There were “striking” scenes in the skies above the southwest of Western Australia on Sunday afternoon, as a quarter of a million lightning strikes sparked a spectacular sky show. The awesome natural fireworks display was caused by a trough moving through the area, with significantly cooler air behind the warm airmass east of the […]
A remarkably dry airmass over central Australia will move east over the next 72 hours, bringing dangerous fire weather to NSW over the weekend. The map below shows the parched air sitting over parts of WA, the NT, SA and Qld on Thursday morning. Image: 2m Dewpoint and 10 metre wind observations at 9:30am […]
Winds are a key component to understanding the behaviour of bushfires. But what happens when the wind suddenly changes direction? Typically, a fire will tend to spread along the same direction as the prevailing winds. In a strong wind, this allows the fire front to follow the wind very quickly and can exceed 50km/h in […]
A strong southerly change will move up the NSW coast on Monday, whipping up a large southerly swell in its wake. The fierce winds are associated with a low-pressure system sitting in the Tasman Sea which is extending a cold front along the NSW coast. The southerly buster has already hit far eastern […]
Hot, dry and windy weather is elevating bushfires & fire danger across parts of NSW on Thursday, ahead of a cool and fierce southerly change. Maximum temperatures across parts of the state are expected to be 5-10°C above the October average, with temperatures climbing into the mid 30’s. The hot airmass has been dragged […]
This year’s positive Indian Ocean Dipole is gaining strength so quickly that it’s getting close to the record-challenging 2019 event that underpinned Australia’s warmest and driest year on record. While the Pacific Ocean’s El Niño has been getting a lot of attention in recent months, its lesser-known cousin – the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) – […]
The wild weather which has lashed southeastern Australia is moving out into the Tasman Sea, leaving in its wake dangerously swollen rivers, wind damage, and even a decent dusting of spring snow. Overnight, winds howled their way around a low pressure system centred over the eastern part of Bass Strait. Winds were strong across virtually […]
Sydney airport is down to single runway operations on Thursday morning, grounding flights at the bustling airport. A strong low-pressure system sitting off the southeast NSW coast is directing the gusty winds over the central NSW coast on Thursday. Image: Access-C Instantaneous wind gusts at 11am AEDT on Thursday, October 5. Sydney airport […]
Extremely heavy rain has fallen in parts of Victoria overnight, with a top fall of a mind-boggling 198.8 mm at Mt Hotham to 9 am Wednesday, and numerous flood warnings already in place. This was Mt Hotham’s wettest day in any month in at least 46 years of records. You always expect the high […]
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 […]
