Big week of weather ahead for Australia
The Australian region is going to see a volatile mix of weather this week, including heavy rain, thunderstorms, flooding, heatwaves, bushfires and possibly a tropical cyclone or two. An active monsoon trough, a large pool of hot air, abnormally warm sea surface temperatures around Australia, and the passage of a cut-off upper-level low pressure system […]
Monsoon arriving over northern Aus this week
The Northern Australian Monsoon will arrive over the tropics this week, bringing a possible tropical cyclone, wind, rain, storms, and welcome relief from the oppressive tropical heat and humidity of the last few weeks. Image: Cloudbands and thunderstorms building around the Top End and Arafura Sea as the monsoon builds. The monsoon is one of the […]
Record rain causes major flooding in Victoria
A band of heavy rain and thunderstorms being fuelled by tropical moisture has caused record-breaking rain and flooding in parts of Victoria. A broad low pressure trough drawing moisture-laden air towards an upper-level low pressure system has produced widespread rain and thunderstorms across southeastern Australia during the last couple of days. An unusually high concentration […]
40 thousand lightning strikes ground flights at Melbourne airport
Severe thunderstorms are expected to impact Vic on Wednesday, after wild and dangerous thunderstorms lashed Melbourne on Tuesday afternoon, causing havoc at its bustling airport. The thunderstorms brought torrential rain, damaging winds, and large hail to parts of Victoria on Tuesday as a low-pressure trough moved across the region. About 40 thousand lightning strikes were […]
Severe storms to strike eastern Australia on Christmas Day
An outbreak of severe thunderstorms is likely to develop over eastern Australia on Christmas Day, with Australia’s three largest cities and the nation’s capital all at risk of wet and stormy weather. As usual, the weather across Australia on Christmas Day will be a mixed bag this year. Perth and large areas of western, northern […]
NSW fires generate thunderstorm and 1500 km smoke plume
A large fire near Narrabri in North Western NSW has produced a fire-generated thunderstorm and a smoke plume so large that it can be seen from space stretching around 1500 km across the Tasman Sea. An Emergency Warning was in place on Tuesday morning for the Duck Creek fire in the Pilliga Forest about 17km […]
Two Qld locations register Australia’s 3rd and 4th wettest day on record, provisional data shows
Some of the heaviest rain ever observed in Australia has hit Queensland’s North Tropical Coast during the last few days, resulting in widespread major flooding and landslips. Rainfall has been relentless over northeast Qld ever since Tropical Cyclone Jasper made landfall near Wajul Wajul on Wednesday, December 13. This 5-day spell of wet weather was […]
Tropical Cyclone Jasper to make landfall on Wednesday
Queensland’s North Tropical Coast is preparing for severe weather later this week, with Tropical Cyclone Jasper expected to make landfall near or north of Cairns on Wednesday. Jasper got a lot of attention late last week when it became the earliest category 4 tropical cyclone in Australian waters since 2005. However, the system has weakened […]
Huge temperature contrast to drive severe weather in southern Australia
A strong cold front will sweep across southeastern Australia in the next 48 hours, bringing a dangerous mix of damaging winds, severe thunderstorms and catastrophic fire danger ahead of a welcome cool change. The satellite image below shows a trough extending from WA down to SA, generating a massive line of thunderstorms stretching 700km across […]