Lightning hitting planes is not as rare as one might think, but thankfully modern aircraft are designed to withstand a powerful bolt of lightning. Safety protocols within the aviation industry ensure that every commercial jet is engineered to act as a Faraday cage, protecting both passengers and sensitive electronics. Most commercial planes are struck by […]
It’s going to be a big week of stormy weather in eastern and northern Australia, especially around midweek, with the potential for severe thunderstorms, large hail, and brief bursts of heavy rainfall which could cause flash flooding. Take a look at the image below. It shows the predicted rainfall accumulation until 11 pm this coming […]
Rain and thunderstorms have been soaking Australia’s Red Centre this week, with Alice Springs picking up more than a month’s worth of rain last night. A broad area of low pressure interacting with a moisture-laden air mass has produced several days of wet and stormy weather in central Australia this week. Earlier in the week, […]
A fire that destroyed buildings and stranded residents in Dolphin Sands on Sunday night has continued to burn into Monday, forcing the Tasmania Fire Service to reissue an emergency warning. An initial Emergency Warning was issued for an out-of-control fire burning near Dolphin Sands on Tasmania’s East Coast on Sunday night. Fanned by wind gusts […]
Severe thunderstorms developed in the Gascoyne and Central West districts of WA on Sunday, lashing the region with fierce wind gusts and intense bursts of rain. Over one million lightning strikes were detected in WA on Sunday and Monday morning along a low-pressure trough extending across large areas of the state. The […]
More than 8 million lightning strikes were detected over the Australian region in the past week during a prolonged outbreak of thunderstorms that will continue into the middle of November. Late-spring is always a ripe time for thunderstorms in Australia. At this time of year, warm air over the Australian continent interacts with much […]
Wet weather is about to return to parched and fire-weary areas of eastern Australia, with 7 to 10 days of rain and thunderstorms set to soak parts of Qld and NSW. A stationary low pressure trough being fed by persistent moisture-laden easterly winds will cause rain and thunderstorms over parts of eastern Australia each day […]
Onslow, a coastal town in Western Australia’s Pilbara region with a population of around 900, holds half of a significant Australian heat record – equalling Australia’s highest recorded temperature when the mercury reached a searing 50.7°C in January 2022. On average, Onslow is not quite as hot as several other WA towns such as Marble […]
Firefighters in Qld and NSW will continue to face challenging conditions over the next two days amid another burst of hot, dry and windy weather. A cold front crossing southeastern Australia on Monday and Tuesday will cause a tongue of hot and dry air to sweep across NSW and Qld. This heat will be […]
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 […]
