The Bureau of Meteorology has today declared the arrival of El Niño and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), a climate driver double-up that significantly increases the likelihood of unusually warm and dry weather across large areas of Australia in the second half of 2023. The Bureau made the El Niño and positive IOD declarations […]
Scientists are developing a new way to classify El Niño in a warming climate as rising ocean temperatures make existing methods less effective. This research, led by a team of international scientists, may even shed light on why the atmosphere has struggled to respond to this year’s developing El Niño. Warm, warm water in […]
Australia’s severe thunderstorm season is about to begin. But with a looming El Niño and positive Indian Ocean Dipole, what can we expect to see across the country this season? Thunderstorms impact Australia all year round. They are most common in eastern and northern Australia, where there is just the right mixture of heat and […]
A positive Indian Ocean Dipole pattern has started to emerge to the northwest of Australia, increasing the likelihood of abnormally warm and dry weather over large parts of the country this spring. The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) refers to an index that measures sea surface temperatures in the tropical Indian Ocean. A positive IOD occurs […]
he remnants of Hurricane Hilary are bringing life-threatening severe weather to parts of California and Nevada, with flooding even reaching the hottest place on Earth – Death Valley National Park. Tropical Storm Hillary crashed into the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico on Sunday local time. The system then crossed the border into Southern California on […]
Several natural and human-made influences combined forces across Earth last month, creating a ‘perfect climate storm’ that made July 2023 Earth’s warmest month on record. Recently published data from Berkeley Earth shows that Earth’s global average temperature in July was 17.2ºC, which is 1.54ºC above the 1850 to 1900 average. This was the highest […]
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, […]
Winter is usually the peak season for East Coast Lows in Australia, but this year has been eerily quiet in the Tasman Sea. So, where have all the ECLs gone? East Coast Lows (ECLs) are intense low pressure systems that cause severe weather along Australia’s east coast, mostly between southeast Qld and eastern Vic. […]
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: […]
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 […]
