is still classified as a tropical low, but it’s likely to develop into a cyclone in the next day or so. […]
Here it comes: a brief burst of wintry weather set to lash southeastern Australia over the next 24 hours or so. See the huge speckled airmass down in the Great Australian Bight? It’s a feature which indicates cold, polar air. As Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino wrote a couple of years ago: “These clouds form […]
The Madden-Julian Oscillation and the monsoon are starting their second approach of the season towards Australia, along with their elevated risk of tropical cyclone development. The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is an eastward moving pulse of tropical activity that travels the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It affects Australia the greatest between November and April, but […]
Australia just experienced its coolest start to a year since 2002 as the ongoing influence of La Nina helped suppress temperatures over large parts of the country. The national mean temperature in Australia during January was equal to the 1961 to 1990 average, making it the country’s coolest January in 21 years. Image: Mean temperature […]
The mercury is on the rise over Southeast Queensland and Northeast New South Wales as a cold front down south pushes hot air over the region. This severe heatwave kicked off with a sweltering Tuesday night. Maryborough stayed above 25.4°C all night, making it is hottest night in six years, while Rockhampton’s low of […]
Dangerous fire weather is on its way for the eastern states from today (Wednesday) through to at least Saturday, as winds strengthen ahead of an approaching cold front. This will not be your classic super hot, 40-degree type fire weather, however two factors will nonetheless elevate the fire risk: WIND: Gusty westerly winds of around […]
Sydney is now having one of its wettest Januarys since the 1980s after intense thunderstorms dumped half a month’s worth of rain in just one hour on Monday evening. Most Sydneysiders started 2023 with hopes that the flood- and mould-producing rain of 2022 was a thing of the past. But with La Nina still in […]
Australia’s southernmost two capital cities both saw their driest month in 11 months this January, with the rain taps turned off in both Hobart and Melbourne. Melbourne had just 20.2 mm of rain, the lowest since Feb 2022 Hobart registered just 11 mm, also the lowest since Feb 2022 You can see the situation illustrated […]
A State of Emergency has been declared for Auckland, with yet more rain on the way bringing the likelihood of further flooding and landslides. Early on Monday morning, New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) announced that Auckland has now recorded: Over 769% of its January monthly normal rainfall Over 38% of […]
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 […]
