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Category-four cyclone strength winds and record flooding impacts Tas

A series of strong cold fronts have brought a dangerous mix of damaging to destructive winds, heavy rain, record flooding and huge snowfalls to Tas on the weekend.   The severe weather caused widespread power outages across the state, with thousands of homes and businesses still without power on Monday, with no restoration time announced.  […]

Five more days of damaging winds for southern Australia

Damaging winds will continue to affect multiple states and territories across southern and southeastern Australia during the next five days. A large and slow-moving low pressure system passing between Australia and Antarctica will cause a vigorous stream of westerly winds across Australia’s southern states in the coming days. Image: Forecast wind speed and direction on […]

Gales and crosswinds cause disruptions at Sydney airport

Gale force west to northwesterly winds are creating havoc at Sydney airport on Wednesday afternoon, with all six landing and takeoff options impacted by very strong cross winds.   Sydney airport saw gale force west to northwesterly mean wind speeds of 65km/h at 12:30pm, while the site has been gusting up to 82km/h.   These […]

Damaging winds to hit five Australian states in next 48 hours

One of the strongest cold fronts of 2024 will sweep across southeastern Australia during the next two days, causing damaging winds in parts of Tas, SA, Vic, NSW and WA. Some places are even likely to see destructive wind gusts from this powerful and dangerous weather system. A very steep pressure gradient is becoming established […]

Destructive winds, hundreds of millimitres of rain to impact Tas

It’s going to be a wild week in Tasmania, with the potential for 180km/h winds, more than 200mm of rain and snow in the west, thunderstorms, hail and freezing temperatures.  Damaging winds have already begun across elevated areas on Monday, with Mount Wellington observing a mean wind speed of 100km/h and a gust of 129.6km/h at […]

Wild winds to hit Australia from deep Southern Ocean low

A prolonged period of powerful winds will lash the southern half of Australia from this weekend into next week as a deep low pressure system lingers over the Southern Ocean. A complex and slow-moving low pressure system will pass between Australia and Antarctica over the coming week. This low will send a series of strong […]

Stratospheric warming to disrupt polar vortex in southern hemisphere

There are signs that another sudden stratospheric warming episode could occur above Antarctica towards the end of August, increasing the likelihood that the Southern Hemisphere’s polar vortex will continue to be disrupted into September. This event could have an ongoing influence on Australia’s weather patterns this spring. What is Sudden Stratospheric Warming? Sudden stratospheric warming […]

Rain and storms to impact southeastern states

The recent spring-like weather in Australia’s southeastern states is set to end abruptly, as a band of fierce winds, rain and severe thunderstorms spread across the region in the coming days.  The satellite image below shows a low pressure system and associated front to the south of WA approaching SA rapidly from the west on Wednesday […]

Huge 48-hour rainfall totals in Qld, NSW

Unseasonably high 24-hour rainfall totals have again been recorded to 9 am Wednesday across large parts of southern Queensland and northern NSW, with the heaviest falls in Queensland’s Capricornia, Wide Bay and Burnett, and Southeast Coast forecast districts. The city of Rockhampton recorded 85 mm to 9 am Wednesday, which made it the wettest August […]

Latest news

Satisfy your weather obsession with these news headlines from around the nation, and the world.

Australia’s 2026-27 Tropical Cyclone Season: Late Start, Real Risk

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 […]

Positive IOD declared: Not a typical dry signal for Australia

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 […]

Signs of a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, but it may not follow the textbook

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 […]

1.3 million lightning strikes and a record September downpour: the storms testing WA’s Goldfields

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 […]